New Hampshire School Counselor
New Hampshire school counselors work with students in grades K-12. The state projects about 130 openings a year from 2024 to 2034, and the May 2025 median wage is $71,080. To earn a New Hampshire license, you’ll need at least a master’s in education or a counseling-related field, plus the state’s school counselor competencies. One in-state program is CACREP-accredited.
New Hampshire Links
New Hampshire has about 1,650 workers in the federal job category that covers school counselors (May 2025). The work looks different in a kindergarten classroom than in a senior’s college planning meeting. The core stays the same: helping students deal with whatever is getting in the way of learning.
What School Counselors Do in New Hampshire
A ninth grader at a Concord high school is falling behind in math and pulling away from her friends. Her teacher flags the pattern. By the end of the week she’s meeting with the school counselor, and the conversation isn’t only about grades. It’s about what’s happening at home and what kind of support she actually needs. That’s what this work looks like on a Tuesday afternoon.
State rules shape how that support is organized. New Hampshire updated its minimum standards for public school approval in December 2024. Every local school board must now approve a K-12 counseling program and plan for each school at least every two years. The program must cover academic, career, and personal and social development. That means classroom lessons and individual planning with students. It also means responsive services during a crisis and clear referral steps when a student needs more. If you’ve studied the ASCA National Model, the structure will look familiar.
Day to day, counselors work across all of it. Elementary counselors might teach a lesson on handling conflict or help a seven-year-old through a family move. In middle school, the focus shifts toward friendships, study habits and early career awareness. By high school, much of the calendar goes to course planning, college applications and financial aid. The social and emotional work never goes away, though.
Counselors are also consultants inside their buildings. They sit in on student support meetings and work with teachers on plans for students who are struggling. They also coordinate with outside providers when a student’s needs go past what the school can handle. Much of the job happens in those conversations, not just in the counseling office.
Job Outlook in New Hampshire
New Hampshire projects about 130 school counselor job openings a year from 2024 to 2034. That’s a small market, so it helps to know where those openings come from. Employment in this category is projected to grow 4.4% over the decade, compared with 3.5% nationally over the same period. That works out to roughly 70 new positions over ten years. Most of the 130 yearly openings come from counselors who retire, change roles or leave, not from new jobs.
Public school districts are the main employer, since state rules require every public school to have a licensed counselor. Independent and boarding schools hire counselors too. Staffing agencies also fill contract roles in New Hampshire districts, often for a single school year. Many focus on elementary adjustment counseling or students with emotional and behavioral needs.
If you’re open to contract roles and willing to look beyond one district, you’ll see more of those openings.
School Counselor Salary in New Hampshire
New Hampshire school counselors earn a median of $71,080 a year (May 2025), $6,750 above the national median of $64,330. These figures cover the federal category for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors, including some workers outside K-12 schools. Pay varies by district, experience and region.
| Percentile | Annual Salary (May 2025) |
|---|---|
| 10th | $47,990 |
| 25th | $57,090 |
| Median (50th) | $71,080 |
| 75th | $82,500 |
| 90th | $96,630 |
Every area BLS reports separately in New Hampshire comes in below the statewide median. Check pay for the specific districts you’re considering rather than assuming the state figure applies.
| Area | Median Salary (May 2025) |
|---|---|
| Manchester-Nashua, NH | $65,020 |
| Southwestern New Hampshire (nonmetropolitan) | $63,960 |
| Northern New Hampshire (nonmetropolitan) | $62,590 |
| Central New Hampshire (nonmetropolitan) | $62,230 |
CACREP-Accredited School Counseling Programs in New Hampshire
One program in New Hampshire holds CACREP accreditation as a School Counseling program. In states with more than one, we list them by size. That measures how many graduates a program reports, not how good it is.
| Institution | City | Degree | Accredited Through | Master’s Graduates (2023) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plymouth State University | Plymouth | M.S.C. | October 31, 2031 | 16 |
New Hampshire caps school counselor caseloads in public schools
Since December 13, 2024, New Hampshire’s public-school approval rules (Ed 306.12) have capped counseling loads. Elementary schools can have no more than 500 students per full-time licensed counselor, and middle and high schools no more than 300. High schools with more than four counselors, and districts with more than 10, also need a licensed director of school counseling. These are minimums for public school approval, so they set a ceiling on caseload, not a target.
How this table was built. Every program here is accredited by CACREP as a School Counseling program, verified against the CACREP register on September 30, 2026. Any program whose CACREP status shows a teach-out, closure, show-cause or withdrawal is excluded, because a reader cannot reliably enroll in it. Programs are ordered by the number of master’s graduates each university reported to the federal IPEDS survey for 2023 under CIP code 13.1101, which measures size, not quality. That count covers the whole university, so a school running more than one school counseling master’s reports them together, and a low count can mean some graduates are reported under a different code. Treat the order as a rough guide to size rather than a ranking. CACREP accreditation is not the same as state approval: check the New Hampshire requirements for school counselor certification before you enroll.
- Openings, not growth: New Hampshire projects about 130 openings a year from 2024 to 2034, mostly from retirements and turnover.
- Pay above the national median: The state median is $71,080 (May 2025), compared with $64,330 nationally, though every separately reported region comes in lower.
- Caseload caps in public schools: Since December 2024, one counselor per 500 elementary students and one per 300 in middle and high school.
- One in-state CACREP program: Plymouth State University’s school counseling program is accredited through October 31, 2031.
Comparing Plymouth State with programs in other states? Start with what New Hampshire requires before you enroll.
