Tennessee School Counselor
School counselors in Tennessee earn a median salary of $59,090 per year. The state projects 560 job openings annually through 2032, with employment growing at a faster-than-average pace. You’ll need a master’s degree in school counseling, supervised fieldwork, and a Tennessee license to practice.
Tennessee Links
Tennessee has close to 6,100 school counselors working across the state’s public and private schools. It’s one of the more active states for counselor employment in the South, and job growth projections through 2032 suggest that demand will keep climbing.
What School Counselors Do in Tennessee
Tennessee operates under a comprehensive school counseling model aligned with the ASCA National Model, the national framework that defines how school counselors organize their programs. In practice, that means counselors aren’t just available when students have a problem. They’re running classroom lessons on career planning, coordinating with teachers on students who are falling behind, and building structured plans that follow students from one grade to the next.
Think about a high school junior in Memphis who’s the first in her family to consider college. She doesn’t know how financial aid works, which schools make sense for her GPA, or whether a two-year school might be the better starting point. Her school counselor is the person who sits down with her, walks through her options, and helps her build a realistic application strategy. That’s one conversation out of dozens that week.
The role spans elementary through high school, and the balance of the work shifts at each level. At the elementary level, counselors focus heavily on social skills, emotional regulation, and early identification of students who may need additional support. At the middle and high school levels, the work shifts more toward academic planning, mental health check-ins, and college and career preparation. The job requires being useful to many different students at very different stages, which makes the caseload demanding but the work varied.
Tennessee also offers a pathway for counselors already licensed in a community or agency setting to transition into school counseling. It’s not automatic. Additional coursework, supervised hours, and licensure steps still apply, but you don’t necessarily have to start over. The Tennessee Become a School Counselor page covers the specifics of that process and the standard route for those pursuing a master’s degree in school counseling.
Job Outlook in Tennessee
Tennessee projects 560 average annual openings for educational, guidance, and career counselors through 2032, with overall employment in the field expected to grow by 20.7% over that same period. That’s a stronger growth rate than most occupations. The state currently employs about 6,090 school counselors statewide.
Some of that demand reflects ongoing investment in student mental health following the pandemic years, with more districts adding counseling staff rather than relying on stretched caseloads. The state’s student-to-counselor ratio has historically exceeded ASCA’s recommended 1:250, which continues to put pressure on advocacy groups and school boards to fill open positions.
School Counselor Salary in Tennessee
Tennessee school counselors earn a median salary of $59,090 per year, according to May 2024 BLS data. The national median is $65,140. You can explore how much school counselors make nationally for a full state-by-state comparison. Memphis and Clarksville both exceed that national figure.
| Percentile | Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| 10th | $41,810 |
| 25th | $49,630 |
| Median (50th) | $59,090 |
| 75th | $68,780 |
| 90th | $83,850 |
| Metro Area | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Nashville | $60,650 |
| Memphis, TN-MS-AR | $67,310 |
| Knoxville | $53,140 |
| Chattanooga, TN-GA | $58,930 |
| Clarksville, TN-KY | $68,750 |
| Jackson | $50,420 |
- Strong job growth — Tennessee projects 560 annual openings through 2032, with 20.7% overall growth in the field.
- Varied, demanding work — School counselors support students academically, socially, and emotionally from pre-K through 12th grade, with the balance of that work shifting at each level.
- Competitive salary — The state median is $59,090, with Memphis ($67,310) and Clarksville ($68,750) both above the national median.
- Multiple entry pathways — Licensed community and agency counselors may qualify for a streamlined transition into school counseling, though additional requirements still apply.
Ready to explore what it takes to become a Tennessee school counselor?
