Counsellors: salary in the UK
About £26,143 a year after tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27)
median salary a year, full-time, +1.3% on last year
£2,618 a month About £2,179 a month after tax 11 thousand full-time jobs
Gross pay before tax, including bonuses, commission and overtime. Not included: benefits in kind such as a company car. About the data
Pay range
The dark part is the middle half of full-time employees (25% to 75%); the light bar runs from 10% to 90%. ONS doesn't publish the highest or lowest salary, and x means a figure wasn't published.
Pay by year
The median went from £28,870 in 2021 to £31,421 in 2026 (+9%); for all full-time employees in the UK it changed by +31% over the same years.
Figures by year
| P10 | P25 | Median | P75 | P90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | x | £22,841 | £28,870 | x | x |
| 2022 | x | x | £27,284 | x | x |
| 2023 | x | £24,422 | £29,706 | x | x |
| 2024 | x | £26,184 | £29,650 | x | x |
| 2025 | x | £28,467 | £31,031 | x | x |
| 2026 | x | £27,258 | £31,421 | x | x |
ONS figures for each year, not adjusted for inflation. Years before 2021 used a different occupation classification, so they can't be compared. Earlier years are ONS's revised figures; the latest is provisional.
Half of full-time employees in this occupation earn less than £31,421 a year and half earn more. That is 23% less than the median for all full-time employees in the UK (£40,911).
Ranked by median, it is number 263 of the 362 occupations with a published figure.
The mean (£36,810) is well above the median: a minority in this job earn much more than most.
At the median salary, take-home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance is about £2,179 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and £2,180 in Scotland.
The median for men is £30,651 and for women £31,406, a gap of 2% in women's favour. This compares full-time salaries only and doesn't account for seniority or hours.
Percentiles
| Percentile | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th (P10) | x | x |
| 20th | £26,083 | £2,174 |
| 25th (P25) | £27,258 | £2,272 |
| 30th | £28,015 | £2,335 |
| 40th | £29,550 | £2,463 |
| Median (50th) | £31,421 | £2,618 |
| 60th | £33,519 | £2,793 |
| 70th | £36,053 | £3,004 |
| 75th (P75) | x | x |
| 80th | x | x |
| 90th (P90) | x | x |
Men and women
| Median | Mean | Jobs (thousands) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | £30,651 | £43,445 | x |
| Women | £31,406 | £33,232 | 7 |
Take-home pay at the median
| Where you live | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| England, Wales, NI | £26,143 | £2,179 |
| Scotland | £26,163 | £2,180 |
After Income Tax and National Insurance for 2026 to 2027, with the standard tax code and no pension or student loan. Work out your own take-home pay · Take-home pay on £31,000
Job titles in this occupation
ONS codes these 24 job titles to SOC 3224 Counsellors. Pay figures are for the whole occupation, not for each title.
- Addiction recovery support worker
- Bereavement counsellor
- Counsellor
- Debt adviser
- Debt counsellor
- Drug and alcohol support worker
- Drug worker
- Drugs and alcohol counsellor
- Drugs and alcohol youth worker
- Interventions facilitator
- Life coach
- Mental health counsellor
- Nlp practitioner
- Primary care counsellor
- Recovery coordinator
- Relate counsellor
- Relationship counsellor
- School counsellor
- Smoking cessation counsellor
- Stop smoking counsellor
- Student counsellor
- Substance misuse practitioner
- Substance misuse worker
- Therapeutic counsellor
Similar occupations
All jobs in Associate professional occupations
Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026 provisional, Table 14.7a (full-time employees, gross annual pay, UK, tax year ending 5 April 2026). Provisional figures may be revised.