Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $62K, rent takes 29.1% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,187/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors typically earn — is $44K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,618/month.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $62K locally vs. $59K nationally, a 4% difference.

Eastern and Southern Colorado nonmetropolitan area pays $62K median vs. the U.S. average of $59K — that’s +4%.

The median is $61,850 a year, that works out to about $30 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $43,640, and experienced substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors can clear $95,450. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,084/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,187/month, which eats 29.1% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Eastern and Southern Colorado nonmetropolitan area has a Regional Price Parity of 100 (100 is the national average). That's right at the national average. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors salary is worth about $61,850 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.