Rehabilitation Counselors build social perceptiveness, service orientation and coordination skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Recreational Therapists (84%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recreational Therapists | 84% | $61,960 | +32% | None |
| 2 | Occupational Therapists | 83% | $100,330 | +114% | None |
| 3 | Social and Community Service Managers | 83% | $80,390 | +72% | None |
| 4 | Social Work Teachers, Postsecondary | 81% | $77,570 | +66% | None |
| 5 | Instructional Coordinators | 78% | $77,440 | +65% | None |
| 6 | Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary | 78% | $80,340 | +71% | None |
| 7 | Special Education Teachers, Secondary School | 77% | $74,260 | +59% | None |
| 8 | Family and Consumer Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary | 77% | $75,870 | +62% | None |
| 9 | Education Teachers, Postsecondary | 77% | $75,350 | +61% | None |
| 10 | Clinical Nurse Specialists | 76% | $97,550Pay for the broader BLS group “Registered Nurses” | Not compared | None |
Compared with Rehabilitation Counselors, median $46,850. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as rehabilitation counselors (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
84% skill match · $61,960 · +32% pay
Instructing · Operation and Control · Quality Control Analysis
83% skill match · $100,330 · +114% pay
Instructing · Troubleshooting · Quality Control Analysis
83% skill match · $80,390 · +72% pay
Management of Personnel Resources · Operation and Control · Time Management
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Recreational Therapists (84% skill match, median $61,960), Occupational Therapists (83% skill match, median $100,330) and Social and Community Service Managers (83% skill match, median $80,390), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 21 pay more than rehabilitation counselors at the median. The biggest increases: Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary (+126%, $105,870), Education Administrators, Postsecondary (+123%, $104,590) and Occupational Therapists (+114%, $100,330).
25 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.