Credit Counselors
Advise and educate individuals or organizations on acquiring and managing debt. May provide guidance in determining the best type of loan and explain loan requirements or restrictions. May help develop debt management plans or student financial aid packages. May advise on credit issues, or provide budget, mortgage, bankruptcy, or student financial aid counseling.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Credit Counselors. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $38,350 | $18.44 |
| 25th | $45,720 | $21.98 |
| 50th · Median | $52,230 | $25.11 |
| 75th | $64,080 | $30.81 |
| 90th | $80,440 | $38.67 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (20)
Typical tasks
- Create debt management plans, spending plans, or budgets to assist clients to meet financial goals.
- Assess clients' overall financial situations by reviewing income, assets, debts, expenses, credit reports, or other financial information.
- Calculate clients' available monthly income to meet debt obligations.
- Recommend strategies for clients to meet their financial goals, such as borrowing money through loans or loan programs, declaring bankruptcy, making budget adjustments, or enrolling in debt management plans.
- Advise clients or respond to inquiries about financial matters in person or via phone, email, Web site, or Internet chat.
- Explain general financial topics to clients, such as credit report ratings, bankruptcy laws, consumer protection laws, wage attachments, or collection actions.
Expand more tasks (17)
- Interview clients by telephone or in person to gather financial information.
- Maintain or update records of client account activity, including financial transactions, counseling session notes, correspondence, document images, or client inquiries.
- Estimate time for debt repayment, given amount of debt, interest rates, and available funds.
- Prioritize client debt repayment to avoid dire consequences, such as bankruptcy or foreclosure or to reduce overall costs, such as by paying high-interest or short-term loans first.
- Recommend educational materials or resources to clients on matters, such as financial planning, budgeting, or credit.
- Review changes to financial, family, or employment situations to determine whether changes to existing debt management plans, spending plans, or budgets are needed.
- Prepare written documents to establish contracts with or communicate financial recommendations to clients.
- Explain services or policies to clients, such as debt management program rules, advantages and disadvantages of using services, or creditor concession policies.
- Teach courses or seminars on topics, such as budgeting, management of personal finances, or financial literacy.
- Advise clients on housing matters, such as housing rental, homeownership, mortgage delinquency, or foreclosure prevention.
- Refer clients to social service or community resources for needs beyond those of credit or debt counseling.
- Explain loan information to clients, such as available loan types, eligibility requirements, or loan restrictions.
- Create action plans to assist clients in obtaining permanent housing via rent or mortgage programs.
- Negotiate with creditors on behalf of clients to arrange for payment adjustments, interest rate reductions, time extensions, or payment plans.
- Conduct research to help clients avoid repossessions or foreclosures or remove levies or wage garnishments.
- Disburse funds from client accounts to creditors.
- Investigate missing checks, payment histories, held funds, returned checks, or other related issues to resolve client or creditor problems.
Skills used in this work
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Expand more skills (29)
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
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