Career Explorer Community and social care
Changing shape
Rehabilitation counselors
Counsel individuals to maximize the independence and employability of persons coping with personal, social, and vocational difficulties that result from birth defects, illness, disease, accidents, aging, or the stress of daily life. Coordinate activities for residents of care and treatment facilities. Assess client needs and design and implement rehabilitation programs that may include personal and vocational counseling, training, and job placement.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 48% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it high), and US jobs are projected to change by +2.2% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on emotional intelligence and creative vision.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $46,850
- Job growth to 2035
- +2.2%
- Openings a year
- 8,200
- People doing it (2025)
- 96,900
- Usual route in
- Master's degree
Where people already use AI for this work
- Explain medical information to patients or family members
- Assist others to access additional services or resources
- Assess living, work, or social needs or status of individuals or communities
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Maintain health or medical records
- Develop patient or client care or treatment plans
- Assist individuals with special needs
What the work looks like
- Develop rehabilitation plans that fit clients' aptitudes, education levels, physical abilities, and career goals.
- Confer with clients to discuss their options and goals so that rehabilitation programs and plans for accessing needed services can be developed.
- Prepare and maintain records and case files, including documentation, such as clients' personal and eligibility information, services provided, narratives of client contacts, or relevant correspondence.
- Locate barriers to client employment, such as inaccessible work sites, inflexible schedules, or transportation problems, and work with clients to develop strategies for overcoming these barriers.
- Analyze information from interviews, educational and medical records, consultation with other professionals, and diagnostic evaluations to assess clients' abilities, needs, and eligibility for services.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselorsGrows with AI, Index 83, +18.4%
- Community and social service specialists, all otherGrows with AI, Index 70, +5.5%
- Counselors, all otherGrows with AI, Index 69, +5.9%
- Religious workers, all otherChanging shape, Index 49, +1.5%
Also known as: CRC (Certified Rehabilitation Counselor), Job Coach, Vocational Placement Specialist, VRC (Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor), Classification Counselor, Employment Advisor, Rehabilitation Specialist, Vocational Counselor.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.