Credit counselors
SOC Code: 13-2071
Credit counselors carries a 40% AI exposure score (High automation risk), with a median annual wage of $50,480 and +3.3% projected employment growth from 2024 to 2034 (BLS), affecting approximately 31,800 workers. Full task breakdown, skills, and employer data are below.
Proportion of tasks susceptible to AI automation (O*NET analysis)
At 40% AI exposure, Credit counselors sits 3 points above the 37.2% average across 832 U.S. occupations - more exposed than 68% of them. Most of its core tasks still require human judgment.
Career outlook score
44/100
Credit counselors, weighted across 3 of 3 tracked dimensions
A weighted composite of median wage, projected growth, and AI-automation security (inverted exposure), each benchmarked against every other tracked occupation. It describes this occupation's standing across those three dimensions, not a guarantee of future outcomes.
- Median wage F $50,480
Annual median wage, percentile rank vs all tracked occupations
- Projected growth C +3.3%
Projected employment change, 2024-2034, BLS Employment Projections
- AI exposure (inverted) F 40% exposure
Lower O*NET task-automability scores lower risk; this dimension scores security, not exposure
Home health and personal care aides is #1 of 832 occupations by employment (4.3M, AI exposure rank #392 at 35%) vs. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks #1 by AI task exposure (95%, employment rank #17 at 1.6M).
Automation-risk inventory
Exclusive cut of 832 occupations by PlainWorkforce automation-risk band. Orthogonal to the continuous AI-exposure distribution chart below and to this occupation's single risk badge, this is the corpus band mix, with Credit counselors in the High band.
Credential × growth standing
Bachelor's band with mid-pack BLS pace
Credit counselors shares the Bachelor's gate with 178 peer occupations and lands in Average (378 of 832). Neither the rarest nor the most crowded growth shelf - use wage and AI desks on this page for the differentiator.
Where Credit counselors sits among all occupations
AI-exposure score distribution across 832 U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis). This occupation is marked in rose.
Where Credit counselors sits by AI exposure
AI-exposure score distribution across U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis)
40% Around the middle lower than 32% of 832 occupations
Occupations, banded by AI-exposure score
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more occupations. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor) · BLS 2024–2034
Source: O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor); AI-exposure scores are PlainWorkforce's analysis. As of BLS 2024–2034.
Credit counselors vs. its occupational neighbors
AI exposure (horizontal) vs projected 2024–2034 growth (vertical) for occupations in the same SOC group. Credit counselors is marked in rose; the top-left corner is the most future-proof.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 (growth) and O*NET (AI-exposure analysis by PlainWorkforce).
Employment Projections
Where This Score Comes From
Credit counselors's High automation-risk tier is computed from O*NET Database 30.0 task-level analysis, where each documented task the occupation performs is evaluated against current generative AI, robotic process automation, and machine-learning capabilities. A score in the 40–70% range indicates meaningful automation pressure on specific task categories, but the role as a whole still requires human judgment for coordination, exception handling, or client interaction.
The employment, wage, and education figures above come from a second, separate federal source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, matched to the O*NET task data by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 13-2071) code, with the wage figure cross-validated against the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 survey. BLS figures are presented exactly as published, with no adjustment on our part; the SOC-code match is what lets Credit counselors be compared directly against every other tracked occupation on the same basis, not just roles that happen to share a job title.
For career planners, this profile should be read alongside the task, skill, and knowledge breakdowns below and the list of employers whose workforce composition includes Credit counselors. Adjacent occupations shown further down offer lateral moves that preserve industry knowledge while potentially reducing exposure.
Education & Entry Requirements
Top Tasks (O*NET)
- 1. Calculate clients' available monthly income to meet debt obligations.
- 2. Explain services or policies to clients, such as debt management program rules, advantages and disadvantages of using services, or creditor concession policies.
- 3. Create debt management plans, spending plans, or budgets to assist clients to meet financial goals.
- 4. 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.
- 5. Assess clients' overall financial situations by reviewing income, assets, debts, expenses, credit reports, or other financial information.
- 6. 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.
- 7. Explain general financial topics to clients, such as credit report ratings, bankruptcy laws, consumer protection laws, wage attachments, or collection actions.
- 8. Disburse funds from client accounts to creditors.
- 9. Interview clients by telephone or in person to gather financial information.
- 10. Estimate time for debt repayment, given amount of debt, interest rates, and available funds.
Key Skills Required
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
- Service Orientation
- Complex Problem Solving
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Persuasion
Knowledge Areas
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Mathematics
- Administrative
- Education and Training
- Economics and Accounting
- Psychology
- Computers and Electronics
- Communications and Media
- Administration and Management
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI replace Credit counselors?
Credit counselors has an AI exposure score of 40%, indicating a high level of automation risk. The majority of tasks in this role require human judgment, creativity, or physical presence that AI cannot easily replicate.
What is the job outlook for Credit counselors?
According to BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034, Credit counselors is projected to grow by 3.3% over the decade. Current employment stands at approximately 31,800 workers.
What skills are needed for Credit counselors?
Key skills for Credit counselors include Speaking, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, and others. Typical entry-level education is Bachelor's degree.
How much do Credit counselors earn?
The median annual wage for Credit counselors is $50,480, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024). Actual earnings vary by location, experience, industry, and employer. The BLS publishes detailed wage percentiles by region in its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
What education is required for Credit counselors?
The typical entry-level education for Credit counselors is Bachelor's degree. Employers generally expect None of related work experience. On-the-job training typically involves Moderate-term on-the-job training. Requirements can vary by employer and specialization.
Which companies employ Credit counselors?
Credit counselors roles exist across many industries and employers. Workforce composition is estimated from BLS industry-occupation employment distributions matched to SEC-registered public companies.
AI Exposure Rating
High automation risk based on 10 analyzed tasks. A moderate share of tasks may be augmented by AI tools.
Nationwide occupations with similar workforce profiles
Two data-derived peer sets for Credit counselors: AI-exposure neighbors and BLS 2034 growth neighbors (distinct comparison neighborhoods, cross-occupation).
Similar AI exposure score
Nearest O*NET task-automability scores nationwide (40% here).
- Bus drivers, transit and intercity · AI exposure 40%
- Community health workers · AI exposure 40%
- Curators · AI exposure 40%
- Insurance sales agents · AI exposure 40%
Similar projected growth (2024–2034)
Nearest BLS employment change rates nationwide (+3.3% here).
- Audio and video technicians · growth +3.3%
- Chemical equipment operators and tenders · growth +3.3%
- General internal medicine physicians · growth +3.3%
- Glaziers · growth +3.3%
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published BLS + O*NET metrics among occupations with ≥10,000 workers in 2024; corpus ranks above sort the full tracked set.
Related Occupations
Showing 6 of 13 occupations with a comparable automation-risk profile.
What to do with this
Use Credit counselors' numbers above to compare, not just read in isolation.
- Compare Credit counselors side by side against another occupation on wage, growth, and AI exposure. Workforce comparison tool
- Understand how the AI exposure score above is actually calculated before treating it as a verdict. Reading AI exposure scores
- See the full ranked list of occupations with the lowest automation exposure nationwide. Safest occupations from AI
AI exposure scores estimate task automatability from O*NET data; they are not a certainty of job loss, and BLS growth projections are estimates, not guarantees.
Data sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2024–2034 and O*NET Database 30.0. Employment figures are rounded. Wage data from BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES).