Average Salary

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a mean annual wage of $46,430 for counselors employed by local governments and $41,660 for counselors employed by state governments as of 2010. As most juvenile detention centers are funded by local or state governments, counselors in this sector can expect a similar salary. Criminal justice career website Criminal Justice Degree Schools supports this data, indicating an average salary of $48,000 per year for trained youth correctional counselors. Likewise, working juvenile counselors in Bexar County, Texas, reported an average yearly salary of about $46,686 in 2011.
  
  

Wages

• BLS data from 2010 indicate mean hourly earnings of $22.32 for counselors at local government-funded institutions and a mean hourly wage of $20.03 for counselors at state government-funded institutions. For full-time juvenile counselors, this puts monthly wages at around $3,350, a figure reflected by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which offered youth correctional counselors $3,050 monthly during academy training and $4,142 monthly after academy training in 2010.
  
  

Variations

• Employer, location and experience all exert sizable influence on the salary of juvenile detention center counselors. For instance, in 2011, the Tehama County Probation Department in California offered a starting monthly salary of $2,604 to juvenile detention facility counselors. At the top of the state's pay scale counselors could earn as much as $6,743 per month. Counselors with academy training earn significantly more than those without.
  
  

Benefits

• Benefits for juvenile detention center counselors vary by state and local employers. Common benefits include paid vacation hours, sick leave hours and holidays, which often increase in number based on experience. Juvenile detention center counselors often receive medical, dental and vision coverage and retirement plans. In some cases, these professionals earn extra via recruitment, education and physical fitness-based incentives.