---
title: "Genetic Counselor"
description: "Assess individual or family risk for a variety of inherited conditions, such as genetic disorders and birth defects. Provide information to other…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/genetic-counselor"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Genetic Counselor

**Category:** Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · **SOC code:** 29-9092 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 29-9092.00

Assess individual or family risk for a variety of inherited conditions, such as genetic disorders and birth defects. Provide information to other healthcare providers or to individuals and families concerned with the risk of inherited conditions. Advise individuals and families to support informed decisionmaking and coping methods for those at risk. May help conduct research related to genetic conditions or genetic counseling.

Also advertised as: Cardiovascular Genetics Counselor; Certified Genetic Counselor (CGC); Clinical Genetic Counselor; Genetic Services Coordinator; Hereditary Cancer Program Coordinator; Lab Genetic Counselor (Laboratory Genetic Counselor); Medical Science Liaison; Pediatric Genetics Clinical Coordinator.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $100,040 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $48.09/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $78,270 to $138,760, with the middle half between $88,900 and $116,140
- **Total US employment:** 3,740
- **Typical entry education:** Master's
- **Preparation required:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +10.4% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 300 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 23/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 3,740 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $78,270 |
| 25th | $88,900 |
| 50th (median) | $100,040 |
| 75th | $116,140 |
| 90th | $138,760 |
| Mean (average) | $104,620 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CA | $137,650 | $124,323 | 440 |
| NJ | $117,750 | $108,221 | 240 |
| NY | $107,450 | $99,564 | 240 |
| CO | $106,100 | $102,958 | 40 |
| DE | $106,010 | $106,214 | 40 |
| WA | $102,920 | $96,175 | 100 |
| AZ | $102,730 | $102,039 | 50 |
| FL | $102,330 | $98,952 | 100 |
| MN | $102,010 | $103,436 | 160 |
| CT | $101,640 | $98,099 | 50 |
| OH | $100,670 | $108,511 | 120 |
| DC | $100,380 | $91,337 | 40 |
| VA | $99,960 | $98,868 | 100 |
| KY | $99,770 | $110,660 | 50 |
| TX | $99,450 | $102,466 | Not published by BLS |

13 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 28 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/genetic-counselor/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/genetic-counselor.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 4,200 in the 2025–2035 base year to 4,600 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 400 jobs, or +10.4%. Much faster than average: 10.4% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 300 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Master's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Master's Degree | 90.5% |
| Post-Master's Certificate | 4.8% |
| First Professional Degree | 4.8% |

## What the work involves

- Interview patients or review medical records to obtain comprehensive patient or family medical histories, and document findings.
- Provide patients with information about the inheritance of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and various forms of cancer.
- Interpret laboratory results and communicate findings to patients or physicians.
- Write detailed consultation reports to provide information on complex genetic concepts to patients or referring physicians.
- Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in genetics.
- Prepare or provide genetics-related educational materials to patients or medical personnel.
- Evaluate or make recommendations for standards of care or clinical operations, ensuring compliance with applicable regulations, ethics, legislation, or policies.
- Engage in research activities related to the field of medical genetics or genetic counseling.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Science — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Social Perceptiveness — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Biology — importance 4.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Therapy and Counseling — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Psychology — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Medicine and Dentistry — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Investigative (I), Social (S), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| I — Investigative | 5.86 |
| S — Social | 5.45 |
| C — Conventional | 3.89 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.73 |
| A — Artistic | 2.34 |
| R — Realistic | 1.66 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| INFJ | 65.0 |
| ENFJ | 60.5 |
| ISFJ | 55.3 |
| INFP | 54.9 |
| ENFP | 53.8 |

Best-fitting types: INFJ, ENFJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Psychiatrist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/psychiatrist) — median $281,870
- [Family Medicine Physician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/family-medicine-physician) — median $244,180
- [Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse](https://nuecareer.com/careers/advanced-practice-psychiatric-nurse) — median $97,550
- [Pediatrician, General](https://nuecareer.com/careers/pediatrician-general) — median $210,040
- [Clinical Nurse Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/clinical-nurse-specialist) — median $97,550
- [Neurologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/neurologist) — median $248,560
- [Cardiologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cardiologist) — median $496,010
- [Pediatric Surgeon](https://nuecareer.com/careers/pediatric-surgeon) — median $559,030
- [Clinical Neuropsychologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/clinical-neuropsychologist) — median $110,840
- [Preventive Medicine Physician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/preventive-medicine-physician) — median $265,930

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/genetic-counselor