Work Environment

Genetic counselors held about 2,400 jobs in 2020. The largest employers of genetic counselors were as follows:

• Hospitals; state, local, and private - 46%
• Offices of physicians - 11%
• Medical and diagnostic laboratories - 11%
• Colleges, universities, and professional schools; state, local, and private - 10%
• Self-employed workers - 3%

Genetic counselors work with families, patients, and other medical professionals.

Work Schedules

Most genetic counselors work full time and have a standard work schedule.

Job Outlook

Employment of genetic counselors is projected to grow 26 percent from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations.

About 300 openings for genetic counselors are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

Employment

Because genetic counselors is a small occupation, the fast growth is expected to result in only about 600 new jobs over the decade.

Ongoing technological innovations, including lab tests and developments in genomics, are giving counselors opportunities to conduct more types of analyses. Cancer genomics, for example, can determine a patient’s risk for specific types of cancer. The number and types of tests that genetic counselors can administer and evaluate have increased over the past few years. Many types of genetic tests are covered by health insurance providers.

Earnings

The median annual wage for genetic counselors was $80,150 in May 2021. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $49,120, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $121,070.

In May 2021, the median annual wages for genetic counselors in the top industries in which they worked were as follows:

• Medical and diagnostic laboratories - $95,870
• Hospitals; state, local, and private - $79,810
• Offices of physicians - $79,360
• Colleges, universities, and professional schools; state, local, and private - $79,100

Most genetic counselors work full time and have a standard work schedule.