Youth Worker Hourly Pay, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 2,074 US job postings by 600 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for youth workers: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 2,074 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for youth workers in US job postings is $19.00 an hour (657 postings from 214 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $17.00 to $21.50 an hour.
- The skills that most set youth worker postings apart are motivate youth, youth development, manage behavior problems.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 1 year of experience.
Youth Worker job postings in the US, October 2026
- $19.00/hr
- Median advertised pay (657 postings)
- $17.00–$21.50
- Middle 50% of postings
- 2,074
- US job postings from 600 employers
- 1 year
- Median experience asked
How much does a youth worker make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $19.00 an hour, from 657 US job postings by 214 employers that state pay. That is about $41,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 657 US youth worker job postings: median $41,000 a year ($19.00 an hour), middle half $35,000 to $46,000.
- Median: $41,000 ($19.00/hr)
- 25th percentile: $35,000
- 75th percentile: $46,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $20K–$30K | 6.8% |
| $30K–$40K | 42.0% |
| $40K–$50K | 35.5% |
| $50K–$60K | 11.0% |
| $60K–$70K | 3.9% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $19.00 | $17.00–$21.50 | 584 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $41,000 | $35K–$46K | 657 |
What is the starting salary for a youth worker?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Highest-paying youth worker jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Youth Worker (general) | $19.65/hr | 474 | 163 |
Youth worker pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $19.00/hr | $17.50–$20.75 | 152 | 13.5% |
Skills employers ask for in youth worker job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 34% |
| Interpersonal skills | 17% |
| Problem-solving | 12% |
| Organizational skills | 11% |
| Motivate youth | 9% |
| Microsoft Office | 9% |
| Youth development | 8% |
| Excel | 7% |
| Flexibility | 7% |
| Work independently | 7% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set youth workers apart
- Motivate youth660× as often as in all postings · 9%
- Youth development390.9× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Manage behavior problems663.1× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Crisis intervention14.8× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Flexibility4.4× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Patience5.2× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Flexible4.2× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Adaptability3.6× as often as in all postings · 5%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a youth worker job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a youth worker do?
Employers post these jobs as Youth Development Professional, Youth Counselor, Youth Care Worker, Youth Mentor, Youth Development Specialist and other titles. The largest specializations are Mentor (10%).
The closest official occupation is Social and Human Service Assistants (21-1093.00). Its most important tasks:
- Assess clients' cognitive abilities and physical and emotional needs to determine appropriate interventions.
- Develop and implement behavioral management and care plans for clients.
- Keep records or prepare reports for owner or management concerning visits with clients.
- Visit individuals in homes or attend group meetings to provide information on agency services, requirements, or procedures.
- Submit reports and review reports or problems with superior.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a youth worker?
Among 652 postings that state a minimum, the median is 1 year. Under 1% say 0 years and 57% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 652 US youth worker job postings: median 1 year, and 57% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 6% |
| 1 yr | 51% |
| 2 yrs | 31% |
| 3-4 yrs | 11% |
| 5-7 yrs | 1% |
| 8-9 yrs | 0% |
| 10+ yrs | 0% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Part-time 69%, Full-time 31% of the 622 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a youth worker: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Youth Development Professional | 60 (10.0%) |
| Youth Counselor | 45 (7.5%) |
| Youth Care Worker | 45 (7.5%) |
| Youth Mentor | 41 (6.8%) |
| Youth Development Specialist | 39 (6.5%) |
| Youth Worker | 39 (6.5%) |
| After School Counselor | 36 (6.0%) |
| Youth Specialist | 36 (6.0%) |
| Youth Care Specialist | 24 (4.0%) |
| Therapeutic Mentor | 23 (3.8%) |
| Youth Support Specialist | 19 (3.2%) |
| Youth Engagement Specialist | 16 (2.7%) |
| Assistant Group Leader | 15 (2.5%) |
| Youth Program Coordinator | 11 (1.8%) |
| Youth Advocate | 10 (1.7%) |
| Site Coordinator | 10 (1.7%) |
| Youth Program Specialist | 9 (1.5%) |
| Unit Director | 9 (1.5%) |
| Group Leader | 8 (1.3%) |
| Youth Program Assistant | 8 (1.3%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Youth Worker compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Youth Worker | $19.00/hr | 1 year | 2,074 | – |
| Mental Health Technician | $20.66/hr | 1 year | 5,443 | 17 |
| Childcare Worker | $17.50/hr | 1 year | 11,091 | 17 |
| Paraprofessional | $18.50/hr | 2 years | 24,141 | 15 |
| Behavior Technician | $24.00/hr | 1 year | 13,716 | 14 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Mental Health Technician | 17 | $20.66/hr |
| Childcare Worker | 17 | $17.50/hr |
| Paraprofessional | 15 | $18.50/hr |
| Behavior Technician | 14 | $24.00/hr |
| Case Manager | 15 | $23.51/hr |
| Recreation Coordinator | 18 | $18.75/hr |
Applying for youth worker jobs?
- Youth worker resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find youth worker jobs: search open postings
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 20 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.