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Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors pay in El Centro, CA and Merced, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors is $141,760 per year in El Centro, CA. It is $83,020 per year in Merced, CA. El Centro, CA is 70.8% above Merced, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 21-1012 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 200 wage and salary jobs in El Centro, CA and 350 in Merced, CA. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings