Occupational Therapy Aides vs Rehabilitation Counselors
Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index
A factual, source-backed comparison of Occupational Therapy Aides and Rehabilitation Counselors on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”
At a glance
| Dimension | Occupational Therapy Aides | Rehabilitation Counselors |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $37,370 | $46,110 |
| Employment | 5,000 | 88,930 |
| Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection | About average (+2.5%) | About average (+1.4%) |
| Annual openings · BLS projection | 600 | 10,000 |
| Typical education · O*NET | Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. | Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not. |
| AI exposure · published exposure studies | Low · 9th pct | High · 76th pct |
| Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk | 18th pct · 15% of tasks | 53rd pct · 28% of tasks |
| Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index | Augmentation-leaning (60.8%) | Augmentation-leaning (74.4%) |
| Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman | No | Yes |
Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.
Skills
Shared: Therapy and Counseling, English Language, Customer and Personal Service, Psychology, Service Orientation, Oral Comprehension, Problem Sensitivity, Computers and Electronics, Speaking, Social Perceptiveness, Education and Training, Active Listening, Oral Expression, Coordination, Critical Thinking, Monitoring, Deductive Reasoning, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, Public Safety and Security, Reading Comprehension, Writing, Complex Problem Solving, Written Comprehension, Written Expression, Active Learning, Learning Strategies, Instructing, Judgment and Decision Making, Time Management, Inductive Reasoning, Near Vision, Administrative, Persuasion.
Specific to Occupational Therapy Aides
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Information Ordering
- Category Flexibility
- Finger Dexterity
- Trunk Strength
- Arm-Hand Steadiness
Specific to Rehabilitation Counselors
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Administration and Management
- Systems Analysis
- Systems Evaluation
- Fluency of Ideas
Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).
Tools & technology
Shared: Medical software , Data base user interface and query software , Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Presentation software , Word processing software , Calendar and scheduling software .
Specific to Occupational Therapy Aides
Specific to Rehabilitation Counselors
Full profiles
This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Occupational Therapy Aides or Rehabilitation Counselors — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.
More comparisons
Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.
- Occupational Therapy Aides vs Physical Therapist Aides
- Occupational Therapy Aides vs Occupational Therapy Assistants
- Occupational Therapy Aides vs Physical Therapist Assistants
- Occupational Therapy Aides vs Psychiatric Technicians
- Occupational Therapy Aides vs Psychiatric Aides
- Occupational Therapy Aides vs Home Health Aides
- Occupational Therapy Aides vs Respiratory Therapists
- Occupational Therapy Aides vs Nursing Assistants
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Occupational Therapy Aides vs Rehabilitation Counselors." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/occupational-therapy-aides-vs-rehabilitation-counselors
Singulariki. (2026). Occupational Therapy Aides vs Rehabilitation Counselors. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/occupational-therapy-aides-vs-rehabilitation-counselors
@misc{singulariki-occupational-therapy-aides-vs-rehabilitation-counselors,
title = {Occupational Therapy Aides vs Rehabilitation Counselors},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/compare/occupational-therapy-aides-vs-rehabilitation-counselors}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.