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Chattanooga, Tennessee has 5 accredited schools offering counseling programs, with tuition ranging from $2,363 to $23,751 per year for indexed programs. Chattanooga has a population of about 182,832. Median household income is $61,028 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 35.5% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Chattanooga, TN-GA metro area, the top-earning counseling-related role is Social and Community Service Manager at a median $78,400 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer counseling programs near Chattanooga, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Chattanooga city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Chattanooga. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:Accreditor: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on CollegesIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Tennessee schools on the Tennessee counseling page.
Chattanooga is part of the Chattanooga, TN-GA metro area (BLS area code 16860). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Tennessee statewide.
| Occupation | Median Wage | Source | COL-Adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselor | $55,270 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | $60,404 |
| Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselor and Advisor | $56,660 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | $61,923 |
| Marriage and Family Therapist | $48,050 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | $52,514 |
| Rehabilitation Counselor | $49,450 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | $54,044 |
| Counselor, All Other | $53,110 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | $58,044 |
| Social and Community Service Manager | $78,400 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | $85,683 |
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 182,832 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003) |
| Median household income | $61,028 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013) |
| Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+ | 35.5% | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003) |
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) | 91.5 (below U.S. average) | BEA RPP 2024 |
| Counseling-related employment in Hamilton County | 6,167 workers, 607 establishments | BLS QCEW 2024 annual |
Accredited schools offering counseling programs near Chattanooga are listed on this page, ranked by BOC Score and distance from the city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS and College Scorecard data on every site update, so it stays current as programs open and close.
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying counseling-related roles near Chattanooga are: Social and Community Service Manager ($78,400), Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselor and Advisor ($56,660), Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselor ($55,270). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Tennessee statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
East Ridge, TN is 4.9 miles from Chattanooga and has its own set of local counseling programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
Chattanooga’s median household income of $61,028 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Chattanooga while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and Tennessee public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Chattanooga:
Data verified: July 23, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
