Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA)

The BCaBA is the bachelor-level ABA credential, and only 4,174 people hold it nationally as of April 2026. The count has barely moved in six years while RBT nearly tripled and BCBA grew about 95%. The middle credential is not growing. This page lays out what BCaBAs actually earn, where BCaBA jobs still cluster (Florida is the unusual case), and how to decide whether the bachelor-level pathway is the right move for you. The honest answer for most candidates with a master's path in reach is no, and the data is honest about why.

What BCaBAs Do

A Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst is the bachelor-level practitioner credentialed by the BACB to deliver behavior-analytic services under the supervision of a BCBA. BCaBAs sit between RBTs (direct service only) and BCBAs (full clinical authority). They can implement portions of behavior intervention plans, train and supervise RBTs, collect and graph data, assist with functional assessments, and run cases inside the supervision envelope set by their BCBA.

A typical week splits between direct service, RBT supervision, data analysis, and case-prep documentation. Caseload mix varies sharply by employer. Some agencies treat BCaBAs as senior RBTs with credentialing perks; others give BCaBAs real clinical autonomy on a defined slice of caseload under BCBA oversight. In Florida, which holds about 41% of all U.S. BCaBAs, the credential is part of an active market and often runs closer to the second pattern.

The BCaBA must always practice under the ongoing supervision of a BCBA or BCBA-D. The supervision chain is layered: BCBA supervises BCaBA, BCaBA supervises RBT. Most state regulatory frameworks do not separately license BCaBAs, which is one reason the credential has stayed flat in headcount while RBT and BCBA both grew strongly. A BCaBA cannot independently design treatment plans or conduct certain complex assessments without BCBA sign-off.

BCaBA Salary Overview

The closest federal wage estimate puts the BCaBA national median at $59,190, with a 25th-to-75th percentile range of $47,170 to $76,230. The 10th percentile is $39,090. The 90th percentile is $98,210. These figures come from SOC 21-1018 (Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors), the same federal bucket used for BCBAs and BCBA-Ds.

The BLS does not publish a separate BCaBA code. The federal table cannot tell you what BCaBAs earn versus BCBAs. It gives you the same medians for both, which dilutes BCBA pay upward and overstates BCaBA pay at the headline level. In real-world terms, BCaBAs sit between RBT and BCBA pay, depending on scope of work.

When the role is closer to clinical supervision under a BCBA, pay tends toward the BCBA-listings range of about $94,250 on My ABA Jobs. When the role is closer to direct service, pay tends toward the RBT range of about $51,030 at the BLS median. A defensible asking range for a typical BCaBA anchors on the federal median of about $59,000 and stretches toward the 75th percentile of $76,230, with Florida and the major coastal metros reaching up to about $76,000, the 75th percentile, for senior BCaBAs running cases under BCBA oversight. The My ABA Jobs BCaBA-tagged listings sample is n=15, below the publishing threshold, so we do not headline a BCaBA listings median in this edition.

data sources: BLS OEWS May 2024; BACB April 2026 snapshot; My ABA Jobs listings panel October 2025 through April 2026.

BCaBA Salary by State

State medians under SOC 21-1018 apply equally to BCaBA, BCBA, and BCBA-D in BLS data. The table below represents the high end of what the bachelor-level credential can stretch to in a strong market, not the typical BCaBA median.

Top 10 states by published median:

Rank	State	Median	25th pct	75th pct
1	Alaska	$79,220	$63,690	$96,940
2	New Mexico	$70,770	$55,060	$80,840
3	Oregon	$69,660	$56,290	$84,970
4	North Dakota	$66,450	$50,810	$75,120
5	District of Columbia	$66,140	$47,980	$83,040
6	Utah	$65,920	$42,210	$94,630
7	Idaho	$65,240	$48,570	$78,100
8	New Jersey	$64,710	$51,170	$84,690
9	Nebraska	$64,410	$46,900	$81,210
10	Washington	$64,220	$52,070	$80,440

Bottom 10 states by published median:

Rank	State	Median	25th pct	75th pct
51	Louisiana	$40,200	$35,130	$53,560
50	West Virginia	$46,710	$38,770	$62,790
49	Mississippi	$46,810	$37,830	$56,800
48	Tennessee	$48,170	$36,910	$60,900
47	Alabama	$48,880	$40,480	$58,540
46	Indiana	$49,280	$41,860	$62,780
45	Delaware	$49,680	$41,630	$65,270
44	Rhode Island	$49,770	$42,550	$67,370
43	Arkansas	$49,990	$37,280	$69,630
42	South Carolina	$50,720	$40,480	$65,770

BCaBA headcount concentrates in Florida (1,723, or 41.3% of the national total), Virginia (234), Texas (210), California (190), and Michigan (151). In Florida, BCaBA is part of an active market and worth a serious look. Outside Florida, no state has more than 250 BCaBAs.

BCaBA Salary by Metro

Metro medians under SOC 21-1018 mirror the BCBA proxy. The top 10 metros by BCBA-category median apply to BCaBAs at the upper end of the credential's pay band:

Rank	Metro	Median	Employment
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$74,670	2,520
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$72,950	8,080
3	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$71,530	3,640
4	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$69,510	3,570
5	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$67,540	1,930
6	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$65,290	7,040
7	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$64,900	23,790
8	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$64,140	4,230
9	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$63,990	6,830
10	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$63,170	7,590

For BCaBAs the more useful market signal is concentration, not the metro wage table. Florida's BCaBA dominance means a Miami or Tampa BCaBA is competing in a deeper, more active market than a BCaBA in any other major metro. Outside Florida, BCaBA listings are uncommon enough that many BCaBA-eligible roles get posted under BCBA or behavior analyst titles.

BCaBA Demand and Job Outlook

Three structural reasons the BCaBA has not grown alongside RBT and BCBA. First, most states do not separately license BCaBAs. The state regulatory framework that drove RBT adoption (insurance billing requirements) did not produce a parallel BCaBA pathway in most jurisdictions. Second, some payers reimburse BCaBA-supervised work at lower rates than BCBA-supervised work, which makes BCaBAs less attractive than either RBTs (cheap direct labor) or BCBAs (full clinical authority). Third, most bachelor-level candidates skip BCaBA: they stay RBT while completing a master's, or go straight from RBT to BCBA without the intermediate stop.

National BCaBA counts have hovered around 4,000 to 4,200 since 2020. In the same window, BCBA grew from about 38,000 to 74,423, and RBT grew from 88,009 to 258,616. The middle credential gets squeezed from both sides.

Where the BCaBA still works: Florida (41% of all U.S. BCaBAs are there), some larger agencies with internal BCaBA pay bands, and candidates with a bachelor's who need certification fast for a specific employer. Demand for BCaBA-tagged roles is concentrated in those pockets rather than spread nationally. Browse current openings on the jobs board, and broaden to BCBA roles if your local listings volume looks thin. The BCBA career guide and BCBA salary data cover the master-level path most BCaBA candidates eventually weigh.

BCaBA Certification Path

The BACB pathway runs in four steps.

First, a bachelor's degree in any field, plus a Verified Course Sequence in behavior analysis approved by the Association for Behavior Analysis International. Typically five graduate or upper-division courses.

Second, 1,000 hours of supervised experience under a BCBA, completed before you sit for the exam.

Third, pass the BCaBA exam administered by the BACB. The current application fee is $245 plus a scheduling fee.

Fourth, maintain certification with continuing education and recertification every two years.

Total time from start of VCS to certification typically runs one to two years if you already hold a bachelor's. State licensing layers are uncommon. Most state ABA practice acts focus on RBT and BCBA scope, with BCaBA either omitted from state license language or rolled into BCBA supervision rules. See the licensing requirements hub for state-by-state detail.