One question that often comes up is whether there is an advantage (or disadvantage) to working in a particular setting or practice area in terms of the amount of income that you would earn as a social worker. The answer is that it depends…
The median base annual salary for a social worker is $55,000, according to a 2009 study commissioned by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) (results of which were released in May 2010); however, there are indeed variations in compensation by setting type, practice area and region.
First, Looking at Base Pay by Setting:
The Base Pay by Setting chart below shows the quartiles for the 11 most commonly mentioned settings (cited by 80% of all responses) out of the 31 possible setting types.
Highest median base pay levels were reported by those employed in government agencies at ($66,300), K-12 schools ($61,300), colleges or universities ($60,000), and hospitals/medical centers ($60,000). Conversely, lowest median base pay levels were cited by those working in a private group practice ($45,000).
A wide range of income is present in the private practice arena, with a maximum cap ($80,000 at the 75th percentile) and comparatively low entry-level point ($33,000 at the 25th percentile). The median base salary of the solo private practitioner, at $52,000, is lower than, but quite close to that of the population of practitioners as a whole ($55,000).
Second, Looking at Base Pay by Practice Area
By far, out of the 16 practice area categories, the highest median base pay was earned by those in administration ($78,000). The next best paid practice area was occupational social work at a median of $65,000.
Other practice areas on par or above the overall practitioner median base pay of $55,000 were: school social work, political social work, public health, criminal justice, developmental disabilities, displaced persons/homeless, and child welfare/family (see chart below).
As per the Base Pay by Other Practice Areas chart (second chart below), the remaining practice areas had a median base pay below the overall practitioner median of $55,000.
Lastly, Looking at Base Pay by Census Region
The Pacific states (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii) pay the highest base pay levels with a median of $65,000.
The Middle Atlantic states (New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) receive the next highest median pay at $59,000.
Social workers in the East South Central states (Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama) receive the lowest levels of base pay with a median of $47,400.
Base Pay by Census Region
For those who are curious as to which are the highest paying states….
The highest medians for base pay are in:
• District of Columbia ($74,400)
• California ($69,300)
• New York ($62,400)
• Hawaii ($62,300)
• Nevada ($61,900)
Please see an earlier post How Much Do Social Workers Earn? for how the salary varies by experience (years worked) in the field.
To look at NASW’s full report, you may go to the original source listed below or click here.
I hope you found this post helpful. Do these figures correlate with what you are seeing out there? What are your thoughts and comments about this information? Do you feel that social workers are adequately compensated?
Source: NASW Compensation Study
I can’t decide if this depressed me about my current salary, or made me hopeful. Do these seem a little high to anyone else?
These are quite a bit higher than what I am paid as a licensed CSW working as a therapist on my LCSW!
My daughter will obtain her Masters in Social Work. What will be the starting salary for someone with a Masters degree? Thank you
Hi Susan,
Please look at the chart in this post for the answer to this question 🙂
Best,
Dorlee
Hi,
I don’t know whether you had a chance to click through to the link showing the variance by years worked in the field…but if you do, you see that:
“social workers with less than 5 years experience have a median annual salary of $43,700; those with 10-19 years earn $52,000; and those with 20-29 years earn $60,000.”
Therefore, my take-away is that if the figures above looked high to you, it may be a function of the number of years you have been working in the field.
Does this make sense?
It seems that in seeking a job in mental health that one should be cognizant about where they live/expenses to live there. It seems that no matter where you live, the pay is about the same. It might be more beneficial to pick a job in a place that is more affordable to live.
You raise a very good point, Laurel
If the differences in pay by region are relatively small, choosing a home in an area with a lower cost of living would make one’s salary stretch much further…
I live in Illinois. It took me 5 months to find a job. I was hired as a counselor in the PSR program at a Community Mental Health Center at a salary of 27 thousand, My job entailed cooking, shopping for groceries, housekeeping and a couple of groups in between all of that. I quit after 3 months and am back to looking for a job but am looking out of state. A friend who graduated a year before me and moved to NM is now making nearly 50 thousand a year. Considering my student loan payments are 800 dollars a month I am looking for a federal job in Indian Health Services that will also pay off my student loans as well as start pay of 50 thousand.
Hi Tina,
Thanks so much for sharing your experience, as well as that of your friend’s. It so clearly demonstrates the variability in pay by region…
I’m hoping that you are able to find soon a new position at your friend’s higher salary. One thing you may also want to consider is applying for a loan forgiveness (if your new place of employment will fit the requisite criteria).
Social workers do a great job advocating for others but not their profession. Other professionals and non professionals have taken over social work positions as our salaries and job opportunities have decreased. Nurses have done a great job advocating for their profession and employment opportunities have expanded. Psychologists have expanded thier job opportunities also taking over positions once filled by social workers. Several decades ago social workers were highly respected & now the future of the profession looks bleak.