High paying social service jobs in Iowa

Every social service occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in Iowa. Read the percentile range, not just the median: the gap between the 10th and 90th inside a single social service job is usually wider than the gap between two different ones, so where you land in a field matters more than which field you pick.

Cost of living: prices in Iowa run 12.2% below the national average (2024), so a Iowa salary is worth about 1.14× its face value in national terms. That scales every wage here by the same factor — it changes what the numbers mean, not their order. To see where a job pays a real premium, use jobs that pay more in Iowa.

Wages: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Cost of living: BEA regional price parities, 2024

Find social service jobs in Iowa

OccupationMedian, Iowa · Employed

1Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists$77,390
Bachelor's degree
$57,410 – $94,810950
2Health Education Specialists$75,750
Bachelor's degree
$46,450 – $95,750540
3Healthcare Social Workers$63,050
Master's degree
$46,140 – $80,3601,550
4Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors$60,880
Master's degree
$44,450 – $102,8903,530
5Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors$56,540
Master's degree
$43,470 – $77,1103,690
6Child, Family, and School Social Workers$52,250
Bachelor's degree
$39,240 – $81,1703,410
7Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers$48,530
Master's degree
$37,980 – $80,7601,200
8Social and Human Service Assistants$42,480
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,060 – $60,7805,230
9Rehabilitation Counselors$39,630
Master's degree
$34,370 – $58,2202,170

Bars run from the 10th to the 90th percentile; the middle half is shaded darker, and the tick is the median.

#	Occupation	MedianIowa	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment SpecialistsBachelor's degree	$77,390	$57,410 – $94,810	950
2	Health Education SpecialistsBachelor's degree	$75,750	$46,450 – $95,750	540
3	Healthcare Social WorkersMaster's degree	$63,050	$46,140 – $80,360	1,550
4	Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health CounselorsMaster's degree	$60,880	$44,450 – $102,890	3,530
5	Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and AdvisorsMaster's degree	$56,540	$43,470 – $77,110	3,690
6	Child, Family, and School Social WorkersBachelor's degree	$52,250	$39,240 – $81,170	3,410
7	Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social WorkersMaster's degree	$48,530	$37,980 – $80,760	1,200
8	Social and Human Service AssistantsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$42,480	$33,060 – $60,780	5,230
9	Rehabilitation CounselorsMaster's degree	$39,630	$34,370 – $58,220	2,170

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Iowa. The rarer ones are real jobs — but a 1,190-person occupation at the top of a list answers a different question than the one most readers are asking.

More for Iowa

Metro areas in Iowa

Pay varies more between metros than between states — the spread inside one state is often wider than the gap between two.

By field in Iowa

Without a degree

The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in Iowa to rank honestly.

High paying social service jobs in Iowa

More for Iowa

Metro areas in Iowa

By field in Iowa

Without a degree

High paying social service jobs in each state