High paying social service jobs in Kentucky

Every social service occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in Kentucky. 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 Kentucky run 9.8% below the national average (2024), so a Kentucky salary is worth about 1.11× 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 Kentucky.

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

Find social service jobs in Kentucky

OccupationMedian, Kentucky · Employed

1Health Education Specialists$65,370
Bachelor's degree
$44,610 – $98,030760
2Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors$64,350
Master's degree
$40,840 – $99,3905,030
3Healthcare Social Workers$64,080
Master's degree
$43,010 – $86,2401,980
4Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists$59,610
Bachelor's degree
$54,070 – $69,000830
5Child, Family, and School Social Workers$59,100
Bachelor's degree
$39,210 – $78,6608,470
6Rehabilitation Counselors$58,540
Master's degree
$33,000 – $77,790790
7Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors$54,190
Master's degree
$35,150 – $83,0707,690
8Community Health Workers$48,230
High school diploma or equivalent
$33,310 – $71,980980
9Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers$42,570
Master's degree
$33,880 – $63,9601,360
10Social and Human Service Assistants$37,440
High school diploma or equivalent
$27,540 – $55,5304,670

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

#	Occupation	MedianKentucky	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Health Education SpecialistsBachelor's degree	$65,370	$44,610 – $98,030	760
2	Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and AdvisorsMaster's degree	$64,350	$40,840 – $99,390	5,030
3	Healthcare Social WorkersMaster's degree	$64,080	$43,010 – $86,240	1,980
4	Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment SpecialistsBachelor's degree	$59,610	$54,070 – $69,000	830
5	Child, Family, and School Social WorkersBachelor's degree	$59,100	$39,210 – $78,660	8,470
6	Rehabilitation CounselorsMaster's degree	$58,540	$33,000 – $77,790	790
7	Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health CounselorsMaster's degree	$54,190	$35,150 – $83,070	7,690
8	Community Health WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,230	$33,310 – $71,980	980
9	Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social WorkersMaster's degree	$42,570	$33,880 – $63,960	1,360
10	Social and Human Service AssistantsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$37,440	$27,540 – $55,530	4,670

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Kentucky. 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 Kentucky

Metro areas in Kentucky

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

By field in Kentucky

Without a degree

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

High paying social service jobs in Kentucky

More for Kentucky

Metro areas in Kentucky

By field in Kentucky

Without a degree

High paying social service jobs in each state