High paying social service jobs in New Orleans-Metairie, LA

Every social service occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in New Orleans-Metairie, LA. 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 New Orleans-Metairie, LA run 7.4% below the national average (2024), so a New Orleans-Metairie, LA salary is worth about 1.08× its face value in national terms. That scales every wage here by the same factor — it changes what the numbers mean, not their order.

Local wage estimates are suppressed more often than state ones — BLS withholds any figure too few local employers report — so an occupation missing here simply has no published local estimate.

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

Find social service jobs in New Orleans-Metairie, LA

OccupationMedian, New Orleans-Metairie, LA · Employed

1Social Workers, All Other$78,480
Bachelor's degree
$48,110 – $111,090190
2Healthcare Social Workers$65,710
Master's degree
$52,290 – $81,950400
3Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists$65,510
Bachelor's degree
$44,230 – $93,150180
4Health Education Specialists$60,980
Bachelor's degree
$40,740 – $91,800170
5Child, Family, and School Social Workers$59,940
Bachelor's degree
$38,390 – $79,890340
6Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors$59,200
Master's degree
$46,490 – $78,940770
7Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers$59,150
Master's degree
$30,100 – $77,490140
8Counselors, All Other$48,620
Master's degree
$35,520 – $67,630280
9Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other$48,020
Bachelor's degree
$30,300 – $75,9401,300
10Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors$42,140
Master's degree
$31,850 – $71,3601,580
11Social and Human Service Assistants$35,900
High school diploma or equivalent
$26,210 – $49,810700

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

#	Occupation	MedianNew Orleans-Metairie, LA	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Social Workers, All OtherBachelor's degree	$78,480	$48,110 – $111,090	190
2	Healthcare Social WorkersMaster's degree	$65,710	$52,290 – $81,950	400
3	Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment SpecialistsBachelor's degree	$65,510	$44,230 – $93,150	180
4	Health Education SpecialistsBachelor's degree	$60,980	$40,740 – $91,800	170
5	Child, Family, and School Social WorkersBachelor's degree	$59,940	$38,390 – $79,890	340
6	Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and AdvisorsMaster's degree	$59,200	$46,490 – $78,940	770
7	Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social WorkersMaster's degree	$59,150	$30,100 – $77,490	140
8	Counselors, All OtherMaster's degree	$48,620	$35,520 – $67,630	280
9	Community and Social Service Specialists, All OtherBachelor's degree	$48,020	$30,300 – $75,940	1,300
10	Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health CounselorsMaster's degree	$42,140	$31,850 – $71,360	1,580
11	Social and Human Service AssistantsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$35,900	$26,210 – $49,810	700

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in New Orleans-Metairie, LA. 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.

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Without a degree

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

High paying social service jobs in New Orleans-Metairie, LA

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