High paying social service jobs in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC

Every social service occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC. 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 Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC run 2.1% below the national average (2024), so a Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC salary is worth about 1.02× 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 Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC

OccupationMedian, Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC · Employed

1Social Workers, All Other$94,220
Bachelor's degree
$62,240 – $123,220260
2Marriage and Family Therapists$81,870
Master's degree
$50,560 – $91,250300
3Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors$69,840
Master's degree
$46,540 – $103,3801,830
4Healthcare Social Workers$63,880
Master's degree
$49,560 – $79,290660
5Child, Family, and School Social Workers$62,360
Bachelor's degree
$46,730 – $92,2501,970
6Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors$59,280
Master's degree
$37,240 – $96,7903,760
7Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists$58,830
Bachelor's degree
$46,870 – $75,560560
8Clergy$50,330
Bachelor's degree
$30,110 – $79,460240
9Rehabilitation Counselors$45,040
Master's degree
$27,040 – $76,620530
10Social and Human Service Assistants$39,160
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,460 – $59,3701,780

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

#	Occupation	MedianVirginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Social Workers, All OtherBachelor's degree	$94,220	$62,240 – $123,220	260
2	Marriage and Family TherapistsMaster's degree	$81,870	$50,560 – $91,250	300
3	Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and AdvisorsMaster's degree	$69,840	$46,540 – $103,380	1,830
4	Healthcare Social WorkersMaster's degree	$63,880	$49,560 – $79,290	660
5	Child, Family, and School Social WorkersBachelor's degree	$62,360	$46,730 – $92,250	1,970
6	Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health CounselorsMaster's degree	$59,280	$37,240 – $96,790	3,760
7	Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment SpecialistsBachelor's degree	$58,830	$46,870 – $75,560	560
8	ClergyBachelor's degree	$50,330	$30,110 – $79,460	240
9	Rehabilitation CounselorsMaster's degree	$45,040	$27,040 – $76,620	530
10	Social and Human Service AssistantsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$39,160	$31,460 – $59,370	1,780

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC. 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 Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC to rank honestly.

High paying social service jobs in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC

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