Child, Family, and School Social Workers salary

SOC 21-1021 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$59,550

per year, nationally

Middle half

$48,270–$76,070

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

392,550

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+3.4%

35,100 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$42,280$95,530

10th: $42,280
25th: $48,270
Median: $59,550
75th: $76,070
90th: $95,530

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where child, family, and school social workers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Connecticut	$78,970	103.6	5,230	1.22×
2	Maryland	$76,390	105.0	4,710	0.67×
3	New Jersey	$76,280	108.8	7,360	0.68×
4	Massachusetts	$75,570	105.8	10,900	1.19×
5	Washington	$74,480	107.0	10,720	1.20×
6	District of Columbia	$73,550	109.9	2,430	1.37×
7	New Hampshire	$71,010	104.2	1,700	0.99×
8	Rhode Island	$69,870	102.3	2,450	1.93×
9	Hawaii	$68,270	110.0	1,170	0.74×
10	Minnesota	$67,450	98.6	6,540	0.88×
11	Vermont	$67,340	98.0	640	0.84×
12	California	$65,200	110.7	60,310	1.31×
13	New York	$65,100	107.9	30,170	1.23×
14	North Dakota	$64,560	89.0	870	0.80×
15	Oregon	$64,130	103.4	6,630	1.33×
16	Colorado	$63,720	103.1	8,200	1.13×
17	Maine	$63,290	97.0	2,000	1.24×
18	Illinois	$63,220	100.0	19,860	1.29×
19	Alaska	$62,630	102.4	1,260	1.53×
20	Virginia	$61,330	101.1	9,410	0.91×
21	Nevada	$61,080	100.0	4,030	1.03×
22	Idaho	$59,840	95.5	810	0.38×
23	North Carolina	$59,610	94.3	13,010	1.04×
24	Wisconsin	$59,280	94.1	5,710	0.77×
25	Michigan	$59,270	96.2	15,760	1.42×
26	Kentucky	$59,100	90.2	8,470	1.68×
27	Louisiana	$56,800	88.2	1,110	0.23×
28	Montana	$56,780	94.6	1,250	0.96×
29	Florida	$56,550	103.4	14,000	0.56×
30	Wyoming	$56,420	92.7	710	1.00×
31	Tennessee	$56,310	91.9	7,870	0.95×
32	New Mexico	$56,160	92.2	2,990	1.36×
33	Texas	$55,680	97.1	21,670	0.61×
34	Kansas	$54,300	90.1	3,190	0.88×
35	Iowa	$52,250	87.8	3,410	0.87×
36	West Virginia	$52,220	89.5	2,380	1.34×
37	Utah	$52,000	98.9	1,930	0.44×
38	South Carolina	$51,800	93.7	5,520	0.95×
39	Ohio	$51,520	92.8	16,050	1.15×
40	South Dakota	$51,100	88.6	2,050	1.77×
41	Pennsylvania	$50,820	97.6	16,200	1.06×
42	Indiana	$50,470	93.3	6,690	0.83×
43	Arizona	$50,150	100.7	7,560	0.92×
44	Delaware	$48,520	99.8	910	0.74×
45	Missouri	$48,520	90.8	9,620	1.30×
46	Nebraska	$47,770	90.1	4,830	1.87×
47	Georgia	$47,510	96.3	7,110	0.58×
48	Alabama	$46,660	88.8	4,220	0.79×
49	Mississippi	$46,530	87.0	3,310	1.13×
50	Oklahoma	$43,950	87.8	6,500	1.51×
51	Arkansas	$43,330	86.9	1,150	0.35×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where child, family, and school social workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for child, family, and school social workers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$87,600	110.4	2,120	0.74×
2	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$81,830	100.4	450	1.40×
3	Salisbury, MD	$81,520	95.6	120	0.87×
4	Longview-Kelso, WA	$80,450	97.5	130	1.21×
5	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$80,430	103.7	580	1.75×
6	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$79,920	102.7	2,200	1.45×
7	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$78,970	106.9	1,140	1.12×
8	New Haven, CT	$78,970	104.6	810	1.15×
9	Greeley, CO	$78,530	100.2	280	0.93×
10	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$78,270	101.6	130	1.04×
11	Springfield, MA	$78,250	96.1	1,190	2.34×
12	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$77,710	99.8	430	1.06×
13	Vallejo, CA	$77,490	108.5	280	0.76×
14	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$77,420	108.3	7,070	1.04×
15	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$77,300	105.6	240	1.03×
16	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$77,260	109.4	870	1.27×
17	Pittsfield, MA	$76,440	95.1	200	1.42×
18	Springfield, IL	$76,330	92.7	830	3.28×
19	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$76,270	102.4	170	1.31×
20	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$75,580	110.5	830	1.01×
21	Barnstable Town, MA	$75,570	98.4	230	0.98×
22	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$75,550	108.9	6,490	0.82×
23	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$75,280	111.1	5,540	1.05×
24	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$74,960	104.5	2,790	0.81×
25	Walla Walla, WA	$72,910	98.5	100	1.57×
26	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$72,730	103.2	420	0.70×
27	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$72,020	115.6	5,840	0.97×
28	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$71,250	113.6	26,220	1.66×
29	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$71,140	103.9	120	0.90×
30	Worcester, MA	$70,900	102.5	1,170	1.33×
31	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$70,900	101.8	3,520	1.95×
32	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$70,530	104.8	4,150	0.84×
33	Jackson, MI	$70,350	91.8	210	1.51×
34	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$69,960	100.1	390	1.20×
35	Lexington Park, MD	$69,700	100.8	110	0.59×
36	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$69,570	100.3	1,110	1.72×
37	Bismarck, ND	$69,400	91.0	180	1.02×
38	Grants Pass, OR	$68,960	97.8	120	1.55×
39	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$68,560	108.6	400	1.31×
40	Vineland, NJ	$68,530	96.0	140	0.92×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where child, family, and school social workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Child, Family, and School Social Workers salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where child, family, and school social workers earn the most

Best paying metro areas for child, family, and school social workers

Similar occupations

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