Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers salary in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
SOC 21-1023 · BLS OEWS May 2025
How local pay compares
State-level comparison: California ($79,000). Metro estimates cover the whole labor market, including portions that cross state lines.
After local prices: the $75,570 median has purchasing power comparable to about $67,541 nationally. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA's BEA regional price parity is 111.9 (2024).
What the local range looks like
The wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the darker section is the middle half, and the tick is the median for San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter
- Master's degree
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Internship/residency
Compare other metro areas
Every linked area below has a published estimate for mental health and substance abuse social workers. Missing areas were withheld by BLS rather than measured at zero.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | Metro area | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vallejo, CA | $122,930 | 108.5 | 120 | 0.96× |
| 2 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $109,050 | 110.4 | 1,010 | 1.05× |
| 3 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | $98,800 | 108.6 | 140 | 1.38× |
| 4 | Salinas, CA | $97,200 | 109.0 | 100 | 0.63× |
| 5 | Hanford-Corcoran, CA | $91,730 | 101.6 | 80 | 1.91× |
| 6 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $87,550 | 115.6 | 1,990 | 0.98× |
| 7 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $87,370 | 106.4 | 1,310 | 0.89× |
| 8 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $84,190 | 107.8 | 160 | 0.89× |
| 9 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $83,150 | 106.7 | 1,330 | 1.44× |
| 10 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | $81,240 | 108.8 | 160 | 0.96× |
| 11 | Modesto, CA | $78,880 | 104.1 | 170 | 1.04× |
| 12 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $78,410 | 113.6 | 9,380 | 1.75× |
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 mental health and substance abuse social workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
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