Social and Human Service Assistants salary

SOC 21-1093 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$45,930

per year, nationally

Middle half

$38,150–$54,350

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

437,860

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+6.4%

50,600 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.

$34,200$63,290

10th: $34,200
25th: $38,150
Median: $45,930
75th: $54,350
90th: $63,290

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

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

Where social and human service assistants 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	District of Columbia	$59,460	109.9	2,080	1.05×
2	Washington	$54,770	107.0	7,590	0.76×
3	Oregon	$51,230	103.4	11,260	2.03×
4	California	$51,090	110.7	58,730	1.15×
5	Minnesota	$49,940	98.6	11,110	1.34×
6	New Jersey	$48,420	108.8	17,270	1.43×
7	Rhode Island	$47,720	102.3	2,290	1.62×
8	Maine	$47,710	97.0	4,580	2.54×
9	Colorado	$47,690	103.1	5,410	0.67×
10	Idaho	$47,540	95.5	3,810	1.58×
11	Wisconsin	$47,500	94.1	7,750	0.94×
12	Alaska	$47,360	102.4	1,370	1.50×
13	Maryland	$47,210	105.0	7,280	0.94×
14	New York	$47,190	107.9	40,970	1.50×
15	Massachusetts	$47,130	105.8	9,180	0.90×
16	New Hampshire	$46,950	104.2	1,860	0.97×
17	Illinois	$46,950	100.0	22,220	1.29×
18	Vermont	$46,640	98.0	1,920	2.24×
19	New Mexico	$46,340	92.2	3,050	1.24×
20	North Dakota	$46,260	89.0	1,530	1.26×
21	Texas	$45,860	97.1	21,620	0.55×
22	Wyoming	$45,290	92.7	610	0.77×
23	Connecticut	$44,730	103.6	9,930	2.08×
24	Indiana	$44,550	93.3	11,740	1.30×
25	Florida	$44,410	103.4	22,670	0.81×
26	Pennsylvania	$44,050	97.6	24,340	1.43×
27	Virginia	$43,450	101.1	10,670	0.92×
28	North Carolina	$42,850	94.3	9,020	0.65×
29	Kansas	$42,570	90.1	6,070	1.50×
30	Iowa	$42,480	87.8	5,230	1.19×
31	Hawaii	$42,400	110.0	2,230	1.26×
32	Missouri	$41,780	90.8	6,200	0.75×
33	Arizona	$40,730	100.7	7,290	0.80×
34	Delaware	$40,710	99.8	1,050	0.77×
35	Tennessee	$40,310	91.9	4,380	0.47×
36	Utah	$39,930	98.9	6,540	1.34×
37	Georgia	$39,480	96.3	7,410	0.54×
38	West Virginia	$39,290	89.5	3,320	1.68×
39	Michigan	$39,160	96.2	12,450	1.00×
40	Nebraska	$38,940	90.1	1,460	0.51×
41	Montana	$38,570	94.6	1,200	0.83×
42	Nevada	$38,570	100.0	2,420	0.55×
43	South Carolina	$38,550	93.7	5,220	0.80×
44	Ohio	$38,390	92.8	10,970	0.70×
45	South Dakota	$38,350	88.6	830	0.64×
46	Kentucky	$37,440	90.2	4,670	0.83×
47	Arkansas	$36,770	86.9	3,530	0.96×
48	Oklahoma	$36,740	87.8	3,340	0.69×
49	Alabama	$35,830	88.8	3,370	0.57×
50	Louisiana	$35,780	88.2	3,440	0.63×
51	Mississippi	$31,200	87.0	—	—

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 social and human service assistants wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for social and human service assistants

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	Eau Claire, WI	$63,870	92.8	390	1.61×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$60,650	110.4	1,930	0.61×
3	Fond du Lac, WI	$58,940	91.6	180	1.46×
4	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$58,580	107.8	790	1.36×
5	Napa, CA	$58,470	112.6	230	1.04×
6	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$58,090	111.1	3,910	0.67×
7	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$57,580	115.6	7,970	1.19×
8	Salem, OR	$57,560	103.6	1,200	2.27×
9	Duluth, MN-WI	$56,120	88.8	600	1.69×
10	Modesto, CA	$55,330	104.1	710	1.29×
11	Wausau, WI	$55,330	92.7	110	0.56×
12	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$55,160	108.8	710	1.26×
13	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$54,960	108.6	330	0.97×
14	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$54,870	109.9	390	1.39×
15	Bellingham, WA	$54,320	103.3	190	0.75×
16	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$53,810	106.7	3,190	1.05×
17	Ithaca, NY	$53,550	103.3	310	2.30×
18	Walla Walla, WA	$52,990	98.5	90	1.30×
19	Boulder, CO	$52,830	105.2	240	0.44×
20	Yuba City, CA	$52,750	104.2	270	1.86×
21	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$52,180	110.5	940	1.04×
22	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$51,710	105.4	5,930	1.74×
23	Springfield, IL	$51,680	92.7	600	2.11×
24	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$51,370	103.2	1,370	2.02×
25	Longview-Kelso, WA	$51,050	97.5	90	0.74×
26	Vallejo, CA	$50,650	108.5	480	1.18×
27	Grants Pass, OR	$50,650	97.8	160	1.82×
28	Salinas, CA	$50,630	109.0	550	1.04×
29	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$50,620	103.7	250	0.69×
30	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$50,330	113.6	18,790	1.06×
31	Visalia, CA	$50,300	99.8	530	1.11×
32	Fairbanks-College, AK	$50,240	103.2	140	1.32×
33	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$49,840	100.9	580	1.70×
34	Green Bay, WI	$49,750	93.1	490	1.00×
35	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$49,750	104.8	7,160	1.30×
36	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$49,700	105.8	2,500	0.55×
37	Killeen-Temple, TX	$49,610	91.1	370	0.87×
38	Bend, OR	$49,520	103.6	480	1.58×
39	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$49,500	111.9	6,400	1.48×
40	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$49,390	105.6	200	0.76×

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 social and human service assistants wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Social and Human Service Assistants salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where social and human service assistants earn the most

Best paying metro areas for social and human service assistants

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