Community Health Workers salary

SOC 21-1094 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$51,850

per year, nationally

Middle half

$45,640–$62,540

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

61,660

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+11.3%

7,800 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.

$38,810$77,180

10th: $38,810
25th: $45,640
Median: $51,850
75th: $62,540
90th: $77,180

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 community health 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	New Hampshire	$66,680	104.2	200	0.75×
2	District of Columbia	$62,510	109.9	280	0.99×
3	North Dakota	$59,610	89.0	90	0.53×
4	Colorado	$59,260	103.1	—	—
5	Hawaii	$58,450	110.0	240	0.96×
6	New York	$58,130	107.9	5,800	1.51×
7	California	$58,050	110.7	9,500	1.31×
8	Nevada	$57,730	100.0	670	1.08×
9	Washington	$57,070	107.0	2,640	1.87×
10	Delaware	$55,850	99.8	280	1.43×
11	New Jersey	$55,790	108.8	1,330	0.78×
12	Utah	$55,700	98.9	580	0.85×
13	Massachusetts	$55,560	105.8	2,970	2.06×
14	New Mexico	$54,830	92.2	610	1.77×
15	Wyoming	$54,020	92.7	140	1.22×
16	Connecticut	$53,560	103.6	290	0.43×
17	Oregon	$53,350	103.4	1,980	2.54×
18	Rhode Island	$53,100	102.3	520	2.61×
19	Idaho	$52,050	95.5	270	0.80×
20	Alaska	$52,000	102.4	400	3.11×
21	Nebraska	$51,780	90.1	160	0.39×
22	Vermont	$51,500	98.0	170	1.44×
23	Wisconsin	$51,210	94.1	630	0.54×
24	Pennsylvania	$50,710	97.6	1,970	0.82×
25	Georgia	$50,680	96.3	490	0.25×
26	Ohio	$50,650	92.8	1,910	0.87×
27	Maryland	$50,550	105.0	3,030	2.76×
28	Montana	$49,780	94.6	330	1.62×
29	Michigan	$49,380	96.2	1,890	1.08×
30	Illinois	$49,240	100.0	2,040	0.84×
31	Arizona	$48,950	100.7	1,140	0.89×
32	Virginia	$48,910	101.1	620	0.38×
33	Missouri	$48,770	90.8	1,820	1.56×
34	Texas	$48,720	97.1	4,210	0.75×
35	Maine	$48,670	97.0	360	1.43×
36	Kentucky	$48,230	90.2	980	1.23×
37	South Carolina	$47,970	93.7	540	0.60×
38	Indiana	$47,960	93.3	1,310	1.03×
39	Iowa	$47,780	87.8	390	0.63×
40	Minnesota	$47,560	98.6	1,260	1.08×
41	North Carolina	$47,560	94.3	1,680	0.86×
42	Kansas	$47,300	90.1	240	0.42×
43	Louisiana	$46,450	88.2	210	0.27×
44	Oklahoma	$45,790	87.8	600	0.88×
45	South Dakota	$45,700	88.6	270	1.47×
46	Florida	$45,420	103.4	1,220	0.31×
47	Arkansas	$44,890	86.9	—	—
48	Alabama	$43,340	88.8	270	0.32×
49	Tennessee	$42,310	91.9	520	0.40×
50	Mississippi	$39,520	87.0	410	0.88×
51	West Virginia	$37,950	89.5	310	1.13×

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 community health workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for community health 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	Carson City, NV	$81,600	98.1	100	8.18×
2	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$80,290	108.6	70	1.48×
3	Eau Claire, WI	$78,090	92.8	40	1.14×
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$72,710	115.6	2,090	2.22×
5	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$69,630	110.4	430	0.96×
6	Boulder, CO	$65,780	105.2	70	0.93×
7	Columbus, OH	$64,810	95.5	610	1.39×
8	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$64,720	107.8	100	1.24×
9	Visalia, CA	$63,960	99.8	100	1.46×
10	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$62,400	105.8	820	1.28×
11	Traverse City, MI	$62,160	93.4	50	1.90×
12	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$61,610	99.6	390	2.19×
13	Lincoln, NE	$61,310	91.6	40	0.61×
14	Vallejo, CA	$61,130	108.5	60	1.01×
15	Modesto, CA	$60,800	104.1	70	0.86×
16	New Haven, CT	$60,690	104.6	60	0.54×
17	Yuba City, CA	$60,610	104.2	40	1.89×
18	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$60,090	102.4	50	2.54×
19	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$59,470	109.9	80	2.08×
20	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$59,340	112.6	4,790	1.27×
21	Ann Arbor, MI	$59,210	100.9	90	0.98×
22	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$59,200	100.9	410	1.27×
23	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$58,790	108.9	1,600	1.28×
24	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$58,760	101.1	60	0.85×
25	Fort Smith, AR-OK	$58,690	85.9	40	1.14×
26	Medford, OR	$58,600	101.4	90	2.44×
27	Albuquerque, NM	$58,290	95.5	400	2.48×
28	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$58,250	98.7	100	0.79×
29	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$58,180	100.0	100	0.67×
30	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$57,980	111.1	1,220	1.48×
31	Bellingham, WA	$57,930	103.3	90	2.50×
32	Bend, OR	$57,690	103.6	120	2.72×
33	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$57,240	109.4	130	1.24×
34	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$57,060	106.7	500	1.18×
35	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$56,920	108.3	1,940	1.81×
36	Salinas, CA	$56,810	109.0	90	1.17×
37	Urban Honolulu, HI	$56,460	111.0	140	0.79×
38	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$56,180	93.1	270	0.98×
39	Barnstable Town, MA	$56,170	98.4	50	1.44×
40	Madison, WI	$56,040	97.3	100	0.62×

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 community health workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors$59,350
Social and Human Service Assistants$45,930
Child, Family, and School Social Workers$59,550
Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors$64,330
Healthcare Social Workers$67,880
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers$60,280
Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other$56,730
Rehabilitation Counselors$46,850