What a social worker earns, by metro

Pay for social workers is unusually consistent across the country: $35,260 at the bottom of the range, $87,600 at the top, a spread of only 2.48×. Where you work matters less for this role than it does for most — which usually points to pay being set by structure (scales, licensure, collective agreements) rather than local bidding.

What the percentile band tells you

Ten per cent of social workers earn below $42,280 and ten per cent above $95,530 — a 2.26× band. The upside from median to 90th percentile is 60%, which is a normal amount of room for experience and specialisation to matter. An offer below the 25th percentile is worth questioning; one above the 75th is worth taking seriously.

Geography barely moves this one

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (CA) leads and Alexandria (LA) trails, but the gap is modest. For a role like this the more useful comparison is not between cities but between the 10th and 90th percentile within one — see the band above.

Highest paying metros

Lowest paying metros

Where the role is most concentrated

Largest employers by metro

Current openings

About this data

Figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme, May 2025 release, SOC code 21-1021. OEWS surveys employers, so it reports what is actually paid rather than what job advertisements claim, and it excludes the self-employed. Estimates cover 520 of 528 metropolitan areas — near-complete coverage, which means the ranges above are reliable rather than drawn from a handful of markets. Read the methodology.