Highest-Paid Social Work Careers and Careers Guide

Social workers dedicate their lives to helping others. They serve their communities by assisting clients in adapting to life changes, weathering crises, and overcoming addiction. Earning your Master of Social Work online opens the door to fields like health care, substance abuse, and schools — areas that likely come to mind when you think of “master’s in social work careers.”

If you’re preparing for advanced careers in social work, know that the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects this field to see a faster-than-average growth rate of 7 percent from 2023 to 2033. In addition, these roles offer competitive salaries. The median salary was $58,380 in May 2023, and the highest-paid social work careers exceeded $94,910.¹

As you plan for careers with a master’s in social work, you’ll likely find opportunities in a host of areas. Let’s explore some of the options in health care, mental health, substance abuse, and child and school services, along with the associated social worker salaries.

Mental Health Counselor

Mental health counselors help clients with mental health issues and situational life challenges regain their emotional balance through optimized mental health. You’ll work with clients experiencing issues such as anxiety, grief, or low self-esteem. You’ll also assist clients in dealing with a wide variety of personal challenges, such as the deep after-effects of surviving trauma and the stresses that come with life changes.

Career Snapshot: Mental Health Counselor²

Projections indicate mental health counselors will experience excellent employment growth of 19% from 2023 to 2033. The median annual salary was $53,710 in May 2023, and the highest salaries were more than $89,920.

Marriage and Family Therapist

Marriage and family therapists bring a family-focused perspective when working with individuals, couples, or a family for treatment. Counseling may start with an individual family member who needs assistance in dealing with a life challenge such as divorce, substance abuse, or managing stress, sometimes evolving to include other family members as the dynamics of issues are examined further.

Career Snapshot: Marriage and Family Therapist³

Marriage and family therapist employment is projected to grow 16 percent from 2023 to 2033. In May 2023, the median salary was $58,510 per year, and the highest 10% of salaries topped $104,710.

Clinical Mental Health Supervisor

Clinical mental health supervisors work to improve the field of social work for individuals, the community, and the future. At the community level, you’ll establish friendly working relationships with those who run the resource programs your clients need, furthering their treatment by connecting the two. On an individual level, you’ll help clients achieve a better state of mental health by developing and implementing treatment programs and post-treatment care plans.

As a supervisor, you’ll improve the future of social work by developing high-level practicing clinicians and graduate interns through a learning culture. This aspect of the job involves promoting continuous education, setting professional goals, and providing supportive supervision to help your direct reports deal with the stress associated with delivering therapeutic services.

Career Snapshot: Clinical Mental Health Supervisor⁴

The Bureau of Labor Statistics includes clinical supervisors in the medical and health services manager category. Employment in this area is projected to grow swiftly — 29% from 2023 to 2033. These roles offered impressive annual salaries in May 2023, as the median was $110,680 and the top 10% of salaries exceeded $216,750.

Child, Family, and School Social Worker

Child and family social workers are often recognized for their role in helping children in urgent and even life-threatening situations, such as their removal from an abusive home and placement in foster care. Child and family social workers also assist couples in the adoption or foster parenting process.

Child, family, and school social workers address a range of issues, including bullying, teenage pregnancy, and truancy, keeping children focused on academics, personal wellness, and growth. Your goal will be to improve the social and mental health of children and their families with improved communication and skill sets. At the same time, you will work with this population on an individual or group basis to help them with anger management and other challenges commonly found in family dynamics.

Career Snapshot: Child and Family Social Worker^1,5

The employment of child and family social workers is projected to grow 5 percent from 2023 to 2033. The median annual salary for these practitioners was $53,940 in May 2023, and the top 10% of salaries were more than $85,000.

Health Care Social Worker

Health care social workers help clients and their families understand and deal with a medical diagnosis to obtain an optimum quality of life and caregiving. This overarching category encompasses three specialties:

• Geriatric social workers help senior citizens find happiness, comfort, and safety within their current situation
• Hospice and palliative care social workers bring comfort and education to terminally ill patients and their families, helping them through the transitions of end-of-life care
• Medical social workers connect clients and their families to resources and care during and after a hospital stay

Career Snapshot: Health Care Social Workers^1,6

As the life span of Americans increases, so does the need for health care. This increased demand could drive employment growth for health care social workers, which is projected to increase by 10% from 2023 to 2033. These roles offer a median annual salary of $62,940, and top salaries begin at $97,790.

Additional Social Work Careers

Social workers can prepare for a variety of MSW career paths by continuing their education in a graduate program. Here are additional careers in social work to consider:

Global Case Manager

Careers in global case management allow you to work with “children and vulnerable adults crossing international borders,” according to International Social Service USA. Many of your clients will have experienced trauma and need assistance in receiving medical or mental health care.⁷

Salary Snapshot (September 2024)⁸

• Average salary: $80,914
• Highest salaries: $125,000

International Social Worker

International social work appeals to practitioners seeking social work careers abroad. Similar to global case management, international social workers make a difference for refugees and other clients affected by displacement and strife in their home country. Social Work Degree Guide identified the United Nations, the Center for Global Development Resources, and UNICEF as employers of international social workers.⁹

Salary Snapshot (September 2024)¹⁰

• Average salary: $76,266
• Highest salaries: $117,000

Social Services Program Director

In this role, you will oversee the development and implementation of social service programs. Social services program directors have a wide range of responsibilities, including the management of policies, service delivery, and finances.¹¹

Salary Snapshot (September 2024)¹¹

• Median salary: $108,176
• Highest salaries: $137,365

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Manager

Turning a profit isn’t the only motivation for many corporations today. They also strive to minimize their impacts on vulnerable populations and the environment, leading to a 63% increase in CSR initiatives.¹² Apply your social work background in this field to coordinate environmental programs, charitable activities, volunteer initiatives, and other altruistic activities in the private sector. These roles offer impressive earnings — in fact, the Social Work Degree Center ranked CSR manager as the highest-paid social work career.¹³

Salary Snapshot (September 2024)¹⁴

• Median salary: $114,300
• Highest salaries: $151,554

Policy Analyst

Social workers in policy analysis focus on improving society through government action. They often work for government agencies or private institutions that aim to “raise public awareness of social issues, such as crime prevention, access to healthcare, and protection of the environment,” according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.¹⁵ These roles offer competitive pay, as the Best MSW Programs ranked them among the 50 highest-paid social work careers.¹⁶

Salary Snapshot (September 2024)¹⁷

• Average salary: $64,690
• Highest salaries: $92,000

Reach Your Potential as a Social Work Practitioner

Boosting your impact and earning potential depends on many factors. For instance, attaining licensure is an important consideration, as it’s required for advanced social work careers in many states.

In Widener University’s online Master of Social Work program, you can establish a foundation for taking the Licensed Social Work exam in most states. After two years of supervised clinical practice, you could sit for the Licensed Clinical Social Work exam. Reaching that level can boost your earnings, as licensed clinical social worker careers offer 21% higher salaries on average than licensed social work roles.^18,19

Learn more about Widener’s online MSW by calling 844-386-7321. You can also request information to have a program manager contact you right away.

Sources

1. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, “Social Workers.” Accessed August 30, 2024, http://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-workers.htm.
2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, “Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors.” Accessed August 30, 2024, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/substance-abuse-behavioral-disorder-and-mental-health-counselors.htm.
3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, “Marriage and Family Therapists.” Accessed August 30, 2024, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/marriage-and-family-therapists.htm.
4. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, “Medical and Health Services Managers.” Accessed August 30, 2024, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-health-services-managers.htm.
5. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, “21-1021 Child, Family, and School Social Workers.” Accessed August 29, 2024, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes211021.htm.
6. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, “21-1022 Healthcare Social Workers.” Accessed August 29, 2024, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes211022.htm.
7. International Social Service USA. “What Is Case Management?” Accessed August 30, 2024, https://www.iss-usa.org/what-is-case-management/.
8. Glassdoor. “How Much Does a Global Case Manager Make?” Accessed September 4, 2024, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/global-case-manager-salary-SRCH_KO0,19.htm.
9. Social Work Degree Guide. “What Is International Social Work?” Accessed August 30, 2024, https://www.socialworkdegreeguide.com/faq/what-is-international-social-work/.
10. ZipRecruiter. “International Social Worker Salary.” Accessed September 4, 2024, https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/International-Social-Worker-Salary.
11. Salary.com. “Program Director – Social Service.” Access September 4, 2024, https://www.salary.com/tools/salary-calculator/program-director-social-service.
12. SHRM. “Report: CSR Is on the Rise, but the Motivation for It Has Changed.” Accessed September 4, 2024, https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/report-csr-is-on-the-rise-but-the-motivation-for-it-has-changed.
13. Social Work Degree Center. “What Are the Highest Paying Social Work Jobs?” Accessed August 30, 2024, https://www.socialworkdegreecenter.com/what-are-the-highest-paying-jobs-in-social-work/.
14. Salary.com. “Corporate Social Responsibility Manager Salary in the United States.” Accessed September 4, 2024, https://www.salary.com/research/salary/alternate/corporate-social-responsibility-manager-salary.
15. Sadie Blanchard, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Policy Analysts: Shaping Society Through Research and Problem-Solving. Accessed August 30, 2024, https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2007/spring/art03.pdf.
16. Best MSW Programs. “50 Highest Paying Jobs in Social Work.” Accessed August 30, 2024, https://www.bestmswprograms.com/highest-paying-careers-in-social-work/.
17. Payscale. “Average Policy Analyst Salary.” Accessed September 4, 2024, https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Policy_Analyst/Salary.
18. Payscale. “Salary for Certification: Licensed Social Worker (LSW).” Accessed September 4, 2024, https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Certification=Licensed_Social_Worker_(LSW)/Salary.
19. Payscale. “Average Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) Salary.” Accessed September 4, 2024, https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Licensed_Clinical_Social_Worker_(LCSW)/Salary.

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