Healthcare Social Worker Salary: What the Federal Data Shows
Healthcare social workers earn a median of $67,880 a year, according to the most recent federal wage data (BLS, May 2025 estimates, released May 2026). The middle 80 percent earn between $46,220 and $100,360, and state medians run from $55,640 in Arkansas to $94,100 in the District of Columbia.
This is the highest-paid of the social work lines the federal government tracks, and the reason is setting: healthcare social workers work in hospitals, health systems, and clinical care settings that pay on medical benefit structures. This page covers the state numbers, why this line pays more than behavioral-health social work, and what raises pay within it. Everything is sourced to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and refreshed each spring.
National snapshot
Highest-paying states
| Rank | State | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $94,100 |
| 2 | California | $89,660 |
| 3 | Hawaii | $85,420 |
| 4 | Oregon | $84,350 |
| 5 | New Jersey | $82,690 |
This list is a cost-of-living and hospital-density story. The high payers are states with large health-system employers and higher medical wage scales. The floor is higher here than in other social work lines too: even the lowest state median ($55,640 in Arkansas) sits near the middle of the behavioral-health social work table, which is the hospital-setting premium showing up across the whole distribution.
Healthcare social worker salary by state
| State | Employment | 10th pctile | Median | 90th pctile | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 2,850 | $40,020 | $60,000 | $74,440 | $58,360 |
| Alaska | 480 | $47,000 | $62,000 | $97,810 | $68,370 |
| Arizona | 3,100 | $44,620 | $64,030 | $96,470 | $68,330 |
| Arkansas | 1,250 | $38,110 | $55,640 | $76,850 | $56,980 |
| California | 17,690 | $54,220 | $89,660 | $134,880 | $93,840 |
| Colorado | 3,670 | $45,810 | $63,480 | $95,230 | $67,170 |
| Connecticut | 1,650 | $59,100 | $79,900 | $104,900 | $83,290 |
| Delaware | 780 | $47,550 | $64,620 | $88,760 | $67,360 |
| District of Columbia | 420 | $60,970 | $94,100 | $124,230 | $93,120 |
| Florida | 10,520 | $45,760 | $64,820 | $88,470 | $66,920 |
| Georgia | 6,970 | $43,260 | $62,420 | $86,990 | $64,910 |
| Guam | 100 | $41,930 | $56,990 | $75,400 | $58,290 |
| Hawaii | 660 | $51,570 | $85,420 | $102,670 | $82,370 |
| Idaho | 750 | $50,950 | $74,500 | $97,670 | $71,470 |
| Illinois | 4,910 | $47,290 | $64,270 | $96,970 | $68,190 |
| Indiana | 3,890 | $48,050 | $64,580 | $93,510 | $68,370 |
| Iowa | 1,550 | $46,140 | $63,050 | $80,360 | $63,560 |
| Kansas | 1,360 | $46,300 | $64,440 | $79,680 | $64,860 |
| Kentucky | 1,980 | $43,010 | $64,080 | $86,240 | $64,960 |
| Louisiana | 1,970 | $43,830 | $61,080 | $79,170 | $63,510 |
| Maine | 790 | $55,770 | $71,610 | $85,640 | $70,860 |
| Maryland | 4,750 | $40,210 | $76,440 | $96,340 | $72,140 |
| Massachusetts | 7,220 | $51,270 | $76,440 | $102,070 | $77,000 |
| Michigan | 4,860 | $47,640 | $67,600 | $91,190 | $69,940 |
| Minnesota | 2,430 | $51,720 | $73,970 | $95,200 | $73,510 |
| Mississippi | 1,890 | $39,770 | $62,250 | $78,520 | $60,300 |
| Missouri | 4,430 | $39,180 | $59,870 | $79,560 | $60,560 |
| Montana | 840 | $46,330 | $57,090 | $77,730 | $59,510 |
| Nebraska | 980 | $46,040 | $62,420 | $82,780 | $63,680 |
| Nevada | 1,160 | $51,890 | $78,470 | $101,380 | $78,240 |
| New Hampshire | 590 | $60,200 | $78,260 | $98,930 | $80,160 |
| New Jersey | 4,310 | $54,950 | $82,690 | $118,300 | $85,340 |
| New Mexico | 1,200 | $45,780 | $65,930 | $90,020 | $67,170 |
| New York | 20,440 | $47,750 | $73,070 | $103,730 | $75,170 |
| North Carolina | 5,120 | $40,650 | $63,280 | $85,070 | $64,720 |
| North Dakota | 330 | $51,260 | $62,860 | $78,040 | $65,300 |
| Ohio | 8,930 | $45,150 | $63,610 | $84,050 | $65,350 |
| Oklahoma | 2,310 | $36,920 | $56,120 | $81,650 | $57,480 |
| Oregon | 2,320 | $60,480 | $84,350 | $111,720 | $85,830 |
| Pennsylvania | 9,630 | $46,770 | $61,900 | $83,220 | $65,690 |
| Puerto Rico | 1,200 | $24,540 | $36,050 | $58,980 | $39,280 |
| Rhode Island | 630 | $48,070 | $75,390 | $96,840 | $73,020 |
| South Carolina | 3,100 | $40,450 | $60,840 | $83,990 | $62,020 |
| South Dakota | 790 | $43,750 | $57,510 | $78,420 | $59,640 |
| Tennessee | 5,970 | $41,120 | $61,240 | $83,280 | $62,750 |
| Texas | 10,880 | $40,210 | $69,990 | $98,150 | $69,990 |
| Utah | 1,750 | $44,410 | $78,150 | $109,270 | $78,270 |
| Vermont | 250 | $61,760 | $81,140 | $102,820 | $82,720 |
| Virginia | 3,070 | $47,530 | $66,550 | $91,060 | $69,390 |
| Washington | 5,180 | $48,390 | $78,570 | $124,360 | $81,040 |
| West Virginia | 1,100 | $46,120 | $60,140 | $79,800 | $63,470 |
| Wisconsin | 3,770 | $50,280 | $66,910 | $91,040 | $69,510 |
| Wyoming | 180 | $42,380 | $62,260 | $93,150 | $67,410 |
A reading tip: this table is tighter than the other social work lines, with less distance between the median and the 90th percentile in most states. That is the mark of a salaried, benefit-driven workforce rather than one with a big private-practice tail. Healthcare social workers trade the private-practice upside of behavioral-health clinicians for a higher, steadier floor.
What raises healthcare social worker pay
Setting is the whole game here, and you’re already in the high-paying one
Within healthcare social work, the payers that top the table are large hospital systems, academic medical centers, and specialty units (oncology, transplant, dialysis, and hospice). Acute-care and inpatient roles generally pay above outpatient clinics and skilled nursing facilities.
The LCSW license still matters
Many healthcare social work roles are open to master’s-level social workers (LMSW), but the clinical license (LCSW) is what qualifies a social worker for the higher-billing, higher-responsibility positions, including supervisory and care-management roles. It requires roughly 3,000 supervised clinical hours and the ASWB Clinical exam.
Care-management and leadership tracks
Discharge planning and care coordination experience is the on-ramp to health-system case-management leadership, which pays above frontline social work. Ourbehavioral health case manager career guide covers the case-management side, and for the settings themselves, the covers the case-management side, and for the settings themselves, the behavioral health nurse jobs guide maps the hospital and health-system environments where these roles sit. maps the hospital and health-system environments where these roles sit.
What the hiring market looks like
The demand driver here is demographics. BLS projects overall social worker employment to grow 6 percent from 2024 to 2034, faster than the all-occupation average, with roughly 74,000 openings a year, and healthcare social work is one of the fastest-pulling segments because the aging population needs more help navigating health systems, long-term care, benefits, and end-of-life planning. Every hospital discharge, hospice admission, and chronic-illness care plan is a healthcare social worker’s caseload, and that volume rises with the over-65 population.
For health-system employers, these are retention-sensitive roles: an experienced discharge planner or care coordinator directly affects readmission rates and length of stay, which are financial metrics as much as clinical ones. That gives the role real budget justification, and it is why healthcare social work pays a premium over community behavioral-health social work. Employers who state pay clearly compete better for the LCSWs who can work either side of that line. For the behavioral-health comparison, see the mental health social worker salary page; for the leadership tier, the behavioral health program director salary page.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a healthcare social worker make?
The national median is $67,880 a year (BLS, May 2025 estimates), with most earning between $46,220 and $100,360. State medians range from $55,640 to $94,100.
Which states pay healthcare social workers the most?
By median wage: the District of Columbia (94, 100), California(89,660), Hawaii (89,660), Hawaii (85, 420), Oregon(84,350), and New Jersey ($82,690), per BLS May 2025 estimates.84,350), and New Jersey ($82,690), per BLS May 2025 estimates.
Why do healthcare social workers earn more than mental health social workers?
Setting. Healthcare social workers work in hospitals and health systems that pay on medical benefit structures, giving this line a median of $67,880 versus $60,280 for behavioral-health social workers, often for the same degree and license. Moving from behavioral-health into healthcare social work is a common pay bump.
Do you need an LCSW to be a healthcare social worker?
Not always. Many roles are open to master’s-level social workers (LMSW), but the clinical license (LCSW), which requires about 3,000 supervised hours and the ASWB Clinical exam, qualifies you for the higher-paying, higher-responsibility and supervisory positions.
Where these numbers come from
Wage figures are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 estimates (occupation code 21-1022, Healthcare Social Workers), released May 2026 and the most recent federal data available. Growth and openings projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2024 to 2034). OEWS reports wages for employees; independent contractor rates are not included. Figures marked n/a are suppressed in the source data. All figures are estimates and marked as such. We refresh this page when BLS publishes new estimates each spring.
Looking for healthcare social work roles now? Find current roles from employers hiring this month.
Browse healthcare and behavioral health social work listings from employers hiring this month.