Clinical Social Worker Salary

Q: How much does a Clinical Social Worker make?

Clinical social workers make $63,056 per year on average, or $30.32 per hour, in the United States. Clinical social workers on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $42,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $92,000. Location impacts how much a clinical social worker can expect to make. Clinical social workers make the most in California, New Hampshire, Oregon, Alaska, and New Jersey.

Updated February 6, 2023

Average Clinical Social Worker Salary

$63,056yearly

$30.32 hourly

Entry level Salary

$42,000 yearly

$42,00010%

$63,056Median

$92,00090%

How much does a Clinical Social Worker make?

Clinical social workers make $63,056 per year on average, or $30.32 per hour, in the United States. Clinical social workers on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $42,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $92,000.

Location impacts how much a clinical social worker can expect to make. Clinical social workers make the most in California, New Hampshire, Oregon, Alaska, and New Jersey.

Highest Paying States For Clinical Social Workers

Throughout the U.S., the average salary for a clinical social worker is roughly $63,056 per year, which boils down to $30.32 per hour. Interestingly enough, clinical social workers have the highest salaries in Santa Rosa, CA at about $90,357 per year. For those who are just starting out, the average entry-level salary in Santa Rosa, CA is $64,000. Additionally, clinical social workers make more than the average salary in Washington, DC, Eugene, OR, New Haven, CT, Toms River, NJ, and Vancouver, WA. On a more broad level, clinical social worker salaries are highest in California, New Hampshire, Oregon, Alaska, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Washington. On the contrary, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Texas offer the lowest clinical social worker salaries.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Clinical Social Worker average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Oregon	$80,983	$38.93	1,312
2	Connecticut	$77,293	$37.16	1,029
3	California	$83,803	$40.29	8,856
4	Washington	$73,557	$35.36	2,462
5	New Hampshire	$81,306	$39.09	379
6	Idaho	$70,954	$34.11	432
7	Pennsylvania	$71,712	$34.48	2,557
8	New Jersey	$77,573	$37.29	1,741
9	District of Columbia	$83,373	$40.08	368
10	Rhode Island	$69,735	$33.53	294
11	Alaska	$79,276	$38.11	180
12	West Virginia	$63,117	$30.34	429
13	Indiana	$71,334	$34.30	1,139
14	New Mexico	$63,245	$30.41	595
15	Ohio	$71,372	$34.31	1,520
16	Vermont	$70,496	$33.89	153
17	Massachusetts	$64,622	$31.07	2,610
18	Delaware	$65,974	$31.72	282
19	Nevada	$66,459	$31.95	386
20	Tennessee	$56,319	$27.08	1,663
21	New York	$64,150	$30.84	3,342
22	Utah	$60,592	$29.13	808
23	Wyoming	$63,880	$30.71	106
24	North Dakota	$63,286	$30.43	188
25	Maryland	$64,180	$30.86	1,421
26	Montana	$59,994	$28.84	281
27	South Dakota	$55,083	$26.48	328
28	Colorado	$60,170	$28.93	1,518
29	Maine	$54,842	$26.37	451
30	Minnesota	$62,423	$30.01	1,273
31	Illinois	$61,775	$29.70	2,044
32	Nebraska	$55,781	$26.82	624
33	Arizona	$59,348	$28.53	1,212
34	Hawaii	$64,212	$30.87	197
35	Missouri	$54,683	$26.29	1,561
36	Louisiana	$49,134	$23.62	903
37	North Carolina	$50,472	$24.27	2,448
38	Iowa	$59,136	$28.43	533
39	South Carolina	$48,471	$23.30	1,169
40	Wisconsin	$59,307	$28.51	826
41	Oklahoma	$52,266	$25.13	757
42	Michigan	$56,637	$27.23	1,491
43	Kansas	$57,194	$27.50	479
44	Virginia	$52,858	$25.41	2,225
45	Kentucky	$55,202	$26.54	537
46	Texas	$47,776	$22.97	5,208
47	Arkansas	$52,481	$25.23	394
48	Florida	$39,276	$18.88	4,624
49	Mississippi	$51,027	$24.53	303
50	Alabama	$46,408	$22.31	834
51	Georgia	$39,592	$19.03	2,587

Highest Paying Cities For Clinical Social Workers

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Santa Rosa, CA	$90,357	$43.44	2
2	Washington, DC	$83,409	$40.10	13
3	Eugene, OR	$81,195	$39.04	13
4	New Haven, CT	$77,341	$37.18	5
5	Toms River, NJ	$77,235	$37.13	5
6	Vancouver, WA	$74,533	$35.83	8
7	Philadelphia, PA	$71,650	$34.45	15
8	Richmond, IN	$71,408	$34.33	1
9	Burlington, VT	$69,953	$33.63	2
10	Las Vegas, NV	$65,483	$31.48	2
11	Worcester, MA	$64,938	$31.22	22
12	Syracuse, NY	$64,713	$31.11	9
13	Baltimore, MD	$64,481	$31.00	42
14	Chicago, IL	$61,875	$29.75	26
15	Salt Lake City, UT	$60,742	$29.20	19

Here Are The Five Most In Demand Cities Right Now:

Clinical Social Worker Salary by Years of Experience

The salary for a clinical social worker can vary depending on the years of experience that a person has, from entry level to senior level. An accountant with 0-2 years of experience earns an average salary of $45,961, a mid-career professional with 3-6 years of experience makes $63,056 a year on average, and a senior level accountant with 7-12 years of experience enjoys an average annual salary of $92,925. Data on how experience level affects total compensation is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as part of their National Compensation Survey, which is based on factors such as knowledge, complexity, contacts, and environment.

Clinical Social Worker Salary By Experience Level

Experience Level	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
Entry Level	$46,000	$22.10
Mid Level	$69,800	$33.57
Senior Level	$92,900	$44.68

Clinical Social Workers Salary Details

Average Clinical Social Worker Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a Clinical Social Worker's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$92,000	$7,667	$44
75th Percentile	$77,000	$6,417	$37
Average	$63,056	$5,255	$30
25th Percentile	$51,000	$4,250	$25
10th Percentile	$42,000	$3,500	$20

Highest Paying Types of Clinical Social Workers

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Family Therapist	$50,774	$4,231	$24.41	106,982
Addictions Counselor	$47,226	$3,936	$22.70	79,459
Primary Therapist	$59,826	$4,985	$28.76	85,127
Marriage And Family Therapist	$57,856	$4,821	$27.82	114,361
Mental Health Consultant	$51,006	$4,251	$24.52	127,233
Mental Health Clinician	$54,359	$4,530	$26.13	91,347

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Clinical Social Workers The Most?

The highest paying companies for clinical social workers are Tucson Electric Power and CVS Health according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like Favorite Healthcare Staffing and Oculus report highly competitive wages for clinical social workers.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Tucson Electric Power	$89,092	$42.83
2	CVS Health	$86,709	$41.69	136
3	Favorite Healthcare Staffing	$85,919	$41.31
4	Oculus	$85,809	$41.25
5	Encompass Health	$85,701	$41.20	179
6	Careerstaff Unlimited - A Genesis Healthcare Company	$84,807	$40.77	26
7	Aetna	$83,453	$40.12	55
8	Health Advocates	$81,564	$39.21
9	Aya Healthcare	$80,782	$38.84
10	University of California-Berkeley	$79,012	$37.99
11	MCR Health Inc	$78,978	$37.97
12	Health First	$78,466	$37.72	29
13	Accra Care, Inc.	$77,816	$37.41
14	Key Rehabilitation	$77,048	$37.04	4
15	US Oncology Holdings Inc	$76,985	$37.01	35
16	FHI 360	$76,835	$36.94	21
17	Foundation Health Services	$76,757	$36.90	8
18	Moda Health	$76,500	$36.78
19	Guidestar	$76,428	$36.74	53
20	Children's Hospital Colorado	$76,007	$36.54	41

How Much Do Clinical Social Workers Make In Different Industries?

Here are some examples of how much a clinical social worker salaries can based on different industries:

The education industry pays clinical social workers an average salary of $62,929
The professional industry pay $62,101
The lowest paying industry for clinical social workers is the pharmaceutical industry. Clinical social workers in this industry earn an average salary of $47,910

Highest Paying Industries For Clinical Social Workers

Rank	Industry	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Education	$62,929	$30.25
2	Professional	$62,101	$29.86
3	Health Care	$60,599	$29.13
4	Government	$56,040	$26.94
5	Pharmaceutical	$47,910	$23.03

High Paying Clinical Social Worker Jobs

Clinical Social Worker Pay Trends

Average Clinical Social Worker Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Clinical Social Worker Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2023	$63,100	$30.32	+1.5%
2022	$62,100	$29.85	+1.0%
2021	$61,500	$29.56	+2.4%
2020	$60,000	$28.86	+2.0%
2019	$58,800	$28.28	+2.6%

Recently Added Clinical Social Worker Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Aspen Medical	Licensed Clinical Social Worker	Boerne, TX	11/29/2022	$83,897
Aspen Medical	Licensed Clinical Social Worker	Elk Grove Village, IL	11/29/2022	$83,897
Aspen Medical	Licensed Clinical Social Worker	Spring Valley, NV	11/29/2022	$83,897
Aspen Medical	Licensed Clinical Social Worker	New York, NY	11/29/2022	$83,897
Path Behavioral Healthcare	LPC, Lcsw, Lmft	Lake Charles, LA	11/29/2022	$83,480
Evidence Based Associates	Clinical Social Worker	New York, NY	11/29/2022	$58,000
Omni Therapeutics, Inc.	School Social Worker-Lsw/Lcsw	Homewood, IL	11/28/2022	$73,045
Florida Department of Transportation	Licensed Clinical Social Worker (Lcsw)	Orlando, FL	11/28/2022	$57,527
CCI Health & Wellness Services	Behavioral Health Therapist-Lcsw, Lcsw-C, Lmsw, Lcpc, Lgpc, or LP	Takoma Park, MD	11/28/2022	$65,000
State of Michigan	Clinical Social Worker 9-P11	Kalamazoo, MI	11/28/2022	$50,693

Clinical Social Worker Salaries FAQs

What State Pays Clinical Social Workers The Most?

California pays Clinical Social Workers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $83,803 per year, or $40.29 per hour.

How Do I Know If I'm Being Paid Fairly As A Clinical Social Worker?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Clinical Social Worker if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in District of Columbia you should be paid close to $83,373 per year.

What Is The Highest-paid Social Worker?

The highest-paid social worker usually works in child and family social work. These social workers specialize in helping children and families who need housing, childcare, or financial support during difficult times.

Where Do Lcsws Make The Most Money?

LCSW's make the most money in California, as it's the highest paying state in the industry. According to the BLS, the social work industry overall is expected to grow 11% by 2028, which is classified as much faster than average.

Have more questions? See all answers to common community and social services questions.

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Updated February 6, 2023