Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between community health workers and social workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a community health worker, becoming a social worker takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a social worker has an average salary of $50,102, which is higher than the $37,079 average annual salary of a community health worker.
The top three skills for a community health worker include patients, community health and social work. The most important skills for a social worker are social work, patients, and patient care.
| Community Health Worker | Social Worker | |
| Yearly salary | $37,079 | $50,102 |
| Hourly rate | $17.83 | $24.09 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 82,445 | 77,340 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 4.5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Average age | 43 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 2 |
A community health worker is a health professional who is a lay member of the community that provides health care in both urban and rural environments. Community health workers offer the health needs of the community they serve and provide some direct services such as first aid and blood pressure screening. They help people understand their health conditions and deliver health information by using appropriate cultural terms and concepts. Community health workers also make home visits to patients who are clinically ill, pregnant women, and individuals at high risk of health problems.
Social workers help their clients get through problems that they may be facing. Social workers help identify individuals or groups of people, usually families, who may need assistance, generally through a set of pre-determined criteria. They then determine the best ways to help their clients by interviewing them, getting to know them, and understanding the context of their lives. They create plans that will help their clients become better, such as integrating into a new environment, assisting them in their needs, or even rescuing them from their current place. Social workers have good interpersonal skills and communication skills.
Community health workers and social workers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Community Health Worker | Social Worker | |
| Average salary | $37,079 | $50,102 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $49,000 | Between $37,000 And $67,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Portland, OR |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Oregon |
| Best paying company | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory | Health Advocates |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Government |
There are a few differences between a community health worker and a social worker in terms of educational background:
| Community Health Worker | Social Worker | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Social Work |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between community health workers' and social workers' demographics:
| Community Health Worker | Social Worker | |
| Average age | 43 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 23.5% Female, 76.5% | Male, 19.5% Female, 80.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 6.4% Hispanic or Latino, 22.8% Asian, 5.8% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 19.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 3.3% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 21% | 13% |