How to hire a medical social worker

Medical social worker hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring medical social workers in the United States:

HR departments typically spend 15% of their expenses on recruitment.
It usually takes about 12 weeks for a new employee to reach full productivity levels.
It typically takes 36-42 days to fill a job opening.
The median cost to hire a medical social worker is $1,633.
Small businesses spend an average of $1,105 per medical social worker on training each year, while large companies spend $658.
There are currently 148,216 medical social workers in the US and 87,792 job openings.
San Francisco, CA, has the highest demand for medical social workers, with 22 job openings.
New York, NY has the highest concentration of medical social workers.

How to hire a medical social worker, step by step

To hire a medical social worker, you need to identify the specific skills and experience you want in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and advertise the job opening to attract potential candidates. To hire a medical social worker, you should follow these steps:

Here's a step-by-step medical social worker hiring guide:

Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
Step 3: Make a budget
Step 4: Write a medical social worker job description
Step 5: Post your job
Step 6: Interview candidates
Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new medical social worker
Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a medical social worker do?

A medical social worker specializes in managing a patient's health care and welfare while communicating with guardians or families, focusing on helping them cope and understand the medical conditions and situations. They are primarily responsible for assessing a patient's condition to identify their needs, conducting interviews to gather background information regarding the patient and family, and referring any social service programs that may provide them with the assistance or help they need. Furthermore, it is crucial to identify any signs of abuse or neglect and conduct intervention procedures right away.

Learn more about the specifics of what a medical social worker does

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Identify your hiring needs

Before you post your medical social worker job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a medical social worker for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

Determine employee vs contractor status

Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a medical social worker to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a medical social worker that fits the bill.

The following list breaks down different types of medical social workers and their corresponding salaries.

Type of Medical Social Worker	Description	Hourly rate
Medical Social Worker	Social workers help people solve and cope with problems in their everyday lives. One group of social workers—clinical social workers—also diagnose and treat mental, behavioral, and emotional issues.	$20-37
Substance Abuse Counselor	Substance abuse counselors act as a support system for people with drug and alcohol problems and other behavioral issues. They help the patients control their behavior until they achieve a full recovery... Show more	$12-32
Program Counselor	A Program Counselor is an essential part of a school's faculty. It's the counselor's responsibility to ensure that students are benefiting from the school's educational curriculum... Show more	$15-27

Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:
- Social Work
- Patients
- Home Health
- MSW
- Patient Care
- Crisis Intervention
- Social Services
- Acute Care
- Rehabilitation
- Mental Health
- Community Agencies
- Emotional Factors
- Discharge Planning
- Compassion
Check all skills
Responsibilities:
- Understand manage care, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
- Humanize the medical setting for elderly patients by using appropriate compassion in explaining complex information.
- Provide crisis intervention, supportive counseling and trauma/grief counseling for patients and their families experiencing acute or chronic traumatic events.
- Provide hands-on assessment and monitoring of suspect child abuse and neglect cases of children needing intensive rehabilitation and specialize care.
- Provide social casework to patients having difficulty in social functioning, primarily as it affects their health and emotional rehabilitation.
- Facilitate family counseling, crisis intervention, and assessments of specials population including geriatrics, homeless and substance abusing veterans.
More medical social worker duties

Make a budget

Including a salary range in your medical social worker job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A medical social worker can vary based on:

Location. For example, medical social workers' average salary in georgia is 49% less than in alaska.
Seniority. Entry-level medical social workers 45% less than senior-level medical social workers.
Certifications. A medical social worker with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a medical social worker's salary.

Average medical social worker salary

$57,093yearly

$27.45 hourly rate

Entry-level medical social worker salary

$42,000 yearly salary

Updated January 17, 2026

Average medical social worker salary by state

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	California	$77,711	$37
2	Oregon	$70,587	$34
3	Washington	$65,703	$32
4	Pennsylvania	$61,174	$29
5	Nevada	$60,911	$29
6	Indiana	$58,667	$28
7	New Mexico	$58,049	$28
8	Ohio	$57,931	$28
9	Michigan	$56,073	$27
10	Massachusetts	$55,448	$27
11	New York	$52,880	$25
12	Colorado	$51,273	$25
13	Mississippi	$50,941	$24
14	Illinois	$50,832	$24
15	Maine	$48,832	$23
16	Texas	$48,204	$23
17	Wisconsin	$48,153	$23
18	Nebraska	$47,962	$23
19	Minnesota	$47,881	$23
20	South Carolina	$46,928	$23

Average medical social worker salary by company

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
1	Health Advocates	$82,994	$39.90	22
2	Clarion Hospital	$82,448	$39.64
3	Trident Medical Center	$80,071	$38.50
4	Ethos Veterinary Health	$79,678	$38.31
5	Montrose Memorial Hospital	$78,309	$37.65
6	Hospice Buffalo	$77,163	$37.10	2
7	MCMC	$77,077	$37.06
8	A Plus Home Health Care, Inc.	$76,439	$36.75
9	Hearland Hospice	$72,859	$35.03	14
10	Health First	$72,795	$35.00	2
11	Estes Park Health	$70,962	$34.12
12	Oregon Health & Science University	$70,490	$33.89	13
13	Heartland Home Health Inc.	$70,134	$33.72	7
14	Better Home Health Care	$69,821	$33.57
15	Whidbey General Hospital	$69,511	$33.42
16	The Medical Center Inc	$69,280	$33.31
17	University of Washington	$68,407	$32.89	21
18	Mission Health Services	$68,266	$32.82	10
19	Brigham and Women's Hospital	$68,252	$32.81	44
20	Alameda Alliance for Health	$68,191	$32.78

Writing a medical social worker job description
A medical social worker job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a medical social worker job description:
Medical social worker job description example
Medical Social Worker for NHC Home Care Merritt Island
Pay: $40 - $47 / regular visit

Pay is based on experience

"A different kind of care that ensures you're surrounded by people who make a difference in your life."

Position: Medical Social Worker

NHC HomeCare Merritt Island is looking for a Medical Social Worker to join our team. The Medical Social Worker supervises and provides for the evaluation of the social and emotional needs of the patient related to their medical condition, and provides counseling, etc. based on this evaluation.

Qualifications - ALL states:
1. Master's Degree from a school of social work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.
2. One year social work experience in a health care setting is required.
PLUS state-specific requirements:

FLORIDA specific
- a. To provide clinical counseling to patients or caregivers, the social worker must have a current state license as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), pursuant to Chapter 491, F.S.
Position Highlights:
- Provides and accurately documents direct social services to patients planned to restore the patient to optimum social and health adjustment; including:
  •Assesses social and emotional factors, to minimize impact on the patient's health and ability to cope with problems of daily living
  •Helps the patients and caregivers to understand, accept, and follow medical recommendations
  •Assists patients and caregivers with personal and environmental difficulties which predispose toward illness or interfere with obtaining maximum benefits from medical care; and
  •Identifies resources, such as caregivers and community agencies, to assist the patient to resume life in the community, including discharge planning
  •Assists the providers and home care team members in understanding the significant social and emotional factors related to the health problems and
  •Participates in the development of the plan of care.
National HealthCare Corporation is recognized nationwide as an innovator in the delivery of quality care. Our goal is to provide a full range of extended care services, designed to maximize the well-being and independence of patients of all ages. We are dedicated to meeting patient needs through an interdisciplinary approach combining compassionate care with cost-effective health care services.

The NHC environment is one of encouragement and challenge ... innovation and improvement ... teamwork and collaboration ... and honesty and integrity. All NHC employees are committed as partners, not only to the health of our patients, but to the well-being of the communities we serve.

If you are interested in working for a leader in senior care and share NHC's values of honesty and integrity, please apply today and find out more about us at nhccare.com/locations/homecare-merrit-island/

We look forward to talking with you! NHC is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Post your job
There are a few common ways to find medical social workers for your business:
- Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
- Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
- Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
- Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.
Post your job online:
- Post your medical social worker job on Zippia to find and recruit medical social worker candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
During your first interview to recruit medical social workers, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.
It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Send a job offer and onboard your new medical social worker
Once you've selected the best medical social worker candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.
It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.
After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new medical social worker. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.
Go through the hiring process checklist
- Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
- Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
- Define job responsibilities and requirements
- Establish budget and timeline
- Determine hiring decision makers for the role
- Write job description
- Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
- Promote the job internally
- Process applications through applicant tracking system
- Review resumes and cover letters
- Shortlist candidates for screening
- Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
- Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
- Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
- Conduct background checks on top candidates
- Check references of top candidates
- Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
- Extend offer to top candidate(s)
- Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
- Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
- Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
- Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire a medical social worker?

Before you start to hire medical social workers, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire medical social workers pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.

You can expect to pay around $57,093 per year for a medical social worker, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for medical social workers in the US typically range between $20 and $37 an hour.

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Updated January 17, 2026

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How to hire a medical social worker