Clinical Social Worker salary

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Quoted Expert

Sarah Christa Butts MSW

Average clinical social worker salary

$63,056

$30.32 hourly rate

Entry-level clinical social worker salary

$42,000 yearly salary

Updated January 8, 2025

How much does a clinical social worker make?

The average clinical social worker salary in the United States is $63,056. Clinical social worker salaries typically range between $42,000 and $92,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for clinical social workers is $30.32 per hour.

Clinical social worker salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Clinical social workers earn the highest average salary in California.

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Clinical social worker salary by:

Where can a Clinical Social Worker earn more?

Compare salary by location

104k

84k

64k

44k

24k

Ashburn, VA$90,357

Charlottesville, VA$53,747

Compare salary by company

106k

86k

66k

46k

Tucson Electric Power$89,092

Children's Hospital Colorado$76,007

Clinical Social Worker

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

Clinical Social Worker salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Glassdoor, Ziprecruiter, Comparably and Payscale, the average salary for a clinical social worker typically falls between $54,999 and $94,158.

zippia

$63,056yearly

glassdoor[1]

$86,756yearly

comparably[2]

$89,253yearly

Salary.com[3]

$54,999yearly

ZipRecruiter[4]

$94,158yearly

payscale[5]

$62,443yearly

Average clinical social worker salary by state

The highest-paying states for clinical social workers are California, New Hampshire, and Oregon. The lowest average clinical social worker salary states are Louisiana, South Carolina, and Texas.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Highest paying states for clinical social workers

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

Top clinical social worker jobs near you

Highest paying cities for clinical social workers

The highest-paying cities for clinical social workers are Santa Rosa, CA, Washington, DC, and Eugene, OR.

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Santa Rosa, CA	$90,357	$43.44
2	Washington, DC	$83,409	$40.10
3	Eugene, OR	$81,195	$39.04
4	New Haven, CT	$77,341	$37.18
5	Toms River, NJ	$77,235	$37.13
6	Vancouver, WA	$74,533	$35.83
7	Philadelphia, PA	$71,650	$34.45
8	Richmond, IN	$71,408	$34.33
9	Burlington, VT	$69,953	$33.63
10	Las Vegas, NV	$65,483	$31.48
11	Worcester, MA	$64,938	$31.22
12	Syracuse, NY	$64,713	$31.11
13	Baltimore, MD	$64,481	$31.00
14	Chicago, IL	$61,875	$29.75
15	Salt Lake City, UT	$60,742	$29.20
16	Denver, CO	$60,145	$28.92
17	Portland, ME	$55,627	$26.74
18	Saint Louis, MO	$55,103	$26.49
19	Richmond, KY	$54,921	$26.40
20	Charlottesville, VA	$53,747	$25.84

Clinical Social Workers are the most in-demand in these five cities:

Clinical Social Worker salary details

A clinical social worker's salary ranges from $42,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $92,000 at the 90th percentile.

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 clinical social worker jobs

The highest paying types of clinical social workers are clinical supervisor, clinician, and primary therapist.

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

How would you rate the starting salaries for Clinical Social Workers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Sarah Christa Butts MSW

Director of Public Policy, National Association of Social Workers

Social workers are required to have a high level of education. Usually, a Master's degree and starting salaries are often far too low. Still, social workers can increase their wages over time, and there are many opportunities and positions available. Increasing reimbursement and compensation for social workers and reducing student loan debt are advocacy priorities for NASW.

Top companies hiring clinical social workers now:

Which companies pay clinical social workers the most?

Clinical social worker salaries at Tucson Electric Power and CVS Health are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average clinical social worker salary at companies like Favorite Healthcare Staffing and Oculus are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Tucson Electric Power	$89,092	$42.83
2	CVS Health	$86,709	$41.69
3	Favorite Healthcare Staffing	$85,919	$41.31
4	Oculus	$85,809	$41.25
5	Encompass Health	$85,701	$41.20
6	Careerstaff Unlimited - A Genesis Healthcare Company	$84,807	$40.77
7	Aetna	$83,453	$40.12
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
13	Accra Care, Inc.	$77,816	$37.41
14	Key Rehabilitation	$77,048	$37.04
15	US Oncology Holdings Inc	$76,985	$37.01
16	FHI 360	$76,835	$36.94
17	Foundation Health Services	$76,757	$36.90
18	Moda Health	$76,500	$36.78
19	Guidestar	$76,428	$36.74
20	Children's Hospital Colorado	$76,007	$36.54

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$63,000$62,800$62,600$62,400$62,200$62,000

MaleFemale

Clinical Social Worker salary by industry

The average clinical social worker salary varies across industries:

The average clinical social worker salary in the education industry is $62,929, the highest of any industry.
The average clinical social worker salary in the finance industry is $62,101.
Clinical social workers in the pharmaceutical industry earn an average salary of $47,910, the lowest of any industry.

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 salary trends

The average clinical social worker salary has risen by $9,858 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average clinical social worker earned $53,198 annually, but today, they earn $63,056 a year. That works out to a 7% change in pay for clinical social workers over the last decade.

Compare clinical social worker salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average clinical social worker salary over time

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

Clinical Social Worker salary by year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2025	$63,100	$30.32	+1.5%
2024	$62,100	$29.85	+1.0%
2023	$61,500	$29.56	+2.4%
2022	$60,000	$28.86	+2.0%
2021	$58,800	$28.28	+2.6%

Recently added clinical social worker salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Community Mental Health Association	Licensed and Limited License Clinical Social Worker	Kent, WA	12/18/2024	$58,436
RKM Care	Clinic Social Worker	Port Allen, LA	12/18/2024	$56,780
Behavioral Health Tech, Inc.	Hybrid Licensed Clinical Social Worker	Nore, MN	12/17/2024	$98,089
Solomon Page	Licensed Clinical Social Worker	New York, NY	12/17/2024	$60,000
Kaiser	Medical Social Worker III Lcsw (Bilingual)	Los Angeles, CA	12/17/2024	$65,000
MPAC Healthcare	Lcsw	Logansport, IN	12/17/2024	$100,000
Thriveworks	Clinical Social Worker	Allentown, PA	12/17/2024	$108,300
Thriveworks	Clinical Social Worker	Washington, DC	12/17/2024	$118,000
Senior Care Therapy, LLC	Licensed Clinical Social Worker Lcsw East	Kane, PA	12/17/2024	$70,000
Senior Care Therapy, LLC	Licensed Clinical Social Worker Lcsw	New York, NY	12/17/2024	$70,000

Clinical Social Worker salary FAQs

What state pays Clinical Social Workers the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a Clinical Social Worker?

What is the highest-paid social worker?

Where do LCSWs make the most money?

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

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Updated January 8, 2025

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