Social Work Internship salary

Q: What state pays Social Work Interns the most?

Alaska pays Social Work Interns the most in the United States, with an average salary of $65,442 per year, or $31.46 per hour.

Q: How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a social work internship?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a social work internship if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in North Dakota you should be paid close to $53,664 per year.

Q: What is a good starting salary for a Social Work Internship?

A good starting salary for a social work internship is $28,000 in the United States. That puts you in the 10th percentile of annual income for a social work internship in the U.S., which is about what you would expect if you were new to the field. The average salary for social work interns is $41,360, but that normally requires some level of experience to achieve. Furthermore, a good starting salary for a social work internship can vary by state.

Quoted expert

Sarah Christa Butts MSW

Average social work internship salary

$37,178

$17.87 hourly rate

Entry-level social work internship salary

$27,000 yearly salary

Updated January 8, 2025

How much does a social work internship make?

The average social work internship salary in the United States is $37,178. Social work internship salaries typically range between $27,000 and $51,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for social work interns is $17.87 per hour.

Social work internship salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Social work interns earn the highest average salary in Alaska.

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Social work internship salary by:

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Where can a Social Work Internship earn more?

Compare salary by location

80k

60k

40k

20k

-51

Ashburn, VA$53,237

Jackson, MS$29,949

Compare salary by company

68k

48k

28k

DTCC$51,672

American Public Media Group$37,846

Social Work Internship salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Indeed and Glassdoor, the average salary for a social work internship typically falls between $35,186 and $55,139.

zippia

$37,178yearly

glassdoor[1]

$55,139yearly

indeed[2]

$35,186yearly

Average social work internship salary by state

The average social work internship salary in Alaska, North Dakota, and Hawaii are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average social work internship salary states are South Carolina, Indiana, and Alabama.

State view
County view

Average salary:

Highest paying states for social work interns

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	Alaska	$65,442	$31.46
2	North Dakota	$53,664	$25.80
3	Idaho	$45,664	$21.95
4	Washington	$49,623	$23.86
5	Connecticut	$45,939	$22.09
6	Oregon	$49,410	$23.75
7	Rhode Island	$43,819	$21.07
8	Hawaii	$49,797	$23.94
9	Massachusetts	$43,231	$20.78
10	Vermont	$41,343	$19.88
11	Iowa	$42,757	$20.56
12	New Hampshire	$41,908	$20.15
13	Wyoming	$39,045	$18.77
14	District of Columbia	$45,362	$21.81
15	Maine	$38,808	$18.66
16	California	$43,782	$21.05
17	Wisconsin	$43,140	$20.74
18	Minnesota	$42,936	$20.64
19	Illinois	$41,844	$20.12
20	New York	$40,254	$19.35
21	South Dakota	$36,598	$17.60
22	Nevada	$40,837	$19.63
23	Montana	$37,463	$18.01
24	Nebraska	$37,560	$18.06
25	Colorado	$38,593	$18.55
26	Pennsylvania	$38,850	$18.68
27	Michigan	$36,336	$17.47
28	New Jersey	$39,413	$18.95
29	Arizona	$35,780	$17.20
30	Ohio	$36,846	$17.71
31	Maryland	$36,200	$17.40
32	Kansas	$36,400	$17.50
33	New Mexico	$33,562	$16.14
34	Utah	$34,093	$16.39
35	Oklahoma	$34,175	$16.43
36	West Virginia	$33,049	$15.89
37	Florida	$34,672	$16.67
38	Virginia	$35,633	$17.13
39	Delaware	$30,349	$14.59
40	Kentucky	$31,010	$14.91
41	North Carolina	$32,802	$15.77
42	Arkansas	$29,902	$14.38
43	Tennessee	$31,289	$15.04
44	Missouri	$32,036	$15.40
45	Georgia	$30,465	$14.65
46	Mississippi	$29,895	$14.37
47	Texas	$31,177	$14.99
48	Indiana	$30,268	$14.55
49	Alabama	$30,097	$14.47
50	Louisiana	$27,529	$13.24
51	South Carolina	$30,279	$14.56

Top social work internship jobs near you

Highest paying cities for social work interns

The highest-paying cities for social work interns are Fargo, ND, Richmond, CA, and Bristol, CT.

Rank	City	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	Fargo, ND	$53,237	$25.59
2	Richmond, CA	$46,853	$22.53
3	Bristol, CT	$46,380	$22.30
4	Washington, DC	$45,365	$21.81
5	Waukegan, IL	$43,267	$20.80
6	Minneapolis, MN	$42,927	$20.64
7	Glen Cove, NY	$40,340	$19.39
8	Jersey City, NJ	$39,788	$19.13
9	Denver, CO	$38,685	$18.60
10	Grand Rapids, MI	$36,720	$17.65
11	Phoenix, AZ	$35,856	$17.24
12	Columbus, OH	$35,775	$17.20
13	Richmond, VA	$35,482	$17.06
14	Jacksonville, FL	$34,959	$16.81
15	Salt Lake City, UT	$34,270	$16.48
16	High Point, NC	$32,884	$15.81
17	Charleston, WV	$32,265	$15.51
18	San Antonio, TX	$31,249	$15.02
19	Atlanta, GA	$30,570	$14.70
20	Jackson, MS	$29,949	$14.40

Social Work Interns are the most in-demand in these five cities:

Social Work Internship salary details

A social work internship's salary ranges from $27,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $51,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average social work internship salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a social work internship's salary?

Percentile	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate
90th Percentile	$51,000	$4,250	$25
75th Percentile	$43,000	$3,583	$21
Average	$37,178	$3,098	$18
25th Percentile	$31,000	$2,583	$15
10th Percentile	$27,000	$2,250	$13

Highest paying social work internship jobs

The highest paying types of social work interns are clinical social worker, psychiatric social worker, and medical social worker.

Job title	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
Mental Health Professional	$49,119	$4,093	$23.61	109,499
Family Counselor	$41,510	$3,459	$19.96	93,253
Substance Abuse Counselor	$43,069	$3,589	$20.71	78,643
Mental Health Counselor	$49,471	$4,123	$23.78	110,752
Intensive In-Home Counselor	$51,428	$4,286	$24.73	122,300
Community Health Counselor	$43,304	$3,609	$20.82	131,804

How would you rate the starting salaries for Social Work Internships, 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 social work interns now:

Which companies pay social work interns the most?

Social work internship salaries at DTCC and VMware are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average social work internship salary at companies like Oracle and Children's Hospital Colorado are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	DTCC	$51,672	$24.84
2	VMware	$51,389	$24.71
3	Oracle	$49,990	$24.03
4	Children's Hospital Colorado	$46,406	$22.31
5	American Care	$44,403	$21.35
6	Protective Insurance	$44,376	$21.33
7	LG&E and KU	$44,354	$21.32
8	International Rescue Committee	$43,539	$20.93
9	Addison Trail High School	$42,467	$20.42
10	County Of Los Angeles Public Library	$41,988	$20.19
11	Novelis	$41,794	$20.09
12	Community Medical Center	$41,376	$19.89
13	Meridian Health Services	$40,996	$19.71
14	Moreno Valley Unified School District	$40,990	$19.71
15	Brave Care	$40,674	$19.55
16	Henry Ford Health System	$40,301	$19.38
17	Southern Healthcare	$40,060	$19.26
18	Universal Health Services	$39,239	$18.86
19	Waukegan High School	$38,074	$18.30
20	American Public Media Group	$37,846	$18.20

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$41,000$40,400$39,800$39,200$38,600$38,000

MaleFemale

Social Work Internship salary by industry

The average social work internship salary varies across industries:

The average social work internship salary in the government industry is $40,948, the highest of any industry.
The average social work internship salary in the finance industry is $39,233.
Social work interns in the professional industry earn an average salary of $36,921, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for social work interns

Rank	Industry	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Government	$40,948	$19.69
2	Education	$39,233	$18.86
3	Health Care	$39,078	$18.79
4	Non Profits	$37,454	$18.01
5	Professional	$36,921	$17.75

High paying social work internship jobs

Social Work Internship salary trends

The average social work internship salary has risen by $7,464 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average social work internship earned $29,714 annually, but today, they earn $37,178 a year. That works out to a 13% change in pay for social work interns over the last decade.

Compare social work internship salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average social work internship salary over time

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

Social Work Internship salary by year

Year	Avg. salary	Hourly rate	% Change
2025	$37,200	$17.87	+2.5%
2024	$36,200	$17.43	+3.7%
2023	$34,900	$16.78	+1.9%
2022	$34,200	$16.46	+4.0%
2021	$32,900	$15.81	+3.1%

Recently added social work internship salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date added	Salary
Greeley	Social Work Intern (2 Positions)	Greeley, CO	12/13/2024	$24,000
Oak Lawn Community High School	School Social Work Intern	Oak Lawn, IL	12/13/2024	$72,000
Improve Your Tomorrow	Social Entrepreneurship Intern	Sacramento, CA	12/11/2024	$34,436
Upper Michigan, Inc.	Master's Level Counseling/Social Work Intern	Fond du Lac, WI	12/11/2024	$33,392
Goodwill San Antonio	Social Work Intern-Workforce Development Program	San Antonio, TX	12/10/2024	$31,305
Bursonglobal	Burson Creative Internship-Social Content Creator-Hbsi 2025	New York, NY	12/09/2024	$39,653
Township High School District 113	Internship/School Social Worker Deerfield High School	Highland Park, IL	12/07/2024	$122,400
BCW Global	Burson Creative Internship-Social Content Creator-Hbsi 2025	New York, NY	12/05/2024	$39,653
Unchained Inc.	Social Work Intern (2 Positions)	Boone, CO	11/25/2024	$24,000
Drycreek	Social Work Intern (Associate Clinical School Year	Roseville, CA	11/24/2024	$45,914

Social Work Internship salary FAQs

What state pays Social Work Interns the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a social work internship?

What is a good starting salary for a Social Work Internship?

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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