Occupation salary profile

Healthcare Social Workers

SOC 21-1022 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Services include advising family caregivers. Provide patients with information and counseling, and make referrals for other services. May also provide case and care management or interventions designed to promote health, prevent disease, and address barriers to access to healthcare.

National median · BLS
$67,880
▼ -0.31% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$76,182
▲ +17.56% YoY · 88 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$71,790
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
187,630
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Healthcare Social Workers

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 88 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$46,220$51,931
25th$56,710$58,760
Median (50th)$67,880$76,182
75th$82,240$87,835
90th — top pay$100,360$100,052
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $76,182 for Healthcare Social Workers — 12.2% above the BLS national median of $67,880.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Healthcare Social Workers

BLS projects employment of healthcare social workers to grow 8.5% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 16,900 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
194,800 → 211,300
+16,500 jobs
Projected change
+8.5%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
16,900
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Master's degree
No related experience required
On-the-job training
Internship/residency
Self-employed
0.9% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 5)
Extensive Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a master's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $76,182
Change vs prior year +17.56%
After inflation (CPI-U) +13.99%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 31 35.2% $51,771 $57,845 $63,700
Level II 34 38.6% $65,000 $76,241 $89,440
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Healthcare Social Workers

The 1 most-filed job titles inside SOC 21-1022, from 88 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Social Worker 35 39.77% $58,313 $74,160 $84,264 +21.71%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Healthcare Social Workers

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Social Perceptiveness4.3
  • Service Orientation4.1
  • Speaking4.1
  • Active Listening4.0
  • Coordination4.0
  • Critical Thinking4.0
  • Reading Comprehension4.0
  • Complex Problem Solving3.9
  • Writing3.9
  • Active Learning3.8
Top knowledge areas
  • Psychology4.9
  • Therapy and Counseling4.7
  • English Language4.4
  • Sociology and Anthropology4.4
  • Customer and Personal Service3.9
  • Education and Training3.5
  • Philosophy and Theology3.1
  • Administrative3.0
Software and technology used
Microsoft TeamsZoomGoogle MeetMEDITECH softwareMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft WordAdobe PageMakerAutomated clinical information systemsCalendar softwareCommand Systems ComServeCorel WordPerfect Office SuiteDatabase softwareEmail softwareHealthcare common procedure coding system HCPCSInformation presentation softwareIntrado SchoolMessenger

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What healthcare social workers do

  • Advocate for clients or patients to resolve crises.
  • Educate clients about end-of-life symptoms and options to assist them in making informed decisions.
  • Collaborate with other professionals to evaluate patients' medical or physical condition and to assess client needs.
  • Refer patient, client, or family to community resources to assist in recovery from mental or physical illness and to provide access to services such as financial assistance, legal aid, housing, job placement or education.
  • Utilize consultation data and social work experience to plan and coordinate client or patient care and rehabilitation, following through to ensure service efficacy.
  • Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress according to measurable goals described in treatment and care plan.
  • Identify environmental impediments to client or patient progress through interviews and review of patient records.
  • Counsel clients and patients in individual and group sessions to help them overcome dependencies, recover from illness, and adjust to life.
Also called
Clinical Social WorkerHospice Social WorkerMedical Social WorkerSocial WorkerLMSW (Licensed Master Social Worker)Nephrology Social WorkerOncology Social WorkerPsychosocial CoordinatorRenal Social WorkerSocial Work Case Manager
More job titles for this occupation (43)
AIDS Social WorkerBereavement CounselorCase ManagerCase WorkerCaseworkerCertified Health Care Social WorkerCertified Social Worker in Health Care (C-SWHC)Client AdvocateDisability AdvocateDisability CoordinatorDisability SpecialistDischarge PlannerElder CounselorFamily AdvocateFamily Support SpecialistFamily Support WorkerGeriatric Social WorkerGroup Social WorkerHealth Care Social WorkerHealthcare AdvocateHealthcare Social WorkerHome Health Care Social WorkerHospice Home Care Social WorkerHospice Medical Social WorkerHospital Social WorkerLicensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)Licensed Social WorkerLICSW (Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker)LISW (Licensed Independent Social Worker)LMSW (Licensed Medical Social Worker)Long Term Care Social WorkerMedicaid Eligibility AdvisorMedical Case ManagerMedical Case WorkerMedical Social ConsultantNeonatal Social WorkerNursing Home Social WorkerOlder Adult Social Work SpecialistPatient AdvocatePediatric Social WorkerPerinatal Social WorkerPublic Health Social WorkerPublic Welfare Worker

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.