Medical Social Worker: Career and Salary Overview

As a medical social worker, you can earn a high salary in the social work profession. However, your actual earning potential will vary according to factors including your location, experience, and licensing level.

Explore medical social worker salary trends, identify top-paying states and metro areas, and learn strategies for maximizing your income.

Medical social workers connect patients in need with social services and community programs that can help them manage and adapt to health conditions. To become one, you will need at least a bachelor’s degree, passing scores on your social work exams, and a state-issued license.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), healthcare social workers earned a median salary of $68,090 per year as of May 2024. Salaries vary widely, spanning from just over $45,000 per year to nearly $100,0000.

Location has a major influence on medical social worker pay rates. Social workers in multiple states and metropolitan areas significantly exceed the median hourly wage of $32.74. For example, social workers in California and Washington, D.C. earn over $92,000 in median annual salary.

California, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Hawaii, and Connecticut are the top five highest-paying U.S. jurisdictions for medical social workers, according to BLS data from 2024. Explore and compare pay rates for all locations with this interactive map tool:

Unsurprisingly, the five highest-paying metro areas for medical social workers are all located in California, the top-paying state. The Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC) reports that California’s cost of living was 41.6% higher than average in the first quarter of 2025, which likely plays a major role in this overall trend.

Medical social workers are well-positioned to benefit from ongoing demographic changes. With a large U.S. population continuing to trend older, the BLS projects 10% job growth for medical social workers from 2023-33, much faster than the average growth rate of 4% for all jobs. This is the second-highest rate among all social work specializations, trailing only mental health and substance use.

Medical social workers often report high rates of job satisfaction. These professionals can make a tangible, positive difference in their community and in the lives of their clients.

The overall earning potential for medical social workers depends not only on location but also on factors like education and licensing level.

A large majority of states require you to hold a social work degree accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) to qualify for your social work license. The CSWE accredits programs at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels.

In most cases, the degree level you hold also dictates the social work licensure level for which you qualify. For example, many states offer pathways into clinical social work — which has a broader scope of practice — if you hold a graduate degree.

Higher licensure levels tend to offer higher pay, creating direct links between your education and your earning potential.

A higher degree level often leads to a higher earning potential. Social workers with a graduate-level social work degree earn $10,000 more in average annual salary than those with a BSW alone. Licensed clinical social workers earn even higher salaries — about $20,000 more than BSW holders.

As in most professions, medical social workers tend to earn more money as they gain experience. Seasoned social workers can pursue advanced licensure levels and supervisor positions, which tend to have higher annual salaries.

For example, Payscale data from July 2025 places the average social worker supervisor salary at approximately $67,680 per year. This is 7.4% higher than the average medical social worker salary, which Payscale reported at around $63,030 per year in June 2025.

Employers tend to offer salary premiums when hiring people for roles in locations with high average living costs. This practice, widely known as location-based pay, is common in both the public and private sectors.

In order from highest to lowest, California, Washington, D.C., Oregon, Hawaii, and Connecticut are the five top-paying U.S. destinations for medical social workers. These locations also rank among the most expensive places to live in the United States. This indicates a strong correlation between medical social worker pay rates and local living costs.