# Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

SOC 21-1023. Page: https://educationguide.com/careers/mental-health-and-substance-abuse-social-workers

Assess and treat individuals with mental, emotional, or substance abuse problems, including abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drugs. Activities may include individual and group therapy, crisis intervention, case management, client advocacy, prevention, and education.

## Pay and outlook
- U.S. median wage $60,280 (middle half $47,070–$79,730; BLS May 2025)
- Ages 25-34: median $62,968; 89% hold a bachelor's or higher (Census ACS 2020-2024)
- Jobs 2025-35: 10.3%; ~12.5k openings a year; typical entry: Master's degree

## Fields of degree of young workers (ages 25-34, bachelor's+)
- Psychology: 31% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/psychology)
- Social Work: 26% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/social-work)
- Sociology: 6% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/sociology)
- Family And Consumer Sciences: 4% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/human-development-and-family-studies, https://educationguide.com/degrees/foods-nutrition-and-related-services)
- Criminal Justice And Fire Protection: 3% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/criminal-justice, https://educationguide.com/degrees/security-homeland-security)
- Nursing: 3% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/nursing)
- English Language And Literature: 2% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/english)
- Communications: 2% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/communications, https://educationguide.com/degrees/communication-journalism-and-related-programs-other)
- Human Services And Community Organization: 2% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/human-services, https://educationguide.com/degrees/community-organization-and-advocacy)
- Miscellaneous Psychology: 1% (https://educationguide.com/degrees/psychology-research, https://educationguide.com/degrees/psychology-clinical-counseling)

## Median wage by state
- AK: $56,710
- AL: $41,500
- AR: $58,590
- AZ: $46,380
- CA: $79,000
- CO: $65,620
- CT: $78,640
- DC: $73,310
- DE: $60,060
- FL: $51,590
- GA: $52,030
- HI: $54,390
- IA: $48,530
- ID: $52,520
- IL: $49,960
- IN: $48,300
- KS: $56,330
- KY: $42,570
- LA: $47,100
- MA: $62,500
- MD: $73,580
- ME: $57,050
- MI: $60,830
- MN: $75,020
- MO: $49,560
- MS: $48,970
- MT: $45,160
- NC: $58,210
- ND: $60,980
- NE: $43,240
- NH: $63,900
- NJ: $66,590
- NM: $65,640
- NV: $62,900
- NY: $79,380
- OH: $46,080
- OK: $43,120
- OR: $68,210
- PA: $48,290
- PR: $26,500
- RI: $60,990
- SC: $39,930
- SD: $48,920
- TN: $46,500
- TX: $46,630
- UT: $50,770
- VA: $64,240
- VT: $73,210
- WA: $70,460
- WI: $61,860
- WV: $50,070
- WY: $59,310

Method: https://educationguide.com/how-we-score#careers

Free to reuse with attribution: cite "EducationGuide.com" with a link to the page URL. Most figures are U.S. government data (public domain); loan default rates and athletics come from the Urban Institute Education Data Portal (ODC-By 1.0, attribution required) and founding years from Wikidata (CC0). O*NET data: CC BY 4.0, O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA).