School Social Worker: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
10% of school social workers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $42,280
- Hourly
- $20.33
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of school social workers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $48,270
- Hourly
- $23.21
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of school social workers earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $59,550
- Hourly
- $28.63
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of school social workers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $76,070
- Hourly
- $36.57
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of school social workers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $95,530
- Hourly
- $45.93
- Source
- BLS May 2025
School Social Workers provide social services and assistance to improve the social and psychological functioning of children and their families and to maximize the family well-being and the academic functioning of children. The median pay is $59,550 a year ($28.63 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (69% of workers surveyed by O*NET).
- Median pay
- $59,550
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 392,550
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 4 of 5
- considerable preparation
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree
- 69% of workers
Data Government data groups this job as Child, Family, and School Social Workers (O*NET-SOC 21-1021.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
School Social Workers at a glance
Workers in the BLS occupation “Child, Family, and School Social Workers” in the United States earned a median annual wage of $59,550 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for workers in the BLS occupation “Child, Family, and School Social Workers” in the United States.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS projects employment of workers in the BLS occupation “Child, Family, and School Social Workers” in the United States to grow 4.4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 33,900 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS estimates that 52.0% of child, family, and school social workers in the United States had the ability to telework in 2025, a preliminary estimate of whether the job allows it, not a count of remote jobs.
Source: BLS Occupational Requirements Survey, 2025 preliminary
Every page for School Social Workers
What school social workers do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).
- Maintain case history records and prepare reports.
- Interview clients individually, in families, or in groups, assessing their situations, capabilities, and problems to determine what services are required to meet their needs.
- Develop and review service plans in consultation with clients and perform follow-ups assessing the quantity and quality of services provided.
- Address legal issues, such as child abuse and discipline, assisting with hearings and providing testimony to inform custody arrangements.
- Counsel parents with child rearing problems, interviewing the child and family to determine whether further action is required.
- Consult with parents, teachers, and other school personnel to determine causes of problems, such as truancy and misbehavior, and to implement solutions.
- Arrange for medical, psychiatric, and other tests that may disclose causes of difficulties and indicate remedial measures.
- Collect supplementary information needed to assist client, such as employment records, medical records, or school reports.
School Social Worker compared with other careers
Data Side-by-side comparisons of School Social Worker with careers people weigh against it: pay, outlook, education, requirements and work environment, with no overall winner.
- School Psychologist vs School Social Worker median pay: School Social Worker $59,550 · School Psychologist $95,990 (BLS, May 2025)
- School Social Worker vs School Counselor median pay: School Social Worker $59,550 · School Counselor $64,330 (BLS, May 2025)
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: Customer and Personal Service, Psychology, Therapy and Counseling, English Language, Administrative, Sociology and Anthropology.
Software school social workers use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- EasyCBMComputer based training software
- Patient electronic medical record EMR softwareMedical software
- Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareIn demand
- Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareIn demand
- Microsoft OutlookElectronic mail softwareIn demand
- Microsoft AccessData base user interface and query softwareHot technology
- Microsoft PowerPointPresentation softwareHot technology
- Microsoft WordWord processing softwareHot technology
- Student information systems SIS softwareData base user interface and query software
- Web browser softwareInternet browser software
Also called: Adoption Social Worker, Case Manager, Case Worker, Child Protective Services Social Worker (CPS Social Worker), Family Protection Specialist, Family Resource Coordinator.
How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.