Key Factors That Influence Medical Social Worker Salaries
A Medical Social Worker's salary isn't a fixed number. It's shaped by several important factors.
Below, we'll explore how your years of experience, geographic location, skills
and company size
can directly affect your earning potential.
How Experience Level Affects Medical Social Worker Salaries?
Experience is a primary driver of a Medical Social Worker's salary. As you build your skills and take on more complex tasks, your compensation generally increases. Here's how the average salary grows at different career stages:
Salaries can also vary between different cities.
Major metropolitan areas or cities with a high demand for technicians often offer more competitive pay.
Here are a few examples of average annual salaries in different U.S. cities:
San Jose: $84,394
San Francisco: $83,470
Oakland: $81,711
San Jose, CA$84,394
San Francisco, CA$83,470
Oakland, CA$81,711
New York, NY$77,040
Paramus, NJ$76,103
Queens Village, NY$76,100
Passaic, NJ$76,036
Bergenfield, NJ$76,030
Stamford, CT$75,883
Huntington, NY$75,856
Newark, NJ$75,361
Bridgeport, CT$75,220
Vallejo, CA$75,087
New Brunswick, NJ$75,060
Petaluma, CA$75,020
Middlesex, NJ$74,893
Somerset, NJ$74,846
Santa Cruz, CA$74,759
Boston, MA$74,351
Monterey, CA$74,116
Seattle, WA$73,963
Santa Rosa, CA$73,949
Los Angeles, CA$73,929
Juneau, AK$73,755
Washington, DC$73,682
Orange, CA$73,443
Santa Ana, CA$73,267
Long Beach, CA$73,200
Anaheim, CA$73,186
Anchorage, AK$73,153
Santa Maria, CA$72,952
Everett, WA$72,939
Danbury, CT$72,703
Bremerton, WA$72,611
Tacoma, WA$72,370
New Suffolk, NY$72,369
Sacramento, CA$72,350
Santa Barbara, CA$72,277
Trenton, NJ$72,203
San Diego, CA$72,203
Brockton, MA$72,129
Fairbanks, AK$71,965
Lompoc, CA$71,795
Lowell, MA$71,741
Ventura, CA$71,728
Nashua, NH$71,714
Stockton, CA$71,708
Modesto, CA$71,219
Poughkeepsie, NY$71,072
Olympia, WA$70,945
Kennewick, WA$70,945
New Haven, CT$70,918
Lawrence, MA$70,677
Hartford, CT$70,610
Riverside, CA$70,597
New Bedford, MA$70,530
Richland, WA$70,530
Bakersfield, CA$70,436
San Bernardino, CA$70,410
New Britain, CT$70,403
Atlantic City, NJ$70,403
New London, CT$70,376
Norwich, CT$70,356
Portsmouth, NH$70,343
Boulder, CO$70,201
Portland, OR$70,109
Worcester, MA$70,102
Minneapolis, MN$69,894
Philadelphia, PA$69,801
Honolulu, HI$69,580
Saint Paul, MN$69,548
Vineland, NJ$69,533
Providence, RI$69,339
Chicago, IL$69,145
Bellingham, WA$69,065
Springfield, MA$69,011
Baltimore, MD$68,991
Chico, CA$68,824
Pittsfield, MA$68,643
Manchester, NH$68,516
Spokane, WA$68,222
Denver, CO$68,215
Albany, NY$67,901
Troy, NY$67,874
Nassau, NY$67,802
Schenectady, NY$67,733
Wilmington, DE$67,680
Burlington, VT$67,586
Salem, OR$67,559
Portland, ME$67,352
Yakima, WA$67,285
Rochester, MN$67,078
Reno, NV$67,044
Fresno, CA$67,044
Milwaukee, WI$66,984
Detroit, MI$66,917
Ann Arbor, MI$66,906
Allentown, PA$66,897
Colorado Springs, CO$66,783
Syracuse, NY$66,750
Carson City, NV$66,750
Houston, TX$66,656
Eugene, OR$66,623
Gary, IN$66,542
Springfield, OR$66,489
Bismarck, ND$66,475
Galveston, TX$66,429
Medford, OR$66,328
Fort Collins, CO$66,301
Concord, NH$66,268
Austin, TX$66,248
Mesa, AZ$66,107
Reading, PA$66,101
Phoenix, AZ$66,094
Dallas, TX$66,074
Saint Cloud, MN$66,010
Madison, WI$65,920
Utica, NY$65,739
Rochester, NY$65,632
Des Moines, IA$65,626
Raleigh, NC$65,619
Atlanta, GA$65,519
Battle Creek, MI$65,498
Salt Lake City, UT$65,478
Lancaster, PA$65,378
Harrisburg, PA$65,284
Kansas City, MO$65,217
Champaign, IL$65,204
Kansas City, KS$65,204
Fort Worth, TX$65,197
Columbus, OH$65,186
Boca Raton, FL$65,171
Pittsburgh, PA$65,144
Richmond, VA$65,117
Indianapolis, IN$65,104
Cleveland, OH$65,097
Las Vegas, NV$65,017
Cincinnati, OH$65,017
Petersburg, VA$64,916
Huntsville, AL$64,816
Lansing, MI$64,771
Lebanon, PA$64,762
Pueblo, CO$64,756
Appleton, WI$64,736
Buffalo, NY$64,709
Dayton, OH$64,689
Racine, WI$64,675
Charlotte, NC$64,669
Saint Louis, MO$64,649
York, PA$64,609
Elkhart, IN$64,609
Gastonia, NC$64,596
Billings, MT$64,580
Beaumont, TX$64,562
Lorain, OH$64,548
Benton Harbor, MI$64,535
Toledo, OH$64,522
Binghamton, NY$64,488
Rock Hill, SC$64,481
Rockford, IL$64,448
Springfield, IL$64,421
Elyria, OH$64,415
Fargo, ND$64,415
Flagstaff, AZ$64,368
Fort Lauderdale, FL$64,328
Duluth, MN$64,287
Miami, FL$64,287
Cheyenne, WY$64,241
Grand Forks, ND$64,241
Bangor, ME$64,093
Cedar Rapids, IA$64,020
Durham, NC$63,992
Louisville, KY$63,986
Grand Rapids, MI$63,973
Hialeah, FL$63,966
Casper, WY$63,873
Scranton, PA$63,792
New Orleans, LA$63,772
Virginia Beach, VA$63,766
Akron, OH$63,732
Peoria, IL$63,645
Sarasota, FL$63,632
Nashville, TN$63,585
Omaha, NE$63,585
Green Bay, WI$63,585
Baton Rouge, LA$63,551
Charleston, SC$63,538
Jamestown, NY$63,505
Davenport, IA$63,505
Tucson, AZ$63,471
Saint Petersburg, FL$63,431
Tampa, FL$63,418
Evansville, IN$63,377
Port Arthur, TX$63,377
Bradenton, FL$63,351
Santa Fe, NM$63,230
Orlando, FL$63,110
Clearwater, FL$63,090
Canton, OH$62,949
La Crosse, WI$62,949
Albuquerque, NM$62,909
Newport News, VA$62,902
High Point, NC$62,882
Ogden, UT$62,856
Corpus Christi, TX$62,802
Norfolk, VA$62,762
Laramie, WY$62,762
Rock Island, IL$62,722
Saginaw, MI$62,708
Jacksonville, FL$62,702
Salisbury, NC$62,688
Boise, ID$62,675
Moline, IL$62,641
Fort Myers, FL$62,621
Memphis, TN$62,608
Tulsa, OK$62,575
Waterloo, IA$62,534
Spartanburg, SC$62,467
Lincoln, NE$62,434
Fort Wayne, IN$62,421
Provo, UT$62,414
Cedar Falls, IA$62,334
San Antonio, TX$62,307
Greensboro, NC$62,280
South Bend, IN$62,273
Savannah, GA$62,200
Muskegon, MI$62,173
Birmingham, AL$62,166
Winston Salem, NC$62,134
Lake Charles, LA$61,972
Anderson, IN$61,959
Lexington, KY$61,939
Augusta, GA$61,919
Greenville, SC$61,919
Lima, OH$61,865
Wichita, KS$61,859
Tuscaloosa, AL$61,859
Columbia, SC$61,798
Springfield, OH$61,785
Asheville, NC$61,678
Bloomington, IN$61,631
Knoxville, TN$61,390
Shreveport, LA$61,384
Wilmington, NC$61,297
Roanoke, VA$61,297
Topeka, KS$61,176
Frankfort, KY$61,169
Oklahoma City, OK$61,123
Chillicothe, OH$61,096
Longview, TX$61,089
Melbourne, FL$61,082
Sioux Falls, SD$60,975
Mobile, AL$60,969
Terre Haute, IN$60,942
Altoona, PA$60,902
Amarillo, TX$60,855
Killeen, TX$60,835
Fayetteville, AR$60,781
Chattanooga, TN$60,761
Sioux City, IA$60,701
Idaho Falls, ID$60,688
Lynchburg, VA$60,634
Gainesville, FL$60,547
Portsmouth, OH$60,514
Little Rock, AR$60,500
Lafayette, LA$60,474
Youngstown, OH$60,474
Daytona Beach, FL$60,433
Clarksville, TN$60,427
Pensacola, FL$60,420
Temple, TX$60,415
Hopkinsville, KY$60,219
Erie, PA$60,206
Florence, SC$60,179
Charleston, WV$60,072
Great Falls, MT$60,039
Macon, GA$59,945
Tallahassee, FL$59,938
Fayetteville, NC$59,925
Waco, TX$59,911
Helena, MT$59,865
Pine Bluff, AR$59,839
Vincennes, IN$59,758
Lubbock, TX$59,731
Alamogordo, NM$59,691
Twin Falls, ID$59,630
Rapid City, SD$59,610
Jackson, MS$59,490
Huntington, WV$59,485
Greenville, MS$59,483
Parkersburg, WV$59,415
Montgomery, AL$59,403
Wichita Falls, TX$59,336
Springfield, MO$59,336
Biloxi, MS$59,303
Monroe, LA$59,236
Johnstown, PA$59,189
Sumter, SC$59,162
Columbus, GA$59,155
Pascagoula, MS$59,028
Abilene, TX$59,028
Kingsport, TN$58,854
Albany, GA$58,854
Gulfport, MS$58,834
Alexandria, LA$58,613
Fort Smith, AR$58,446
El Paso, TX$58,265
Las Cruces, NM$57,964
Harlingen, TX$57,794
Pocatello, ID$57,784
Florence, AL$57,697
Brownsville, TX$57,683
Mcallen, TX$57,543
Dothan, AL$57,449
Columbus, MS$57,052
Altus, OK$56,740
Lawton, OK$56,613
Pierre, SD$56,372
What Skills Can Increase a Medical Social Worker's Salary?
Demanded Skills for the Role:
Leadership (Mentioned in 5.26% Job Postings): Knowledge of and ability to employ effective strategies that motivate and guide other members within our business to achieve optimum results.
Discharge Planning (Mentioned in 2.67% Job Postings): Developing a personalized plan to ensure the smooth transition of a patient from a health organization to the patient's home or residential care.
Acute Care (Mentioned in 1.52% Job Postings): Acute care is a branch of secondary health care where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for a severe injury or episode of illness, an urgent medical condition, or during recovery from surgery. In medical terms, care for acute health conditions is the opposite from chronic care, or longer term care. Acute care services are generally delivered by teams of health care professionals from a range of medical and surgical specialties. Acute care may require a stay in a hospital emergency department, ambulatory surgery center, urgent care centre or other short-term stay facility, along with the assistance of diagnostic services, surgery, or follow-up outpatient care in the community. Hospital-based acute inpatient care typically has the goal of discharging patients as soon as they are deemed healthy and stable. Acute care settings include emergency department, intensive care, coronary care, cardiology, neonatal intensive care, and many general areas where the patient could become acutely unwell and require stabilization and transfer to another higher dependency unit for further treatment.
Mastering certain specialized skills can lead to a significant increase in pay.
Here are examples of skills and the potential impact they can have on a Medical Social Worker's salary.
Resident Service: Can increase your salary by up to 6%.
Clinical Social Work: Can increase your salary by up to 4%.
Care Management: Can increase your salary by up to 4%.
Medical Social Worker Salary by Industry: Top Paying Sectors
For Medical Social Worker roles, the industry you choose can impact your earning potential
by as much as 40% (the gap between the highest and lowest paying industries).
Data shows that the highest-paying industry, Edu., Gov't. & Nonprofit,
offers compensation 20% above the average. Conversely,
Medical Social Worker positions in Healthcare typically offer lower base pay,
as this sector often view Medical Social Worker as a support function rather than a direct revenue driver.
The top paying industry for a Medical Social Worker
Industry Sector
Average Annual Salary
Average Hourly Rate
Pay vs.Avg
Edu., Gov't. & Nonprofit
$74,258
$36.0
20%
Medical Social Worker Salary: Hourly Rate, Weekly Pay, and Monthly Pay
Understanding how a Medical Social Worker's annual salary breaks down can help with budgeting.
Below, you can see the average hourly rate, weekly pay, and monthly pay for this role.
Use the buttons to switch between different pay periods.
Ready to take the next step in your career? Browse thousands of current Medical Social Worker job openings on our job board. Use the search bar below to find your perfect match.
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Where Does Our Salary Data Come From?
Salary.com salary estimates, histograms, trends, and comparisons are derived from both employer job postings and third-party data sources.
We also provide multiple percentiles of salary information for your reference, click here to know Why the Salary Midpoint Formula Is Crucial to Getting Pay Equity Right.
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