---
title: "Healthcare Social Worker"
description: "Provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Services include…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/healthcare-social-worker"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Healthcare Social Worker

**Category:** Community and Social Service · **SOC code:** 21-1022 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 21-1022.00

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.

Also advertised as: Clinical Social Worker; Hospice Social Worker; LMSW (Licensed Master Social Worker); Medical Social Worker; Nephrology Social Worker; Oncology Social Worker; Psychosocial Coordinator; Renal Social Worker.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $67,880 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $32.63/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $46,220 to $100,360, with the middle half between $56,710 and $82,240
- **Total US employment:** 187,630
- **Typical entry education:** Master's
- **Preparation required:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +7.7% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 18,400 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 45/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 187,630 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $46,220 |
| 25th | $56,710 |
| 50th (median) | $67,880 |
| 75th | $82,240 |
| 90th | $100,360 |
| Mean (average) | $71,790 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $94,100 | $85,623 | 420 |
| CA | $89,660 | $80,979 | 17,690 |
| HI | $85,420 | $77,689 | 660 |
| OR | $84,350 | $81,607 | 2,320 |
| NJ | $82,690 | $75,998 | 4,310 |
| VT | $81,140 | $82,831 | 250 |
| CT | $79,900 | $77,116 | 1,650 |
| WA | $78,570 | $73,421 | 5,180 |
| NV | $78,470 | $78,486 | 1,160 |
| NH | $78,260 | $75,131 | 590 |
| UT | $78,150 | $79,048 | 1,750 |
| MD | $76,440 | $72,828 | 4,750 |
| MA | $76,440 | $72,279 | 7,220 |
| RI | $75,390 | $73,709 | 630 |
| ID | $74,500 | $78,015 | 750 |

38 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 53 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/healthcare-social-worker/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/healthcare-social-worker.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 193,200 in the 2024–2034 base year to 208,100 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 14,800 jobs, or +7.7%. Much faster than average: 7.7% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 18,400 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Master's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Internship/residency.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Master's Degree | 70.4% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 14.8% |
| Post-Master's Certificate | 11.1% |
| First Professional Degree | 3.7% |

## What the work involves

- 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.
- Utilize consultation data and social work experience to plan and coordinate client or patient care and rehabilitation, following through to ensure service efficacy.
- Identify environmental impediments to client or patient progress through interviews and review of patient records.
- 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.
- Modify treatment plans to comply with changes in clients' status.
- Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress according to measurable goals described in treatment and care plan.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Speaking — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Social Perceptiveness — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Negotiation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Psychology — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Therapy and Counseling — importance 4.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Sociology and Anthropology — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Expression — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Recognition — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Social (S), Investigative (I), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| S — Social | 6.92 |
| I — Investigative | 4.24 |
| C — Conventional | 3.07 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.55 |
| A — Artistic | 2.34 |
| R — Realistic | 1.96 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ENFJ | 68.8 |
| ESFJ | 65.3 |
| ESFP | 64.8 |
| ENFP | 62.5 |
| INFJ | 62.0 |

Best-fitting types: ENFJ, ESFJ, ESFP.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mental-health-and-substance-abuse-social-worker) — median $60,280
- [Mental Health Counselor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mental-health-counselor) — median $60,320
- [School Social Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/school-social-worker) — median $59,550
- [Marriage and Family Therapist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/marriage-and-family-therapist) — median $66,940
- [Rehabilitation Counselor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/rehabilitation-counselor) — median $46,850
- [Social and Human Service Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/social-and-human-service-assistant) — median $45,930
- [Clinical Psychologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/clinical-psychologist) — median $100,580
- [Community Health Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/community-health-worker) — median $51,850
- [Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/substance-abuse-and-behavioral-disorder-counselor) — median $60,320
- [Health Education Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/health-education-specialist) — median $64,070

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/healthcare-social-worker