What Can You Do With a Social Work Degree?

Below are 14 occupations that social work graduates commonly move into, most common first. Social and Human Service Assistant leads at $45,930 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025); across the whole list the middle occupation pays $60,320 and 6 of 14 typically need a graduate degree. A major is a body of study, not a job assignment, so treat every entry as a common destination rather than a promise.

What the degree actually involves: Human behaviour, policy, ethics, and supervised placements with real caseloads.

Social work is a licensed field with a clear bachelor-to-master ladder. The bachelor typically leads to case-carrying and assistant roles; the clinical titles, and most supervisory ones, want the master and the licence that follows it.

Common destinations: 14
Median pay range: $45,930–$80,390
Projected to grow: 14 of 14
Need a graduate degree: 6 of 14

How this list was built

The destinations are the occupations social work graduates commonly move into. They are ordered by how common the destination is, not by what it pays, so the ordinary outcomes sit at the top where they belong rather than being buried under the flattering ones.
Every destination is matched to a real occupation in the 923-occupation NueCareer career bank. A destination that does not resolve to a bank occupation is dropped rather than shown without data.
All pay, growth, openings and education figures come from that bank: BLS OEWS May 2025 for wages, BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 for projected change, annual openings and the typical education needed for entry, and O*NET 30.3 Database for what the work involves. Nothing is estimated and no figure here is generated by an AI model.
Destinations whose BLS typical entry education is a master’s or a doctoral or professional degree are marked Graduate study on the list. That flag is read from the federal data, not asserted by us.
What this list is not: a ranking of which destination you should pick, a statement of how many graduates reach each one, or a promise that the degree entitles you to any of them. Read the full methodology.

14 careers a social work degree commonly leads to

Most common destination first. Every card carries the national median annual wage, projected employment change and openings over 2024–2034, and the typical education people already in the job hold.

1. Social and Human Service Assistant
Community and Social Service
Median pay
$45,930
Growth
+6.4%
Openings/yr
50,600
Education
High school
Assist other social and human service providers in providing client services in a wide variety of fields, such as psychology, rehabilitation, or social work, including support for families.
Social and Human Service Assistant salary & outlook →
2. Community Health Worker
Community and Social Service
Median pay
$51,850
Growth
+11.3%
Openings/yr
7,800
Education
High school
Promote health within a community by assisting individuals to adopt healthy behaviors.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
3. Eligibility Interviewer, Government Programs
Office and Administrative Support
Median pay
$54,210
Growth
+1.0%
Openings/yr
14,000
Education
High school
Determine eligibility of persons applying to receive assistance from government programs and agency resources, such as welfare, unemployment benefits, social security, and public housing.
Eligibility Interviewer, Government Programs salary & outlook →
4. Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselor
Community and Social Service
Median pay
$60,320
Growth
+10.4%
Openings/yr
104,400
Education
N/A
Counsel and advise individuals with alcohol, tobacco, drug, or other problems, such as gambling and eating disorders.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
5. Rehabilitation Counselor
Community and Social Service
Graduate study
Median pay
$46,850
Growth
+1.4%
Openings/yr
10,000
Education
Master's
Counsel individuals to maximize the independence and employability of persons coping with personal, social, and vocational difficulties that result from birth defects, illness, disease, accidents, aging, or the stress…
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
6. Probation Officer and Correctional Treatment Specialist
Community and Social Service
Median pay
$66,270
Growth
+2.6%
Openings/yr
7,900
Education
Bachelor's
Provide social services to assist in rehabilitation of law offenders in custody or on probation or parole.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
7. Healthcare Social Worker
Community and Social Service
Graduate study
Median pay
$67,880
Growth
+7.7%
Openings/yr
18,400
Education
Master's
Provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses.
Healthcare Social Worker salary & outlook →
8. School Social Worker
Community and Social Service
Median pay
$59,550
Growth
+3.4%
Openings/yr
35,100
Education
Bachelor's
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.
School Social Worker salary & outlook →
9. Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker
Community and Social Service
Graduate study
Median pay
$60,280
Growth
+9.7%
Openings/yr
13,500
Education
Master's
Assess and treat individuals with mental, emotional, or substance abuse problems, including abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drugs.
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker salary & outlook →
10. Mental Health Counselor
Community and Social Service
Median pay
$60,320
Growth
+10.4%
Openings/yr
104,400
Education
N/A
Counsel and advise individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health, with an emphasis on prevention.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
11. Marriage and Family Therapist
Community and Social Service
Graduate study
Median pay
$66,940
Growth
+12.6%
Openings/yr
7,700
Education
Master's
Diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders, whether cognitive, affective, or behavioral, within the context of marriage and family systems.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
12. Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselor and Advisor
Community and Social Service
Graduate study
Median pay
$64,330
Growth
+3.5%
Openings/yr
31,000
Education
Master's
Advise and assist students and provide educational and vocational guidance services.
Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselor and Advisor salary & outlook →
13. Social and Community Service Manager
Management
Median pay
$80,390
Growth
+6.4%
Openings/yr
18,600
Education
Bachelor's
Plan, direct, or coordinate the activities of a social service program or community outreach organization.
Social and Community Service Manager salary & outlook →
14. Social Work Teacher, Postsecondary
Educational Instruction and Library
Graduate study
Median pay
$77,570
Growth
+2.3%
Openings/yr
1,300
Education
Doctorate
Teach courses in social work.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.

Does a social work degree decide your career?

For most people, no. Federal survey data has consistently found that only a minority of US graduates work in a job closely related to their degree field, and that share falls further with each year after graduation. The exceptions are the fields where a licence sits at the end of the degree, and they are exceptions precisely because the route is fixed.

The practical reading of the list above is this: 8 of the 14 destinations are typically entered with a bachelor's degree or less, and 6 typically need a master's or a doctoral or professional degree (BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034). If the destination you want is in the second group, the extra years are part of the decision from day one, not a detail to sort out later.

Not sure this is the right major in the first place? Take the free college major quiz — fifteen questions that score what you like doing against what each major actually asks of you, and show the same real occupations underneath every match.

Social Work degrees: FAQ

Do you need a master's degree after a social work degree?

For 8 of the 14 destinations on this page, no: BLS Employment Projections (2024–2034) list a bachelor's degree or less as the typical entry requirement. The other 6 typically need a master's or a doctoral or professional degree, and each is marked on the list below. "Typical" describes what people already in the job hold, not an admissions rule.

What is the highest-paying career a social work degree leads to?

Of the 14 destinations on this page, Social and Community Service Manager has the highest national median wage at $80,390 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), against $50,980 for all US occupations. Typical entry education for it is bachelor's. A median is the midpoint of everyone in the job today, so a first salary normally sits well below it.

Which of these careers hires the most people each year?

Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselor, with about 104,400 projected openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034). Across all 14 destinations on this page the combined figure is roughly 424,700 openings a year. Openings include replacing people who leave, not just new jobs, which is why a slow-growing occupation can still hire heavily.

Is a social work degree worth it?

That depends on the price you pay for it, which this page cannot know. What it can tell you is where the destinations sit: the middle occupation on this list pays $60,320 a year against $50,980 for all US occupations, the range runs $45,930–$80,390, and 14 of the 14 are projected to grow over 2024–2034 (BLS OEWS May 2025, BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034).

How was this list of careers put together?

The destinations were curated as the occupations social work graduates commonly move into, ordered by how common rather than by pay, then matched against the 923-occupation NueCareer career bank. Every figure shown comes from that bank: wages from BLS OEWS May 2025, projected change and annual openings and typical entry education from BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, and occupation descriptions from O*NET 30.3 Database. Nothing is estimated, and no figure on this page is generated by an AI model.

How this list was built

14 careers a social work degree commonly leads to

1. Social and Human Service Assistant

2. Community Health Worker

3. Eligibility Interviewer, Government Programs

4. Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselor

5. Rehabilitation Counselor

6. Probation Officer and Correctional Treatment Specialist

7. Healthcare Social Worker

8. School Social Worker

9. Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker

10. Mental Health Counselor

11. Marriage and Family Therapist

12. Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselor and Advisor

13. Social and Community Service Manager

14. Social Work Teacher, Postsecondary