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Pay by state · 52 areas

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker Salary by State (2026)

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers earn the most in New York at $79,380 a year and the least in South Carolina at $39,930 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The national median is $60,280. The table below covers all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico, with a cost-of-living adjusted column.

Highest median
$79,380New York
National median
$60,280BLS OEWS, May 2025
Lowest median
$39,930South Carolina
Areas reporting
52of 54 OEWS areas

Top and bottom

Highest- and lowest-paying states for mental health and substance abuse social workers

Ranked on the state median among the 50 states and DC. After cost of living, Minnesota comes out ahead instead. Territories are in the full table but not ranked here.

Highest median pay

  1. 1New York$79,380
  2. 2California$79,000
  3. 3Connecticut$78,640
  4. 4Minnesota$75,020
  5. 5Maryland$73,580

Lowest median pay

  1. 1South Carolina$39,930
  2. 2Alabama$41,500
  3. 3Kentucky$42,570
  4. 4Oklahoma$43,120
  5. 5Nebraska$43,240

All states

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker salary in every state

Sort by any column. Employment is the number of mental health and substance abuse social workers OEWS estimates in that state; blank cells are estimates BLS suppressed because the sample was too small.

Annual wages by state, sortable by median, quartiles, employment and cost-of-living adjusted median
#
1NYNew York
$79,380
$64,430$95,52014,820$73,554
2CACalifornia
$79,000
$57,800$118,86019,860$71,351
3CTConnecticut
$78,640
$62,300$92,4301,540$75,900
4MNMinnesota
$75,020
$60,080$85,9903,590$76,069
5MDMaryland
$73,580
$49,440$94,6902,250$70,104
6DCDistrict of Columbia
$73,310
$65,360$104,170510$66,705
7VTVermont
$73,210
$65,050$81,890320$74,736
8WAWashington
$70,460
$56,050$84,5003,490$65,842
9OROregon
$68,210
$58,250$83,7402,230$65,992
10NJNew Jersey
$66,590
$47,610$84,7002,420$61,201
11NMNew Mexico
$65,640
$44,860$86,150800$71,184
12COColorado
$65,620
$55,770$80,9901,640$63,677
13VAVirginia
$64,240
$53,620$80,3903,670$63,539
14NHNew Hampshire
$63,900
$58,820$77,410320$61,345
15NVNevada
$62,900
$47,250$75,9401,100$62,913
16MAMassachusetts
$62,500
$53,970$78,7507,440$59,098
17WIWisconsin
$61,860
$49,720$75,3601,880$65,742
18RIRhode Island
$60,990
$49,340$110,210800$59,630
19NDNorth Dakota
$60,980
$58,790$65,110240$68,548
20MIMichigan
$60,830
$50,140$74,3504,620$63,222
21DEDelaware
$60,060
$51,230$68,090510$60,176
22WYWyoming
$59,310
$49,770$83,340200$63,987
23ARArkansas
$58,590
$42,620$73,2901,040$67,394
24NCNorth Carolina
$58,210
$48,150$67,4603,690$61,712
25MEMaine
$57,050
$47,740$77,6501,860$58,784
26AKAlaska
$56,710
$49,430$68,690250$55,403
27KSKansas
$56,330
$48,990$66,2901,620$62,542
28HIHawaii
$54,390
$47,210$77,680N/A$49,467
29IDIdaho
$52,520
$45,760$75,920510$54,998
30GAGeorgia
$52,030
$45,090$72,4901,330$54,033
31FLFlorida
$51,590
$44,450$62,0505,150$49,887
32UTUtah
$50,770
$42,040$79,5401,240$51,353
33WVWest Virginia
$50,070
$47,270$57,830420$55,946
34ILIllinois
$49,960
$46,290$69,2103,460$49,981
35MOMissouri
$49,560
$43,350$59,2001,640$54,571
36MSMississippi
$48,970
$33,700$62,520920$56,318
37SDSouth Dakota
$48,920
$44,250$61,900230$55,223
38IAIowa
$48,530
$44,630$66,1801,200$55,297
39INIndiana
$48,300
$42,580$64,6102,490$51,752
40PAPennsylvania
$48,290
$43,810$58,8603,500$49,492
41LALouisiana
$47,100
$36,380$62,170970$53,397
42TXTexas
$46,630
$41,080$57,3208,220$48,044
43TNTennessee
$46,500
$42,780$55,3102,220$50,615
44AZArizona
$46,380
$45,010$54,4803,690$46,068
45OHOhio
$46,080
$38,170$57,9606,050$49,669
46MTMontana
$45,160
$39,760$59,850740$47,715
47NENebraska
$43,240
$37,230$51,890900$47,990
48OKOklahoma
$43,120
$37,820$45,4101,780$49,088
49KYKentucky
$42,570
$37,230$48,7801,360$47,217
50ALAlabama
$41,500
$35,740$55,640740$46,722
51SCSouth Carolina
$39,930
$34,770$49,720720$42,592
52PRPuerto Rico
$26,500
$22,020$33,500350N/A

Method

How the cost-of-living adjustment works

The adjusted column divides each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity (RPP) and multiplies by 100. RPPs measure how much a fixed basket of goods, services and rents costs in one state relative to the national average, so the result restates local pay in national-average dollars.

For mental health and substance abuse social workers, that changes the ranking: New York leads on raw pay at $79,380, while Minnesota leads once prices are taken into account at $76,069.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024 (public domain). The adjustment is NueCareer's calculation, not a BLS or BEA published statistic.

Questions

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker pay by state: FAQ

Which state pays mental health and substance abuse social workers the most?

New York reports the highest median wage for mental health and substance abuse social workers at $79,380 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), followed by California ($79,000) and Connecticut ($78,640).

Which state pays mental health and substance abuse social workers the least?

Among the 50 states and DC, South Carolina reports the lowest median for mental health and substance abuse social workers at $39,930 a year, $39,450 below the highest-paying state (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Among the territories, Puerto Rico reports $26,500.

Is the highest-paying state the best for mental health and substance abuse social workers after cost of living?

Not on this data. New York pays the most on paper ($79,380) but ranks 4th of 51 once each median is divided by the state's BEA Regional Price Parity ($73,554). Minnesota leads after that adjustment at $76,069, from a raw median of $75,020. BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024; the adjustment is NueCareer's calculation.

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