Healthcare Social Workers · SOC 21-1022

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Healthcare Social Workerss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for healthcare social workers. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (1 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 374 metro areas

Healthcare Social Workers: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Napa, CA	$142,940	160	2.0
2	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$133,340	170	1.4
3	Vallejo, CA	$122,450	160	1.1
4	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$108,530	280	1.4
5	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$107,170	770	0.7
6	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$99,640	2,740	1.2
7	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$97,070	1,030	1.0
8	Visalia, CA	$96,790	190	1.1
9	Modesto, CA	$95,250	220	1.1
10	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$93,200	150	0.8
11	Salinas, CA	$92,540	140	0.7
12	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$91,820	200	0.7
13	Longview-Kelso, WA	$89,650	50	1.3
14	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$89,430	100	1.0
15	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$87,570	230	0.7
16	Urban Honolulu, HI	$86,970	520	1.2
17	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$85,790	1,460	1.2
18	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$85,360	1,430	0.8
19	Fresno, CA	$84,860	610	1.3
20	Chico, CA	$84,810	90	1.2
21	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$83,940	40	0.9
22	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$83,550	3,060	1.5
23	New Haven, CT	$83,340	430	1.5
24	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$83,040	170	1.1
25	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$82,630	1,440	0.9

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Healthcare Social Workers overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.