Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
US occupation · SOC 21-1023
Job titles people report: Case Manager, Clinical Social Worker, Clinical Therapist, Clinician, Counselor, Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Mental Health Therapist, Social Worker, Therapist
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $60,280
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $47,070 – $79,730
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 132,810
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- +10.3%
- Growing at twice the all-jobs rate or more (7%+)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 12,500
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- Master's degree
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
Assess and treat individuals with mental, emotional, or substance abuse problems, including abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drugs. Activities may include individual and group therapy, crisis intervention, case management, client advocacy, prevention, and education.
Main tasks
- Counsel clients in individual or group sessions to assist them in dealing with substance abuse, mental or physical illness, poverty, unemployment, or physical abuse.
- Collaborate with counselors, physicians, or nurses to plan or coordinate treatment, drawing on social work experience and patient needs.
- Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress with respect to treatment goals.
- Interview clients, review records, conduct assessments, or confer with other professionals to evaluate the mental or physical condition of clients or patients.
- Supervise or direct other workers who provide services to clients or patients.
- Modify treatment plans according to changes in client status.
- Assist clients in adhering to treatment plans, such as setting up appointments, arranging for transportation to appointments, or providing support.
- Educate clients or community members about mental or physical illness, abuse, medication, or available community resources.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- Master's degree
- Training once hired: internship/residency
- O*NET Job Zone 5
- Extensive preparation
- Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Social: helping, teaching and caring for people
- Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 3 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Health & Nursing
- Clinical/Medical Social Work
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Health & Nursing at the Major step.
Where many students take health & nursing
- Western Governors UniversitySalt Lake City, UT · 26% of degrees · 155,088 undergraduates
- Grand Canyon UniversityPhoenix, AZ · 33% of degrees · 73,371 undergraduates
- Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchester, NH · 8% of degrees · 163,164 undergraduates
- The University of Texas at ArlingtonArlington, TX · 36% of degrees · 32,294 undergraduates
- University of Central FloridaOrlando, FL · 13% of degrees · 59,146 undergraduates
- University of South FloridaTampa, FL · 17% of degrees · 37,207 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Other fields
Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.
Public Administration and Social Service Professions
- Social Work
- Social Work, Other
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Mental Health Counselors
$59,350 median · +18.4% projected
- Healthcare Social Workers
$67,880 median · +8.5% projected
- Marriage and Family Therapists
$66,940 median · +13.5% projected
- Rehabilitation Counselors
$46,850 median · +2.2% projected
- Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors
$59,350 median · +18.4% projected
- Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
$100,580 median · +11.7% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk