Career
Healthcare social workers
Help patients and families cope with illness and navigate care.
$67,880
Median pay
+8.5%
Job growth, 2025–35
16,900
Openings a year
Master's degree
Typical education
6 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- 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.
- 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.
- Utilize consultation data and social work experience to plan and coordinate client or patient care and rehabilitation, following through to ensure service efficacy.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on people & care, then ideas & analysis?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Advocate for clients or patients to resolve crises.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, Service Orientation, Coordination.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
6 years of education after high school (master's degree), for a median of $67,880 a year and 16,900 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Social WorkSee the degree →
- ThanatologyCIP 30.5301
- Social WorkCIP 44.0701
- Forensic Social WorkCIP 44.0703
- Social Work, OtherCIP 44.0799
- Clinical/Medical Social WorkCIP 51.1503
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers$60,280 · +10.3%
- Mental Health Counselors
- Child, Family, and School Social Workers$59,550 · +4.4%
- Marriage and Family Therapists$66,940 · +13.5%
- Rehabilitation Counselors$46,850 · +2.2%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.