Healthcare Social Workers
Human ServicesO*NET 21-1022.00United States
Provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Services include advising family caregivers.
- Median annual earnings
- $67,857
- Projected change
- +11.7%
- Typical education
- Master's or Professional degree
- Employment
- 191.63K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
85.2% of the workforce
Growing to 214.09K by 2035
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ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What healthcare social workers do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Advocate for clients or patients to resolve crises.
- Collaborate with other professionals to evaluate patients' medical or physical condition and to assess client needs.
- Educate clients about end-of-life symptoms and options to assist them in making informed decisions.
- 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.
- Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress according to measurable goals described in treatment and care plan.
- Identify environmental impediments to client or patient progress through interviews and review of patient records.
- Counsel clients and patients in individual and group sessions to help them overcome dependencies, recover from illness, and adjust to life.
- Organize support groups or counsel family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, and supporting the client or patient.
- Modify treatment plans to comply with changes in clients' status.
- Plan discharge from care facility to home or other care facility.
- Supervise and direct other workers providing services to clients or patients.
- Plan and conduct programs to combat social problems, prevent substance abuse, or improve community health and counseling services.
- Develop or advise on social policy and assist in community development.
- Conduct social research to advance knowledge in the social work field.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $46,099
- 25th percentile
- $56,677
- 50th percentile
- $67,857
- 75th percentile
- $82,375
- 90th percentile
- $100,665
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $67,857 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+11.7%faster than average
2025191,630 jobs
2035 projected214,088 jobs
22,458 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Master's or Professional degree
- 85.2%
- Bachelor's degree
- 14.8%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Licensed Clinical Social Workers8,831 postings
- 02Clinical Social Workers2,822 postings
- 03Medical Social Workers2,103 postings
- 04Hospice Medical Social Workers712 postings
- 05Social Workers/Licensed Independent Clinical Social Workers516 postings
- 06Licensed Medical Social Workers246 postings
- 07Behavioral Health Specialists152 postings
- 08Licensed Clinical Social Worker Case Managers105 postings
- 09Psychiatric Social Workers Licensed Clinical Social Worker92 postings
- 10Healthcare Workers81 postings
- 11Medical Social Workers/Licensed Clinical Social Workers67 postings
- 12Oncology Social Workers61 postings
- 13Inpatient Social Workers59 postings
- 14Emergency Department Social Workers52 postings
- 15Journeymen52 postings
- 16Hospital Social Workers41 postings
- 17Licensed Clinical Social Workers/Licensed Professional Counselors41 postings
- 18Therapists/Licensed Clinical Social Workers41 postings
- 19Bilingual Social Workers40 postings
- 20Palliative Care Social Workers35 postings
Top employers
- 01Headway3,265 postings
- 02Thriveworks1,025 postings
- 03LifeStance Health886 postings
- 04American Public Human Services Association346 postings
- 05Aya Healthcare311 postings
- 06Thrive Counseling247 postings
- 07Senior Care Therapy194 postings
- 08Amedisys174 postings
- 09Sedgwick151 postings
- 10Amergis143 postings
- 11Kaiser Permanente142 postings
- 12Rehab Without Walls101 postings
- 13Navitas Partners95 postings
- 14Supplemental Health Care95 postings
- 15Grow Therapy92 postings
- 16Oak Street Health84 postings
- 17Prime Time Healthcare75 postings
- 18Boston Children's Hospital67 postings
- 19State of California64 postings
- 20BrightSpring Health Services60 postings
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