Community and Social Service Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages O*NET task lead SOC 21-1021

Child, Family, and School Social Workers

O*NET task statements lead this Child, Family, and School Social Workers card before OEWS pay; neighboring titles include Healthcare Social Workers, Social and Human Service Assistants, Rehabilitation Counselors, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Child, Family, and School Social Workers: Healthcare Social Workers ($68K) , Social and Human Service Assistants ($46K) , Rehabilitation Counselors ($47K) , Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers ($60K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Child, Family, and School Social Workers publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 21-1021 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Place children in foster or adoptive homes, institutions, or medical treatment centers
  2. 2. Maintain case history records and prepare reports
  3. 3. Recommend temporary foster care and advise foster or adoptive parents
  4. 4. Interview clients individually, in families, or in groups, assessing their situations, capabilities, and problems to determine what servi…
  5. 5. Serve as liaisons between students, homes, schools, family services, child guidance clinics, courts, protective services, doctors, and ot…
  6. 6. Counsel students whose behavior, school progress, or mental or physical impairment indicate a need for assistance, diagnosing students' p…
  7. 7. Develop and review service plans in consultation with clients and perform follow-ups assessing the quantity and quality of services provided
  8. 8. Address legal issues, such as child abuse and discipline, assisting with hearings and providing testimony to inform custody arrangements
  9. 9. Counsel parents with child rearing problems, interviewing the child and family to determine whether further action is required
  10. 10. Consult with parents, teachers, and other school personnel to determine causes of problems, such as truancy and misbehavior, and to imple…
  11. 11. Evaluate personal characteristics and home conditions of foster home or adoption applicants
  12. 12. Arrange for medical, psychiatric, and other tests that may disclose causes of difficulties and indicate remedial measures

Child, Family, and School Social Workers: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 21-1021 - lead skill Active Listening at 4.9 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 4.9
  2. 2. Speaking 4.5
  3. 3. Critical Thinking 4.1
  4. 4. Social Perceptiveness 4.1
  5. 5. Reading Comprehension 4.0
  6. 6. Service Orientation 4.0
  7. 7. Judgment and Decision Making 4.0
  8. 8. Monitoring 3.9

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.3
  2. 2. Psychology 4.1
  3. 3. Therapy and Counseling 4.1
  4. 4. English Language 3.8
  5. 5. Administrative 3.6
  6. 6. Sociology and Anthropology 3.4
National median after O*NET task lead
$59,550
/year · 12 published task lines above
Lead task: Place children in foster or adoptive homes, institutions, or medical treatment centers
$60K
National median
↑ +3%
Growth 2024-2034
35,100
Annual openings
392,550
Estimated US jobs
Healthcare Social Workers
Highest-pay peer · $68K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Bachelor's degree

Top Paying States for Child, Family, and School Social Workers

1. Connecticut $78,970
2. Washington $74,480
3. Massachusetts $75,570
4. New Jersey $76,280
5. New Hampshire $71,010
6. Hawaii $68,270
7. Maryland $76,390
8. Rhode Island $69,870
9. District of Columbia $73,550
10. Minnesota $67,450

Other Community and Social Service Occupations titles

  1. 1. Social and Human Service Assistants $45,930
  2. 2. Rehabilitation Counselors $46,850
  3. 3. Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers $60,280
  4. 4. Counselors, All Other $50,860
  5. 5. Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors $64,330
  6. 6. Healthcare Social Workers $67,880

O*NET publishes 12 leading task statements for Child, Family, and School Social Workers (SOC 21-1021). The national OEWS median is $59,550 inside Community and Social Service Occupations. Same-group neighbors: Healthcare Social Workers, Social and Human Service Assistants, Rehabilitation Counselors, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers. Lead published task: Place children in foster or adoptive homes, institutions, or medical treatment centers.

Employment Projections expect +3% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 35,100 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Connecticut at $78,970. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Healthcare Social Workers at $67,880. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Child, Family, and School Social Workers pay-rank #9 in Community and Social Service Occupations

Child, Family, and School Social Workers sits at pay-rank #9 of 17 detailed Community and Social Service Occupations, the middle third of the major-group median table. ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.

Other mid-table titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 21-1021 · national median $59,550 · middle third of Community and Social Service Occupations (#9/17). The day-to-day tasks above set this role apart from peers with a similar title.

Child, Family, and School Social Workers salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 21-1021

Connecticut · top state for Child, Family, and School Social Workers

$79K published median

Washington · #2 state pay

$74K · behind Connecticut

Healthcare Social Workers

Highest-pay peer vs Child, Family, and School Social Workers · $68K

Social and Human Service Assistants

Lower-pay peer beside Child, Family, and School Social Workers · $46K

Compare Child, Family, and School Social Workers

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Child, Family, and School Social Workers with another occupation →

Role and task next reads

Child, Family, and School Social Workers full salary map

State and metro OEWS after the task lead

Compare tasks and pay

Side-by-side with another occupation

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Child, Family, and School Social Workers mid-table among Community and Social Service Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #9 of 17 detailed Community and Social Service Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors ($59K), Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers ($60K), Clergy ($61K), Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other ($57K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do child, family, and school social workers do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Child, Family, and School Social Workers. Leading ones include: Place children in foster or adoptive homes, institutions, or medical treatment centers; Maintain case history records and prepare reports; Recommend temporary foster care and advise foster or adoptive parents; Interview clients individually, in families, or in groups, assessing their situations, capabilities, and problems to determine what servi…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for child, family, and school social workers? ▼
For SOC 21-1021, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.9), Speaking (4.5), Critical Thinking (4.1), Social Perceptiveness (4.1). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, Psychology, Therapy and Counseling. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Child, Family, and School Social Workers? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $59,550 as the national median for Child, Family, and School Social Workers. The published 10th-90th range is $42,280 to $95,530. Beside Healthcare Social Workers ($67,880), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Child, Family, and School Social Workers? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Child, Family, and School Social Workers is +3%. Projected annual openings: about 35,100. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Child, Family, and School Social Workers? ▼
BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Child, Family, and School Social Workers. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Child, Family, and School Social Workers? ▼
Connecticut ($78,970), Washington ($74,480), Massachusetts ($75,570) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Child, Family, and School Social Workers card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 21-1021. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Child, Family, and School Social Workers. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics