SOC 21-0000

Community and Social Service Occupations

17 occupations sorted by median salary

The Community and Social Service Occupations major group (SOC 21-0000) contains 17 distinct occupations in the BLS Standard Occupational Classification system, each measured individually by the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey in May 2025. Combined U.S. OEWS employment across this group is approximately 2,668,670 estimated jobs in covered establishments for occupations where employment is separately reported. The equal-weighted mean of the published occupation medians inside this group is $58,293. It is a derived comparison benchmark, not the group’s worker-level mean or median and not a career-stage estimate.

The published medians span from $71,900 for Social Workers, All Other to $45,280 for Religious Workers, All Other, a 1.6× endpoint ratio. The ranking establishes those occupation-level values but does not identify the effects of credentials, seniority, responsibility, or industry.

Use this page as a launch pad: each row links to the occupation's national profile, with percentile boundaries, local-area rows, projections, and education assignments where the relevant source publishes them. OEWS wages include straight-time pay, tips, commissions, incentive pay, and production bonuses. Employer benefits, overtime premiums, stock compensation, and nonproduction bonuses sit outside the estimate; their value varies too much to apply one site-wide uplift. For career planning, pair these medians with the 10th-to-90th percentile spread on each occupation's page so you understand the observed wage distribution before committing to an educational or certification pathway. Those percentile boundaries are not an individual's guaranteed floor or ceiling.

# Occupation Median Salary
1 Social Workers, All Other 21-1029 $71,900
2 Healthcare Social Workers 21-1022 $67,880
3 Marriage and Family Therapists 21-1013 $66,940
4 Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists 21-1092 $66,270
5 Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors 21-1012 $64,330
6 Health Education Specialists 21-1091 $64,070
7 Clergy 21-2011 $60,810
8 Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers 21-1023 $60,280
9 Child, Family, and School Social Workers 21-1021 $59,550
10 Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors 21-1018 $59,350
11 Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other 21-1099 $56,730
12 Directors, Religious Activities and Education 21-2021 $52,100
13 Community Health Workers 21-1094 $51,850
14 Counselors, All Other 21-1019 $50,860
15 Rehabilitation Counselors 21-1015 $46,850
16 Social and Human Service Assistants 21-1093 $45,930
17 Religious Workers, All Other 21-2099 $45,280

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Last updated: May 2025. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025.

SOC classification from BLS Standard Occupational Classification system, 2018 edition.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. These figures are computed directly from BLS OEWS occupational wage data for this SOC major group. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2025.

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