SOC 21-1021 · May 2025 · BLS OEWS
Child, Family, and School Social Workers — Los Angeles
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA · 10 metro areas compared
The median wage for Child, Family, and School Social Workers in Los Angeles, CA is $71,250 per year, 19.6% above the national median of $59,550.
Wage distribution · annual
Shaded band holds the middle 50% of earners
How pay has moved
The next ten years
Projected to grow about as fast as average
- Change in jobs, 2024 to 2034
- +3.4%
- Openings per year
- 35,100
- Typical entry-level education
- Bachelor's degree
Includes jobs opened by workers leaving the occupation, not only new positions.
Projections are published nationally only. This is the outlook for the occupation across the United States, not a measurement for Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA.
Projections are based on 2024 employment and run to 2034. The wages above are from the May 2025 survey, a separate BLS programme on a different release cycle, so the two are not two views of one dataset.
Salary overview
The median wage for Child, Family, and School Social Workers in Los Angeles, CA is $71,250 per year, 19.6% above the national median of $59,550. Pay ranges from under $44,230 at the tenth percentile to more than $103,050 at the ninetieth, with the interquartile range running from $50,430 to $97,760.
The area has 26,220 jobs in this occupation, which works out to 4.2 of every thousand jobs. San Jose leads the state's metro areas for this occupation, at $87,600. Set against every other occupation measured in the same area, it ranks 365th of 740 by median pay.
Percentile breakdown
| Percentile | Annual | vs US median |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $44,230 | −25.7% |
| 25th | $50,430 | −15.3% |
| Median (50th) | $71,250 | +19.6% |
| 75th | $97,760 | +64.2% |
| 90th | $103,050 | +73.0% |
| Mean | $73,990 | +24.2% |
Other metro areas in California
| # | Metro area | Median | Jobs | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose | $87,600 | 2,120 | |
| 2 | Hanford | $78,270 | 130 | |
| 3 | Vallejo | $77,490 | 280 | |
| 4 | Oxnard | $75,580 | 830 | |
| 5 | San Francisco | $72,020 | 5,840 | |
| 6 | San Luis Obispo | $68,560 | 400 | |
| 7 | Yuba City | $64,040 | 200 | |
| 8 | Sacramento | $63,270 | 3,550 | |
| 9 | Riverside | $63,230 | 5,810 | |
| 10 | Napa | $62,760 | 130 |
What the pay is worth locally
Prices in Los Angeles run 13.6% above the national average, so the median of $71,250 buys what $62,720 would elsewhere in the country. Measured that way the gap against the national median narrows to 5.3% above the national median in real terms.
Published median
$71,250as reported by BLSLocal price level
113.6US average = 100 · BEA 2024Adjusted for local prices
$62,720US average = 100 · BEA 2024Why the state that pays most is usually not where pay goes furthest
Key takeaways
- Median pay is $71,250 a year, 19.6% above the national median.
- Published pay spans $44,230 to $103,050 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles.
- The area has 26,220 jobs in this occupation.
- The highest-paying metro area covered is San Jose, at $87,600.
Frequently asked questions
What is the median wage for Child, Family, and School Social Workers in Los Angeles, CA?
The median annual wage is $71,250, or $34.26 per hour, as of May 2025. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than that and half earn less.
Is that higher than the national average?
The national median for this occupation is $59,550, so pay in Los Angeles, CA is 19.6% higher. These figures are medians, not averages: half of workers fall on each side.
What do the top earners make?
The top tenth of this occupation in Los Angeles, CA earns more than $103,050 per year. The ninetieth percentile is the highest figure the survey publishes.
What is the starting range?
The tenth percentile wage is $44,230 per year. The survey measures wages actually paid rather than experience level, so this reflects the lowest-paid tenth rather than entry-level pay specifically.
Which area nearby pays the most?
The highest median for this occupation among the metro areas covered is in San Jose, at $87,600 per year.
How many jobs are there in this occupation here?
The survey estimates 26,220 jobs in this occupation in Los Angeles, CA. Self-employed workers are not included.
Source and methodology
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 Wages are for wage-and-salary workers; self-employed workers are not included. Salary Explorer is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics or any government agency. Full methodology.
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