Highest-paying Cities for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

The top 100 highest paying cities for mental health and substance abuse social workers (ranked by average annual salary) are listed in Table 1. The entry level salary (as measured by the salary of the lowest 10% paid earners) and the number of employment of mental health and substance abuse social workers in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $112,070, Napa, California is the highest paying city for mental health and substance abuse social workers. It is followed by Southwestern New Hampshire nonmetropolitan area, New Hampshire (average annual salary $107,430). The salary and employment information is computed from data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in April 2023 [1]. For more salary information of mental health and substance abuse social workers in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest-paying cities/areas for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	Napa, California	$112,070	$63,810	180
2	Southwestern New Hampshire nonmetropolitan area, New Hampshire	$107,430	$64,680	n/a
3	Madera-Chowchilla, California	$107,010	$55,370	60
4	Vallejo-Fairfield, California	$103,040	$52,500	150
5	Hanford-Corcoran, California	$102,460	$50,480	70
6	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	$99,400	$50,170	780
7	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, California	$99,310	$47,350	180
8	North Valley Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$95,290	$51,290	n/a
9	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, California	$94,330	$38,080	210
10	Salinas, California	$89,230	$39,750	120
11	Stockton, California	$86,150	$43,540	150
12	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California	$86,060	$43,440	1,240
13	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California	$85,620	$49,700	1,930
14	Ithaca, New York	$83,200	$58,260	40
15	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California	$82,680	$47,390	5,910
16	Danbury, Connecticut	$81,990	$36,680	30
17	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California	$81,370	$44,660	500
18	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California	$81,290	$46,030	240
19	Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$80,750	$34,750	40
20	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut	$80,380	$39,600	610
21	Fresno, California	$78,560	$41,360	470
22	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York	$78,310	$50,080	10,140
23	Mankato-North Mankato, Minnesota	$77,260	$46,870	100
24	Elmira, New York	$76,730	$43,960	70
25	Utica-Rome, New York	$76,440	$43,050	240
26	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California	$73,990	$42,390	230
27	Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine	$73,790	$46,570	430
28	Modesto, California	$73,500	$42,640	140
29	Trenton-Ewing, New Jersey	$72,590	$55,970	160
30	Visalia-Porterville, California	$70,890	$43,660	180
31	Norwich-New London, Rhode Island	$70,820	$38,270	100
32	Northwestern Connecticut nonmetropolitan area, Connecticut	$69,640	$31,290	50
33	Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$69,350	$47,840	80
34	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut	$68,370	$38,980	230
35	Asheville, North Carolina	$68,010	$39,630	90
36	Southeast Minnesota nonmetropolitan area, Minnesota	$67,580	$46,610	130
37	Southwest Maine nonmetropolitan area, Maine	$67,040	$47,320	390
38	Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, Wisconsin	$67,020	$49,100	1,800
39	Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, California	$66,810	$43,980	1,060
40	Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, Massachusetts	$66,150	$35,620	150
41	Urban Honolulu, Hawaii	$65,920	$40,120	400
42	Camden, New Jersey	$65,250	$44,700	210
43	Central East New York nonmetropolitan area, New York	$65,190	$45,820	200
44	Eastern Washington nonmetropolitan area, Washington	$65,000	$31,620	40
45	Bend, Oregon	$64,750	$38,060	100
46	Other New Hampshire nonmetropolitan area, New Hampshire	$64,620	$50,880	70
47	Binghamton, New York	$64,590	$44,240	120
48	Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, North Carolina	$64,500	$47,150	140
49	Rochester, Minnesota	$64,460	$55,150	130
50	Glens Falls, New York	$64,310	$44,850	60
51	St Cloud, Minnesota	$64,230	$48,160	30
52	Syracuse, New York	$64,160	$33,070	280
53	Balance of Lower Peninsula of Michigan nonmetropolitan area, Michigan	$64,150	$38,950	180
54	Northeast Lower Peninsula of Michigan nonmetropolitan area, Michigan	$63,890	$36,710	70
55	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York	$63,820	$40,980	520
56	Rochester, New York	$63,510	$44,510	460
57	Northeast Maine nonmetropolitan area, Maine	$63,510	$44,140	120
58	Salem, Oregon	$63,490	$47,390	310
59	Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii	$63,340	$48,560	50
60	East Central New York nonmetropolitan area, New York	$63,170	$42,190	70
61	Manchester, New Hampshire	$63,050	$41,960	70
62	Kingston, New York	$62,820	$44,100	80
63	Hawaii-Maui-Kauai nonmetropolitan area, Hawaii	$62,810	$46,270	80
64	Longview, Washington	$62,780	$34,680	40
65	Newark-Union, Pennsylvania	$62,490	$50,250	350
66	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York	$62,310	$46,070	480
67	Southwest New York nonmetropolitan area, New York	$62,220	$40,760	240
68	Bangor, Maine	$62,000	$37,120	260
69	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California	$61,720	$40,530	1,080
70	Yuba City, California	$61,690	$37,530	40
71	Portsmouth, New Hampshire	$61,480	$60,020	60
72	Bremerton-Silverdale, Washington	$61,290	$39,570	40
73	Lansing-East Lansing, Michigan	$61,170	$35,470	300
74	El Centro, California	$61,100	$39,140	40
75	Jacksonville, North Carolina	$61,050	$35,460	40
76	Greenville, North Carolina	$61,010	$48,970	150
77	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia	$60,900	$40,210	2,550
78	Lewiston-Auburn, Maine	$60,830	$37,460	140
79	Northern New Hampshire nonmetropolitan area, New Hampshire	$60,820	$49,500	30
80	Carson City, Nevada	$60,780	$53,390	30
81	Southwest Minnesota nonmetropolitan area, Minnesota	$60,720	$41,060	60
82	Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada	$60,630	$29,580	560
83	Wilmington, North Carolina	$60,590	$44,270	60
84	New Haven, Connecticut	$60,300	$37,170	270
85	Providence-Fall River-Warwick, Rhode Island	$60,290	$37,310	570
86	Lawrence, Kansas	$60,270	$46,910	40
87	West Colorado nonmetropolitan area, Colorado	$60,080	$36,470	50
88	Bay City, Michigan	$60,050	$45,250	120
89	Ann Arbor, Michigan	$59,940	$38,680	180
90	Capital-Northern New York nonmetropolitan area, New York	$59,890	$30,830	270
91	Bakersfield-Delano, California	$59,640	$36,810	300
92	Eastern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area, New Mexico	$59,120	$45,780	90
93	West Central-Southwest New Hampshire nonmetropolitan area, New Hampshire	$59,060	$49,500	50
94	Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, California	$59,010	$34,010	1,400
95	Nassau-Suffolk, New York	$58,880	$41,630	1,200
96	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California	$58,760	$38,680	90
97	Springfield, Illinois	$58,680	$38,130	40
98	North Coast Region of California nonmetropolitan area, California	$58,550	$40,370	150
99	Duluth, Wisconsin	$58,400	$42,960	200
100	Nevada nonmetropolitan area, Nevada	$58,160	$26,230	50

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for mental health and substance abuse social workers.