Chicago Public Schools / School Social Worker
Role across Chicago Public Schools
School Social Worker
Assess client needs, develop service plans, and connect people with support resources.
688 people hold the School Social Worker role across 7 departments in Chicago Public Schools, with a median total compensation of $117,192. Among 3 jurisdictions where this role is reported, Chicago Public Schools ranks #1 by median pay.
- Employees
- 688
- Median pay
- $117,192
- Departments
- 7
- Cross-jurisdiction
- #1 of 3
Compared with the local labor market
School Social Worker pay vs. the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area
Across all employers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, the median wage for Child, Family, and School Social Workers — about 13,550 people — is $64,790. Chicago Public Schools pays a median base salary of $91,653 for this role, 41% above that figure — about the 80th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Chicago Public Schools sits in the local pay range
The bar is the range of annual wages for Child, Family, and School Social Workers across every employer in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Chicago Public Schools’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Child, Family, and School Social Workers — about 392,550 people — is $59,550. Chicago Public Schools’s median base salary is 54% above that national figure, about the 87th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN range relative to the national one.
Computed over the 687 of 688 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.
Median total compensation for this role at Chicago Public Schools is $117,192, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
School Social Worker pay in other jurisdictions
Where School Social Workers are paid most
Median total compensation for comparable School Social Workerroles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.
Within Chicago Public Schools
Departments with this role
Largest Chicago Public Schools departments for this role
Departments in Chicago Public Schoolsemploying the most people in this role. Each bar links to that department’s page for the role.