Social Worker Trainee

Assess client needs, develop service plans, and connect people with support resources.

287 employees hold this title in Public Social Services Department. Median total compensation for the role is $106,389, below the department median of $111,187.

Employees: 287
Total payroll: $29.2M
Role median: $106,389
Agency median: $111,187
Comparison: Below

What the records show

Role pay distribution

Pay distribution for this role

$1,106$135,638+

Hover a bar for its range; click to filter the list below.

How total compensation varies among the 287 people in this role. Even for one job title, pay differs with seniority, step, overtime, and tenure. Each bar is a pay range; the far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Compared with the local labor market

Social Worker Trainee pay vs. the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area

Across all employers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area, the median wage for Social Workers, All Other — about 1,410 people — is $68,630. Public Social Services Department pays a median base salary of $60,898 for this role, 11% below that figure — about the 37th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Public Social Services Department sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$36,120

$54,070

$68,630

$104,210

$128,690

Public Social Services Department median · $60,898

The bar is the range of annual wages for Social Workers, All Other across every employer in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Public Social Services Department’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Social Workers, All Other — about 62,930 people — is $71,900. Public Social Services Department’s median base salary is 15% below that national figure, about the 36th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$43,620

$51,900

$71,900

$97,040

$115,610

Public Social Services Department median · $60,898

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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA range relative to the national one.

Computed over the 267 of 287 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 Public Social Services Department is $106,389, 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 departments

This role across Los Angeles County

Social Worker Trainee is held in 2 Los Angeles County departments. In Public Social Services Department, the median of $106,389 ranks #1 of 2.

Highest-paying departments for this role

Aging and Disabilities

$101,114 · 62

Median total compensation for the Social Worker Trainee role in other Los Angeles Countydepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.

Record list