Los Angeles County / Psychiatric Social Worker
Role across Los Angeles County
Psychiatric Social Worker
Assess client needs, develop service plans, and connect people with support resources.
1,352 people hold the Psychiatric Social Worker role across 13 departments in Los Angeles County, with a median total compensation of $155,217. Among 5 jurisdictions where this role is reported, Los Angeles County ranks #1 by median pay.
- Employees
- 1,352
- Median pay
- $155,217
- Departments
- 13
- Cross-jurisdiction
- #1 of 5
Compared with the local labor market
Psychiatric Social Worker 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 Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers — about 9,380 people — is $78,410. Los Angeles County pays a median base salary of $103,288 for this role, 32% above that figure — about the 73rd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Los Angeles County sits in the local pay range
The bar is the range of annual wages for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers 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 Los Angeles County’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers — about 132,810 people — is $60,280. Los Angeles County’s median base salary is 71% above that national figure, about the 89th 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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA range relative to the national one.
Computed over the 1,250 of 1,352 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 Los Angeles County is $155,217, 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
Psychiatric Social Worker pay in other jurisdictions
Where Psychiatric Social Workers are paid most
Median total compensation for comparable Psychiatric 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 Los Angeles County
Departments with this role
Largest Los Angeles County departments for this role
Departments in Los Angeles Countyemploying the most people in this role. Each bar links to that department’s page for the role.