Compared with the local labor market
Social Worker pay vs. the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA area
Across all employers in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA area, the median wage for Social Workers, All Other — about 720 people — is $78,480. Public Health pays a median base salary of $92,519 for this role, 18% above that figure — about the 56th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Public Health sits in the local pay range
$52,970
$62,760
$78,480
$134,920
$152,010
Public Health median · $92,519
The bar is the range of annual wages for Social Workers, All Other across every employer in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Public Health’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 Health’s median base salary is 29% above that national figure, about the 71st percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$43,620
$51,900
$71,900
$97,040
$115,610
Public Health median · $92,519
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 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA range relative to the national one.
Computed over the 6 of 7 people in this role paid at least $25,000 in 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 Health is $126,750, 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 City and County of San Francisco
Social Worker is held in 2 City and County of San Francisco departments. In Public Health, the median of $126,750 ranks #2 of 2.
Highest-paying departments for this role
Median total compensation for the Social Worker role in other City and County of San Franciscodepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.