South Carolina / Department of Mental Health / Social Worker

Job-title file

Social Worker

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

20 employees hold this title in Department of Mental Health. Median total compensation for the role is $62,777, below the department median of $65,856.

Employees: 20
Total payroll: $1.3M
Role median: $62,777
Agency median: $65,856
Comparison: Below

What the records show

Role pay distribution

Pay distribution for this role

$60,806$69,726+

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

How total compensation varies among the 20 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 pay vs. South Carolina

Across all employers in South Carolina, the median wage for Social Workers, All Other — about 440 people — is $96,350. Department of Mental Health pays a median base salary of $62,777 for this role, 35% below that figure — about the 17th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Department of Mental Health sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$43,860

$85,010

$96,350

$110,510

$118,580

Department of Mental Health median · $62,777

The bar is the range of annual wages for Social Workers, All Other across every employer in South Carolina, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Mental 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. Department of Mental Health’s median base salary is 13% below that national figure, about the 39th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$43,620

$51,900

$71,900

$97,040

$115,610

Department of Mental Health median · $62,777

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 South Carolina range relative to the national one.

Median total compensation for this role at Department of Mental Health is $62,777, 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 South Carolina

Social Worker is held in 4 South Carolina departments. In Department of Mental Health, the median of $62,777 ranks #1 of 4.

Highest-paying departments for this role

Department of Public Health

$61,416 · 7

Department of Health and Human Services

$54,119 · 24

Behavioral Health & Development Disability

$52,056 · 1

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

Compare jurisdictions

Social Worker beyond South Carolina

This role is reported in 23 jurisdictions. In South Carolina, the median of $57,559 ranks #17 of 23. See Social Worker across all of South Carolina →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

Los Angeles County

$143,711 · 771

City and County of San Francisco

$127,069 · 8

Seattle Public Schools

$120,916 · 57

City of Chicago

$118,836 · 6

District of Columbia

$109,924 · 504

Davis School District, Utah

$106,100 · 22

City of Los Angeles

$97,460 · 12

City of Boston

$89,384 · 9

Median total compensation for comparable Social Worker roles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.

Same department

Other job titles in Department of Mental Health

Record list