Case Worker I

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

1,185 employees hold this title in Department of Social Services. Median total compensation for the role is $53,638, below the department median of $55,264.

Employees: 1,185
Total payroll: $64M
Role median: $53,638
Agency median: $55,264
Comparison: Below

What the records show

Role pay distribution

Pay distribution for this role

$50,266$57,017+

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

How total compensation varies among the 1,185 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

Case Worker I pay vs. South Carolina

Across all employers in South Carolina, the median wage for Social and Human Service Assistants — about 5,220 people — is $38,550. Department of Social Services pays a median base salary of $54,176 for this role, 41% above that figure — about the 85th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Department of Social Services sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$30,270

$34,580

$38,550

$46,710

$58,120

Department of Social Services median · $54,176

The bar is the range of annual wages for Social and Human Service Assistants across every employer in South Carolina, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Social Services’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Social and Human Service Assistants — about 437,860 people — is $45,930. Department of Social Services’s median base salary is 18% above that national figure, about the 74th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$34,200

$38,150

$45,930

$54,350

$63,290

Department of Social Services median · $54,176

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.

Computed over the 1,646 of 1,647 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 Department of Social Services is $54,176, 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

Case Worker I is held in 4 South Carolina departments. In Department of Social Services, the median of $53,638 ranks #1 of 4.

Highest-paying departments for this role

Department of Public Safety

$51,680 · 1

Department of Prob, Parole & Pardon

$50,418 · 1

SC Department Juvenile Justice

$50,000 · 117

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

Record list