Compared with the local labor market
Social Services Specialist 2* pay vs. Tennessee
Across all employers in Tennessee, the median wage for Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other — about 1,940 people — is $53,850. Mental Health pays a median base salary of $57,936 for this role, 8% above that figure — about the 68th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Mental Health sits in the local pay range
$42,080
$48,590
$53,850
$59,480
$68,010
Mental Health median · $57,936
The bar is the range of annual wages for Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other across every employer in Tennessee, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Mental Health’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other — about 107,730 people — is $56,730. Mental Health’s median base salary is 2% above that national figure, about the 52nd percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$37,310
$45,920
$56,730
$69,910
$84,210
Mental Health median · $57,936
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 Tennessee range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Mental Health is $58,218, 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
Social Services Specialist beyond Tennessee
This role is reported in 3 jurisdictions. In Tennessee, the median of $58,218 ranks #1 of 3. See Social Services Specialist across all of Tennessee →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Social Services Specialist 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.