Community Health Workers vs Healthcare Social Workers: $52K vs $68K Median Pay

Community Health Workers vs Healthcare Social Workers: what changes?

Consider Community Health Workers if you want to promote health within a community by assisting individuals to adopt healthy behaviors. Consider Healthcare Social Workers if you would rather provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Entry credentials differ: Community Health Workers, high school diploma or equivalent; Healthcare Social Workers, master's degree.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Community Health Workers and Healthcare Social Workers. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Community Health Workers

National median pay (2025): $51,850
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Maintain updated client records with plans, notes, appropriate forms, or related information.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 7,000

Know before you choose

The work routinely happens in close physical proximity to other people; personal space is limited.

See the full Community Health Workers brief

Healthcare Social Workers

National median pay (2025): $67,880
Route into the job: Master's degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.
Work to investigate: Advocate for clients or patients to resolve crises.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 16,900

Know before you choose

Training continues through internship/residency after the degree path.

See the full Healthcare Social Workers brief

How the national numbers differ

Healthcare Social Workers has the edge on median pay

Healthcare Social Workers is at $67,880, compared with $51,850 for Community Health Workers.

Healthcare Social Workers has the edge on annual openings

Healthcare Social Workers is at 16,900 annual openings, compared with 7,000 annual openings for Community Health Workers.

Typical preparation differs.

Community Health Workers: High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing Healthcare Social Workers: Master's degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements Preparation categories do not establish admission difficulty, calendar time, tuition, time without earnings, or licensing difficulty.

Community Health Workers has the edge on projected growth

Community Health Workers is at 12.7% projected growth, compared with 8.5% projected growth for Healthcare Social Workers.

56.5/ 100

Community Health Workers

63.5/ 100

Healthcare Social Workers

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Community Health Workers vs Healthcare Social Workers

Dimension	Community Health Workers	Healthcare Social Workers
Median pay (2025)	$51,850	$67,880
Pay percentile	36.4 percentile	59.1 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	12.7%	8.5%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	7,000	16,900
2025 employment	64,700	194,800
How you qualify	High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	Master's degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 4	Job Zone 5
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Community Health Workers brief Read Healthcare Social Workers brief

Community Health Workers vs Healthcare Social Workers: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Community Health Workers

Healthcare Social Workers

How the national numbers differ

Healthcare Social Workers has the edge on median pay

Healthcare Social Workers has the edge on annual openings

Typical preparation differs.

Community Health Workers has the edge on projected growth

Community Health Workers vs Healthcare Social Workers

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