MSW Are LCSW salaries really that bad?

[Healthcare102]

I always hear about social work being such a low paying job, and these horror stories that individuals cannot even afford to pay back their loans and so on and so forth. People say they are lucky to even make 45,000 a year.

However when I look online at the LCSW salaries it said the average salary is about 63,000 and can be upwards of 77,000 in places like Connecticut.

While not rich that certainly does not seem low to me and is about on par if not more than many other allied health professionals such as speech pathology, xray-to tech. Nursing etc.

So what is the real story behind the Salaries?

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[ikibah]

Good question. I think there are a lot of people out there who don't join this field to make money and they will spend their career in a hospital or school setting; resulting in a relatively low salary; hence the stereotype. However, many LCSW'S make it work by going into PP, working gov jobs, working at succesful outpatient clinics, consulatation, teaching on the side etc. to make more money. I have met very creative lcsws's who are well well well into the the six figures. In my experience the salary of an lcsw is one of the most sporadic in regards to the wide range of different salaries people with the same licensure could make.

 

[wesleysmith]

I think ikibah made a great point. Me and one of my fellow cohort members were recently talking about this very same phenomenon; we call it the "volunteer mentality." Many people we've run into in our program are married and pursuing social work solely as a passion (which is good), or as a secondary income, and therefore, could care less about salary. Then there is the crowd that seems to feel anything above $50,000.00 is unethical (probably the same people 😛 ). In any event, the $45,000.00 and under group are in the bottom 25th percentile as of 2010 according to the NASW, and even that is considered "low" for an entry level MSW by their standards (not to say its not more common for more experienced MSWs). If you're curious, check out page 2 "The Official MSW Q&A Thread" towards the bottom; I've linked a handful of salary surveys that break it down pretty well.

 

[Healthcare102]

I think ikibah made a great point. Me and one of my fellow cohort members were recently talking about this very same phenomenon; we call it the "volunteer mentality." Many people we've run into in our program are married and pursuing social work solely as a passion (which is good), or as a secondary income, and therefore, could care less about salary. Then there is the crowd that seems to feel anything above $50,000.00 is unethical (probably the same people 😛 ). In any event, the $45,000.00 and under group are in the bottom 25th percentile as of 2010 according to the NASW, and even that is considered "low" for an entry level MSW by their standards (not to say its not more common for more experienced MSWs). If you're curious, check out page 2 "The Official MSW Q&A Thread" towards the bottom; I've linked a handful of salary surveys that break it down pretty well.

Thank you! I don't see a link though lol

 

[wesleysmith]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/the-official-msw-q-a-thread.506622/page-2

towards the bottom 🙂

 

[Goobernut]

This is the 5th thread you have started on the topic of LCSW salaries (or LCSW vs insert other profession here), I'm not really sure what new information you are looking for that hasn't been discussed in those other threads 🙂

 

[submarine1991]

Healthcare, who are you hearing these stories from? It can be telling.

 

[Healthcare102]

Healthcare, who are you hearing these stories from? It can be telling.

Everywhere I look lol

 

[wesleysmith]

Sadly, this topic probably deserves a sticky, it's apparently the most fascinating aspect of clinical social work 😛

 

[Goobernut]

Everywhere I look lol

from the 5 other posts s/he's started on the same topic.