Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,578
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$18,062
23.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,423
Connecticut costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Connecticut — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$78,640
Kept after tax
$60,578
Worth in national money
$58,423
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Connecticut is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $78,640, which ranks 3 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 30.46% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 170 among 482 occupations Connecticut publishes pay for.
- Connecticut is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $78,640 the take-home is $60,578; in national-average money that behaves like $58,423. The average lands at $78,250, below the middle of the range.
- Connecticut ranks 3 of 51 states publishing a median for mental health and substance abuse social workers, at $78,640 — about 30.46% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Position 170 of 482 in Connecticut places mental health and substance abuse social workers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Take-home for mental health and substance abuse social workers in Connecticut, on $78,640, is $60,578; deflated by the state's price level, $58,423. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $78,250 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $108,530 |
| This salary | $78,640 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Connecticut | $60,578 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,153 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,595 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $73,558 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,492 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $78,640 as a midpoint for Connecticut, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $49,260 and the ninetieth is $108,530 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $60,578 take-home in Connecticut comes from $78,640. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 170 of 482.
- Two cautions on $58,423, the adjusted value of that $78,640 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Connecticut. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 170 of 482 locally.
- The Connecticut median of $78,640 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $49,260 to $108,530. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $60,578, from $78,640, assumes a single Connecticut filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 170 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 3 of 51 for it.
- This $58,423 adjusted figure, worked from $78,640, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 170 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 170 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $49,260 and the top tenth $108,530 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $58,423 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Connecticut then takes its own share, leaving $60,578.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($49,260) and the ninetieth ($108,530) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Connecticut's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $58,423 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $60,578 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Connecticut income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.