Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,654
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$7,426
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,102
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — 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
$46,080
Kept after tax
$38,654
Worth in national money
$42,102
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Ohio pays this job a middle wage of $46,080, 45 of 51 states and about 23.56% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against other work in Ohio, this sits in the middle: 358 of 494 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Ohio does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $46,080 you keep $38,654, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,102 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $51,110, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Ohio's $46,080 median for mental health and substance abuse social workers places it 45 of 51 states, about 23.56% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Mental health and substance abuse social workers ranks 358 of 494 occupations in Ohio by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Ohio income tax, retained pay for mental health and substance abuse social workers on $46,080 is $38,654. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,102 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $51,110 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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 | $34,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,610 |
| This salary | $46,080 |
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 Ohio | $38,654 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,205 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,757 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $45,394 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,125 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,080 as a midpoint for Ohio, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,700 and the ninetieth is $75,610 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Ohio the take-home figure of $38,654, from $46,080, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 358 of 494 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $42,102, the adjusted value of that $46,080 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Ohio. 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 358 of 494 locally.
- The Ohio median of $46,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,700 to $75,610. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Ohio is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,654 from $46,080. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 358 of 494 locally.
- This $42,102 adjusted figure, worked from $46,080, 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 358 of 494 in the state. The occupation ranks 358 of 494 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $51,110, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $34,700, the highest tenth $75,610, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Ohio is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $42,102 in national terms.
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; Ohio then takes its own share, leaving $38,654.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Ohio is $51,110. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($34,700) and the ninetieth ($75,610) 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.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $42,102 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $38,654 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio 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.