Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,399
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$12,061
17.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,793
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — 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
$70,460
Kept after tax
$58,399
Worth in national money
$53,793
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Washington's middle earner gets $70,460, putting the state 8 of 51 — about 16.89% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Washington reports figures for, this is number 255.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $70,460 the take-home is $58,399. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $53,793 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $71,710, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For mental health and substance abuse social workers, Washington sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $70,460, ranking 8 of 51 and running about 16.89% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Washington's occupational distribution, mental health and substance abuse social workers sits at 255 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $58,399 for mental health and substance abuse social workers, from $70,460. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $53,793. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $71,710 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $70,460 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,680 |
| This salary | $70,460 |
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 Washington | $58,399 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,399 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,303 |
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 | $70,460 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,116 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Washington earn less than $70,460. The published range is $46,790 up to $102,680, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Washington's $58,399, worked from $70,460. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 255 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Washington, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $53,793, the adjusted value of that $70,460 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 255 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for mental health and substance abuse social workers in Washington the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $46,790 to $102,680. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Washington take-home of $58,399, on $70,460 for work ranking 255 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 255 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Washington, so $53,793 — the adjusted value of that $70,460 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 255 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $46,790 at the bottom tenth to $102,680 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Washington run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $53,793 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $58,399 of this wage reaches your account, because Washington takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($46,790) and the ninetieth ($102,680) 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?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $53,793 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $58,399 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
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.