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Community and social service occupations in 2011

November 08, 2012
There were 1.9 million community and social service occupations jobs in 2011, accounting for less than 1.5 percent of U.S. employment. The largest occupation in the community and social service occupations group was social and human service assistants, with employment of 359,860.
Employment for selected community and social services occupations, May 2011
Occupation titleEmployment

Social and human service assistants

359,860

Child, family, and school social workers

276,510

Educational, guidance, school, and vocational counselors

244,560

Healthcare social workers

133,890

Community and social service specialists, all other*

121,580

Clergy

42,560

Marriage and family therapists

33,990

Counselors, all other

27,140

Directors, religious activities and education

17,560

Religious workers, all other

7,660

NOTE: Occupation titles followed by * have the same title but not necessarily the same content as 2010 SOC occupations.
 

Other large occupations included child, family, and school social workers (276,510); and educational, guidance, school, and vocational counselors (244,560). Religious workers, all other (7,660); directors, religious activities and education (17,560); and counselors, all other (27,140) were the smallest community and social service occupations.

People who work in community and social service occupations perform a diverse array of duties that may include counseling individuals, providing social assistance to families, and offering spiritual and moral guidance to members of a faith.

Community and social service occupations had an annual mean wage of $43,830, which was just below the U.S. all-occupations mean wage of $45,230. Some of the highest-paying occupations in the community and social service group were educational, guidance, school, and vocational counselors ($56,540); health educators ($52,150); and probation officers and correctional treatment specialists ($52,110).

Annual mean wages for selected community and social service occupations, May 2011
OccupationAnnual mean wage

Educational, guidance, school, and vocational counselors

$56,540

Social workers, all other

54,220

Health educators

52,150

Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists

52,110

Healthcare social workers

50,500

All occupations, U.S.

45,230

Child, family, and school social workers

44,410

Community and social service occupations

43,830

Community and social service occupations, all other*

41,250

Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors

41,030

Rehabilitation counselors

37,070

Religious workers, all other

31,600

Social and human service assistants

30,710

NOTE: Occupation titles followed by * have the same title but not necessarily the same content as 2010 SOC occupations.
 

Two of the lowest-paying occupations, social and human service assistants ($30,710) and religious workers, all other ($31,600), had the highest (359,860) and lowest (7,660) employment, respectively, in the occupational group.

These data come from the Occupational Employment Statistics program. To learn more, see "Employment and wages in community and social service occupations" (HTML) (PDF), by John I. Jones in Beyond the Numbers, volume 1, number 16, October 2012. Occupational profiles for each occupation in the community and social service group are available at Community and Social Service Occupations.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Community and social service occupations in 2011 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2012/ted_20121108.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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