Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

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Minimal Risk
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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
8.0/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

5% (Minimal Risk)

Minimal Risk (0-20%): This occupation appears difficult to replace end-to-end with current or near-future automation, including AI software and robotics. Roles in this range usually depend on human judgement, creativity, care, leadership, specialist expertise, or adapting to messy real-world situations. AI and machines may still change parts of the work, but the occupation is likely to remain a distinct human role.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Therapy and counseling expertise

Very important
Why this matters
Uses clinical and counseling methods to assess people’s needs, build trust, and guide treatment or rehabilitation—work that depends on empathy, nuanced judgment, and adapting to each person’s situation.
Jobs that also use this strength

Decision-making and problem solving

Very important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Communicating with people outside the organization

Very important
Why this matters
Represents the organization to customers, the public, or government—handling questions, concerns, and relationship-building through conversations, writing, calls, or email.
Jobs that also use this strength

Psychology knowledge

Very important
Why this matters
Understanding human behavior, motivation, and individual differences to assess needs, respond appropriately, and support behavior change or mental health.
Jobs that also use this strength

Consulting and advising others

Very important
Why this matters
Provide guidance and expert advice to managers or teams on technical, system, or process decisions—explaining options, tradeoffs, and recommended actions.
Jobs that also use this strength
Show 5 more strengths

Thinking creatively

Quite important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
Jobs that also use this strength

Persuasion

Quite important
Why this matters
Influencing people to change their minds or behavior through conversation, trust, and negotiation.
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Managing and developing people

Quite important
Why this matters
Motivate, coach, and direct others, and make hiring and staffing decisions. These people-focused responsibilities rely on judgment, trust, and interpersonal skill and are harder to replace end-to-end with automation.
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Coaching and developing others

Quite important
Why this matters
Helps people learn and improve through coaching, mentoring, and feedback. This relies on trust, motivation, and adapting guidance to each person—work that’s hard to replace end-to-end with automation.
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Active learning

Quite important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
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What users think

Based on 107 votes

11.2% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a minimal chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 5% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Moderately paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers was $60,060 ($29 per hour).

The median annual wage for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers was 21.3% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers' job openings is expected to rise 9.7% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 125,910 people employed as 'Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers' within the United States.

This represents around 0.08% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 1 thousand people are employed as 'Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers'.

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What people are saying (3)

Ronald (No chance)
21 Aug 2023 13:39
The likely hood is low based on what is likely to be capable with technology in the next 20 years---also it is likely that people will prefer interacting with a real person to discuss clinical issues, impressions and treatment.
Kyle Smyth (No chance)
12 Mar 2021 21:22
Behavioural health interventions require the kind of human interaction that automation simply isn't able to reproduce. How can you teach an AI to feel empathy?
Ruth Naomi (No chance)
15 Jul 2019 21:35
In order for you for you to provide support you have to be intentional. A robot has not mutuality with a peer in need of support. Nor will it be ever to give a shared experience to have mutuality with it's peer.
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Job description

Assess and treat individuals with mental, emotional, or substance abuse problems, including abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drugs. Activities may include individual and group therapy, crisis intervention, case management, client advocacy, prevention, and education.

O*NET-SOC code: 21-1023.00