Tennessee·Community and Social Service Occupations·SOC 21-1029

Best Social Worker, All Other programs in Tennessee, ranked by enrollment

All social workers not listed.

19 schools in Tennessee run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,214 people a year. The job pays a median of $51,460 in Tennessee across about 1,910 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

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Graduates / yr
1,214
in Tennessee
Median pay · Tennessee
$51,460
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,910
people employed
Schools
19
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
54%
across those schools
Median net price
$19,418
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Tennessee that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

2 programs in Tennessee that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Tennessee (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Tennessee page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 44.0701In Tennessee
1,062
87.5%
19$37,264$26,140
2
CIP 44.0799In Tennessee
152
12.5%
2$37,264$26,140

Top 19 schools in Tennessee

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 11 of the 19 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1The University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Knoxville, TN Public · 2 feeder programs
563Social Work$37,73074%42%
2University of Memphis
Memphis, TN Public · 2 feeder programs
133Social Work$36,22051%72%
3Union University
Jackson, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
86Social Work$38,05666%$25,88260%
4East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
77Social Work$32,51453%86%
5Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
54Social Work$35,57454%69%
6King University
Bristol, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
53Social Work$34,38048%$23,546100%
7The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga
Chattanooga, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
50Social Work$27,92350%81%
8Austin Peay State University
Clarksville, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
49Social Work$34,38440%96%
9The University of Tennessee - Martin
Martin, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
38Social Work$34,24053%88%
10Southern Adventist University
Collegedale, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
34Social Work49%$24,18765%
11Tennessee State University
Nashville, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
27Social Work$29,44934%70%
12Belmont University
Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
15Social Work71%$29,24695%
13Trevecca Nazarene University
Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
8Social Work$30,20453%$14,28669%
14Freed - Hardeman University
Henderson, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
7Social Work71%$19,41860%
15Lipscomb University
Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
7Social Work72%$24,30968%
16Milligan University
Milligan, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
5Social Work63%$19,14372%
17Le Moyne - Owen College
Memphis, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Social Work27%$9,03299%
18Lincoln Memorial University
Harrogate, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Social Work50%$18,98163%
19Tennessee Wesleyan University
Athens, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Social Work48%$14,61469%

All 19 schools in Tennessee

Every school in Tennessee with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Tennessee that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
The University of Tennessee - KnoxvilleKnoxvillePublic5632
University of MemphisMemphisPublic1332
Union UniversityJacksonPrivate not-for-profit861
East Tennessee State UniversityJohnson CityPublic771
Middle Tennessee State UniversityMurfreesboroPublic541
King UniversityBristolPrivate not-for-profit531
The University of Tennessee - ChattanoogaChattanoogaPublic501
Austin Peay State UniversityClarksvillePublic491
The University of Tennessee - MartinMartinPublic381
Southern Adventist UniversityCollegedalePrivate not-for-profit341
Tennessee State UniversityNashvillePublic271
Belmont UniversityNashvillePrivate not-for-profit151
Trevecca Nazarene UniversityNashvillePrivate not-for-profit81
Freed - Hardeman UniversityHendersonPrivate not-for-profit71
Lipscomb UniversityNashvillePrivate not-for-profit71

What social workers, all other earn in Tennessee

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Tennessee
$51,460
Mean annual
$63,150
Jobs in state
1,910
What the range looks like
10th pct$31,920Median$51,46090th pct$111,570
Versus the national median
-28.4%

U.S. median $71,900. Tennessee pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.44×

Concentrated here: Tennessee employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Tennessee

Clarksville, TN-KY
$100,420median
110 jobs
Johnson City, TN
$88,380median
120 jobs
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
$58,780median
620 jobs
Memphis, TN-MS-AR
$53,680median
310 jobs
Chattanooga, TN-GA
$53,640median
150 jobs
Knoxville, TN
$38,830median
260 jobs
Jackson, TN
$36,300median
50 jobs
Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
$36,950median
80 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.9%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
7,000
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
3,100
81,000 → 84,100
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Social Workers, All Other page.

How to become a Social Worker, All Other

Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Tennessee

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 4 majors mapped to Social Workers, All Other4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 44.0701Social Work
  • 44.0703Forensic Social Work
  • 44.0799Social Work, Other
  • 51.1512Hospice and Palliative Care

Common questions

Answers for people weighing social workers, all other programs in Tennessee.

What degree do you need to become a Social Worker, All Other?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Social Work, which awarded 1,062 degrees in Tennessee in 2024-25, 87.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Social Worker, All Other?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Social Work. Together they graduate about 1,214 people a year in Tennessee.

How much do social workers, all other earn in Tennessee?+

The median is $51,460 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 28.4% below the U.S. median of $71,900. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for social workers, all other growing?+

BLS projects a +3.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 7,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Tennessee?+

19 institutions in Tennessee reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+

BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'None' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.

Social Workers, All Other in other statesNew YorkCaliforniaTexasMinnesotaIllinoisOhioMichiganKentucky
Programs in TennesseeSocial Work

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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