Social and Community Service Manager Salary in 2026: Pay by State, Industry and City

How Much Does a Social and Community Service Manager Make?

A social and community service manager makes a median of $80,390 a year, or $38.65 an hour, in the May 2025 federal wage survey. That figure is the midpoint of 209,330 people in the job, not an offer. Half of them earn more and half earn less, and the half above the line stretches a long way up.

The spread is wide for a job the handbook says you reach through experience. The bottom 10 percent of social and community service managers earn $53,150 or less, and a quarter earn $64,290 or less. The upper quarter starts at $103,200, and the top 10 percent earn $132,260 or more. In hourly terms that's $25.56 at the 10th percentile and $63.59 at the 90th, a gap of $79,110 a year between the two ends. Where you fall in it depends on who employs you and where, and the sections below show that the gap is mostly employer and location rather than luck.

If you're starting out, treat the 25th percentile, $64,290, as the figure to plan your budget around rather than the median. The handbook says experience is essential for those with a bachelor's degree, so you'll come to the job with years in a service role behind you, and the pay you negotiate from is whatever that role paid. Once you've run a program and a budget, the 75th percentile, $103,200, is the range the government and metro figures below say is reachable. Nothing on this page is a promise, but all of it is what employers reported paying.

Social and Community Service Manager Salary by State

Social and Community Service Manager salary by state runs from a median of $106,700 in District of Columbia to $56,100 in Arkansas, across the 50 states and the District of Columbia where the survey publishes a median. A state median is a location figure: it reflects which employers are there and what living costs, not what any one employer pays.

Highest-Paying Cities for Social and Community Service Managers

The highest-paying cities for social and community service managers are the metro areas below, the ten with the highest median among the 380 metro areas where the survey publishes one and at least 100 people hold the job. The second chart lists the ten metro areas that employ the most social and community service managers, which is where most of the openings are.

Social and Community Service Manager Salary by Industry

Social and Community Service Manager pay by industry is set out below for every industry sector where the survey publishes a median, highest first, with the number employed in each. A high median in a sector with few jobs is a real figure but a narrow door.

What Drives Social and Community Service Manager Pay?

What drives social and community service manager pay is the kind of employer first, then the place. Private employers hold 165,230 of the jobs and pay a median of $77,660, under the national median. Government as a whole pays $101,340 across 44,100 jobs. Inside government, local agencies pay $103,210 with 24,360 jobs, state agencies pay $94,910 with 17,230, and the federal government pays $136,120, though only 2,510 social and community service managers work there. Same title, same duties, and a difference of $23,680 between the private median and the government one.

Industry tells the same story from a different angle. Health care and social assistance employs 131,190 social and community service managers at a median of $77,070. Government outside schools and hospitals employs 40,010 at $101,030. Educational services pays $97,350 across 6,400 jobs, and other services pays $79,930 across 20,700. Finance and insurance posts the highest sector median, $103,720, but with 600 jobs it's a figure to know, not a plan. The handbook adds that individual and family services is the largest single employer, with 26 percent of the jobs, and that duties vary with the size of the organization. Ask how many staff and how much budget you'd run, because the title covers both a two-person program and a county department.

Place matters almost as much. Salem, OR pays social and community service managers a median of $110,210, Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA pays $108,380, and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA pays $106,400 across 2,040 jobs. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ is the big market, with 16,090 jobs at a median of $100,570, and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria pays $101,240 across 2,920. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin at $79,150 and San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad at $79,770 are large markets sitting under the national median. At the state level, Washington posts $103,000 and Arkansas posts $56,100, a gap of $46,900 for the same job.

For a job search, the figures point one way. A government agency in a high-paying metro moves your pay the most, and a private employer in a low-paying state holds it down. Neither is better work, but know which one you're applying to before you take the offer.

How Can a Social and Community Service Manager Earn More?

A social and community service manager can earn more by moving toward the employers and places the survey pays most: government over private, and a high-paying metro over a low one. The private median is $77,660, local government pays $103,210, and government overall pays $101,340, so a move from a private agency to a city or county agency doing the same work is the single largest step in the data. The federal median of $136,120 is higher still, but with 2,510 jobs it's a long shot worth watching rather than a plan.

Geography is the second lever. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue pays $106,400 with 2,040 jobs, Denver-Aurora-Centennial pays $101,310 with 1,500, and New York-Newark-Jersey City pays $100,570 with 16,090, which is enough openings to make a move realistic rather than hopeful. If you can't move, look at which sector you're in. Educational services pays $97,350 and government outside schools and hospitals pays $101,030, against $77,070 in health care and social assistance, where most social and community service managers work.

The handbook names two things employers want: experience, which it calls essential for those with a bachelor's degree, and in some positions a master's degree. Treat both as doors the handbook says you'll need to pass through, not as raises. If the postings you want ask for the master's, the master's in general studies rankings list programs you can finish while you're still working.

The steps into the job, and whether a general studies degree is enough to get there, are in the social and community service manager career guide.