Hi! After graduating college with my BSW, and then getting my MSW, I would like to move from Texas to New York City. Is there a good job market for social workers in Manhattan or the other boroughs? Good pay? Thank you!
I have a couple of friends who went to Columbia SSW (and I myself went to Columbia for 6 years and lived in Manhattan), but I am not a social worker so this is all observational.
In my observation the market for social workers in New York is decent. There are lots and lots of social service agencies in the city that hire them - not just the city’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), but also the Department of Education (for school social workers), nonprofit service and community organizations, and hospitals and private clinics and health services. One of my friends who went to CSSW, for example, works for a network of Jewish community centers.
Is the pay good? It depends on what you consider “good”: the salaries are good for social workers but not good in general. New York salaries in general are higher than in other places, but IMO not enough higher to compensate for the huge difference in cost of living. The average salary for social workers isn’t that much more here than it is nationwide - about $45K. Hospitals pay a little more - you could probably get around $50-55K in a hospital. Nonprofits will likely pay less, closer to $40-45. I think city services is probably somewhere in the middle. Now, if you are coming to live in New York as a young professional for a few years just to live it up and experience the air for a while before moving somewhere else, then that’s enough to live on in the city - although it won’t be a Sex in the City type lifestyle. You’ll be able to do a few things and experience living in New York, particularly if you have roommates and/or live in upper Manhattan or out in the boroughs.
Honestly, though, I lived in New York on a range of $32-45K (depending on the year). It is possible to do it; you can survive, and you won’t necessarily be eating ramen or rice and beans every day. But it’s also…not fun. I remember after I got over the high of “I’m in New York!!” I was very frustrated with how far my money went (or, more accurately, how far it didn’t go). This is especially bad in housing; things that normal middle-class people expect in other cities - like closet space and air conditioning and a washer and dryer - are luxury items in New York, things that you pay astronomical prices for.
I have a friend who makes $60K and has taken on a second job to help pay the bills just so she can live in what would be a normal-sized apartment anywhere else in the country but is really kind of a luxury duplex in a nice neighborhood. A pair of friends are a young couple who probably, together, make about $100K; they rent one of their parents’ basement apartment to save money because anywhere else at the same size in a decent neighborhood would be waaaaay more expensive. Many of my young professional friends in their late 20s and early 30s are considering leaving New York. It is so expensive to live there, particularly Manhattan.
So I think it’s fun for a couple of years between the ages of about 21 and 25, but after that you start to want more and more costs money, and unless you make a lot more in those intervening years (or marry someone wealthy)…it starts to get less fun. Of course, not everyone wants to leave - I have a few friends who are die-hard New Yorkers and the cost of living and small spaces don’t bother them as much; they see it as a trade-off for being near all the cultural things the city offers. But there are museums and ballets and operas in other cities that are much less expensive, is what I think.