Mental health and substance abuse social workers job market in Colorado
Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.
The headline
Colorado industry employment changed 1.5 percentage points above the U.S. benchmark
A data-driven view of the industries that employ Mental health and substance abuse social workers in Colorado.
Occupation pay
What Mental health and substance abuse social workers earn in Colorado
BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.
Median annual wage
$65,620Colorado- Middle 50% of published wages
- $55,770 – $80,990
- U.S. median annual wage
- $60,280
- Reference period
- May 2025
The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.
Pay around Colorado
How median pay varies by metro area
Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Mental health and substance abuse social workers, compared with the Colorado median of $65,620.
Boulder, CO$84,450+28.7% vs. state
Grand Junction, CO$80,030+22.0% vs. state
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO$70,920+8.1% vs. state
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO$68,020+3.7% vs. state
Pueblo, CO$65,620Same as state at displayed precision
Colorado Springs, CO$63,860−2.7% vs. state
View 1 more published metro area
Greeley, CO$49,510−24.6% vs. state
Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Colorado median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.
Verified snapshot
Market at a Glance
Key changes in Colorado’s weighted industry mix.
Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Published coverage: 32,910 represented establishments, 94.46% of the published industry mix.
Local research
What the data shows for mental health and substance abuse social workers in Colorado
Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.
The highest-paying metro has a smaller employment market
The largest metro employment market in this Colorado comparison is Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO, with 900 estimated jobs and median annual pay of $70,920 in OEWS May 2025. Boulder, CO has the highest median pay, $84,450, alongside an employment estimate of 70. Among 7 metros with both usable measures, its median pay is 19.1% higher than the largest market's. The employment estimates describe existing jobs, not available vacancies.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSSome metro estimates cross state lines. Higher nominal pay does not establish better living standards or better chances of finding a job.
This occupation is less concentrated in the state
Colorado's share of employment in mental health and substance abuse social workers differs from the national share in OEWS May 2025. The published location quotient of 0.67 expresses the state share as 0.67 times the national share. The state estimate is 1,640 jobs, 1.2% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 0.57 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. The ratio describes employment concentration, not current hiring or future growth.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSOEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.
Private education and health services has the largest positive weighted contribution
The leading industry groups examined cover 99.9% of this occupation's national industry mix. Within that comparison for Colorado in January to March 2026, Private education and health services accounts for 100.0% of the positive weighted contributions, with its own employment changing +4.5% year over year. These contributions weight industry growth by the national industry mix and do not count occupation jobs created.
January to March 2026 · BLS QCEWPublished median pay is above the U.S. median
Median annual pay in Colorado stands 8.9% above the U.S. estimate for mental health and substance abuse social workers. The underlying OEWS May 2025 figures are $65,620 for the state and $60,280 nationally. This is a nominal wage comparison; living costs and individual pay differences are outside its scope.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSIndustry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology
Employment trends
Colorado industry employment over time
Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.
- Colorado · 2026 Q1+3.4%
- U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+1.9%
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View every published value
| Quarter | Colorado | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Q2 | +2.7% | 100% |
| 2024 Q3 | +3.3% | 100% |
| 2024 Q4 | +2.8% | 100% |
| 2025 Q1 | +4.2% | 100% |
| 2025 Q2 | +3.8% | 100% |
| 2025 Q3 | +3.9% | 100% |
| 2025 Q4 | +4.3% | 100% |
| 2026 Q1 | +3.4% | 100% |
How to read this chart
State trend and national reference
The solid line follows Colorado’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.
- Published quarters
- 8
- Earliest quarter
- 2024 Q2
- Latest quarter
- 2026 Q1
- U.S. benchmark
- +1.9%
Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.
Industry context
Where Mental health and substance abuse social workers Work
The occupation mix determines which Colorado industries are weighted into this view.
| Industry group | Occupation mix | Employment change | Establishments | Avg. weekly industry wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private education and health services | 79.4% | +4.5% | 30,440 | $1,293 |
| State and local | 15.0% | -0.6% | 2,470 | $1,415 |
| Professional and business services | 3.6% | -2.1% | 77,540 | $2,652 |
| Other services | 1.4% | -3.0% | 19,405 | $1,158 |
| Financial activities | 0.5% | -0.8% | 29,280 | $3,159 |
Which industries are growing?
One weighted industry is growing
Only weighted industries with a published positive Colorado employment change are listed.
- Private education and health services+4.5%
The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.
Current Colorado context
Current Colorado Market Signals
Statewide indicators for all occupations in Colorado. They are not Mental health and substance abuse social workers demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.
Statewide job postings
Indeed job postings · Colorado
Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score
Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View values: Indeed postings index
| Observation date | Index (Feb 2020 = 100) |
|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | 89.17 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 89.13 |
| Aug 7, 2026 | 88.64 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 88.43 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 87.99 |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 88.23 |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 88.33 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 88.92 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 89.53 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 90.22 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 90.60 |
| Oct 9, 2026 | 90.72 |
| Oct 16, 2026 | 90.17 |
| Oct 23, 2026 | 90.19 |
This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.
Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.
Statewide layoff notices
Listed WARN records in Colorado
Partial listPartial list. Partial listed-record coverage: CDLE's real-time current-year list is read as published, using each row's exact WARN date (or its exact received date when no WARN date is published). Reviewed corrections stay with their original notices, and a listed row whose relationship to an earlier notice cannot be verified is shown separately, not counted. No month or statewide total is treated as complete; missing records are unknown, not zero.
| Month of notice date | Listed notices |
|---|---|
| Dec 2025 | 1 |
| Jan 2026 | 5 |
| Feb 2026 | 2 |
| Mar 2026 | 1 |
| Apr 2026 | 12 |
| Jun 2026 | 4 |
| Jul 2026 | 7 |
| Aug 2026 | 6 |
| Sep 2026 | 4 |
| Oct 2026 | 3 |
| Listed notices counted | 45 |
Statewide, current-month and three-month totals are unavailable. Months not shown are unknown, not zero. 2 reviewed correction row(s) are kept with their original notices. 1 listed row(s) whose relationship to an earlier notice could not be verified are not counted. Effective layoff dates are not used as notice dates.
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment
Source last checked . This check does not certify a newly published report.
Career context
Related occupations
Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.
Questions answered by this release
Mental health and substance abuse social workers in Colorado FAQs
Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.
Is employment growing for Mental health and substance abuse social workers in Colorado?
The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Colorado industries weighted to Mental health and substance abuse social workers changed +3.4% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +1.9% nationwide.
Are wages for Mental health and substance abuse social workers rising in Colorado?
QCEW does not publish pay for Mental health and substance abuse social workers in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +2.6% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.
How complete is this Colorado industry view?
The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.
Does this page show current Mental health and substance abuse social workers openings?
No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.
Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record
Methodology & Sources
Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.
- Occupation
- Mental health and substance abuse social workers
- SOC code
- 21-1023
- State
- Colorado
- QCEW release label
- QCEW 2026 Q1
- Data period
- 2026 Q1
- State industry employment, year over year
- +3.4%State data coverage 100%
- U.S. benchmark, year over year
- +1.9%
- Difference from U.S. benchmark
- +1.5 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
- Establishments, year over year
- +6.4%State data coverage 100%
- Average weekly industry wage, year over year
- +2.6%State data coverage 100%
- Industry mix vintage
- EP-2025-2035
- BLS publication date
- Aug 28, 2026
- Source verification
- Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
- Canonical record URL
- https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/mental-health-and-substance-abuse-social-workers/colorado#evidence-record
- Derived by
- JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix
MethodologyBLS QCEWHow to citeQCEW state context release, 2026 Q1
Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.