AI Career Radar

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

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.

AI exposure31 / 100Low exposure

Based on O*NET work context for this occupation. This score does not predict individual job losses.

What drives the score

Automation and repetition raise exposure; freedom to set tasks lowers it. Each measure uses a 0–100 scale.

Degree of automation19
Freedom to set tasks81
Repeating the same tasks58
$60,280Median annual wage, U.S.BLS OEWS
+10.3%Jobs, 2025 to 2035 (much faster than average)BLS Employment Projections
65Skill durability (moderate)Transferability, out of 100

How well your skills transfer

Each skill is scored on how well it transfers into occupations that are growing and less exposed. The ones high on both importance and transfer are worth deepening.

Highest transferability first

Both scores out of 100

Skills ranked by transferability. Both scores use a 0–100 scale.
SkillTransferabilityImportance in current role
Active Listening
63
78
Speaking
63
78
Critical Thinking
63
75
Monitoring
63
75
Judgment and Decision Making
63
63
Coordination
62
72
Complex Problem Solving
62
72
Active Learning
62
56
Reading Comprehension
61
75
Time Management
61
56
Show 25 more skills
Skills ranked by transferability. Both scores use a 0–100 scale.
SkillTransferabilityImportance in current role
Social Perceptiveness
60
81
Writing
60
69
Learning Strategies
58
69
Instructing
58
56
Systems Analysis
57
56
Service Orientation
56
72
Systems Evaluation
56
47
Persuasion
54
69
Mathematics
53
25
Negotiation
52
60
Science
52
41
Management of Personnel Resources
50
50
Operations Analysis
49
38
Installation
48
0
Quality Control Analysis
47
22
Management of Financial Resources
47
22
Management of Material Resources
47
22
Technology Design
47
19
Equipment Selection
47
0
Equipment Maintenance
47
0
Troubleshooting
47
0
Operations Monitoring
46
25
Repairing
46
0
Programming
45
22
Operation and Control
43
9

Compare how well you can use each skill in growing, low-exposure occupations with its importance in your current role. How we score skills.

Jobs you could move to

Compare related occupations by skill overlap, retraining effort, pay and projected growth. Choose a priority to adjust the ranking. Licensing requirements may limit some routes.

85/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$123,860
10-yr growth
+24.2%
Skill gap
16%
Retraining
Moderate

Skills to build: Management of Financial Resources, Management of Material Resources, Operations Analysis, Management of Personnel Resources

85/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$129,180
10-yr growth
+21%
Skill gap
13%
Retraining
Low

Skills to build: Quality Control Analysis, Operations Monitoring, Systems Analysis, Systems Evaluation

85/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$97,870
10-yr growth
+16.6%
Skill gap
8%
Retraining
Low

Skills to build: Active Learning, Instructing, Operations Analysis, Writing

84/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$100,580
10-yr growth
+11.7%
Skill gap
5%
Retraining
Low

Skills to build: Reading Comprehension, Active Learning, Writing, Critical Thinking

84/100 match
Median pay · U.S.
$135,880
10-yr growth
+21.1%
Skill gap
14%
Retraining
Low

Skills to build: Operations Monitoring, Active Learning, Monitoring, Judgment and Decision Making

A second source of income, before you need it

This page can tell you where Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers could go and what the move costs. The other route is not a move at all: something small of your own, running alongside the job, started while there is no pressure on it.

Where to learn the missing half: Google Career Certificates for systems analysis · active learning, LinkedIn Learning for writing · speaking, edX for mathematics · reading and PlanetNoCode for complex problem solving. Some of those are affiliate links. It never changes what we list.

Snapshot: O*NET 31.0, BLS OEWS May 2025, BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035. Scoring v2.1.0-onet-31.0. Method on the how it works page.