Salary Expectation

Advice

Just wanting some reassurance/advice. I’m 27F finishing my MSW in May and taking my LSW exam shortly after so I will be an LSW when I enter my first social work role. I am in Indianapolis area with 2 1/2 years professional experience as a juvenile probation officer and completed my 2 MSW internships in Chicago 1 at an acute inpatient unit the other at a crisis center both working with pediatric to young adult population.

I’ve been on a couple interviews and am asking for 63k-65k as my starting salary. I settled on this range after doing research of median pay in the area & my professional experience with clients. I recently went on an interview that acted like this was unrealistic? I know certain places pay less or more than others depending on their funding (ex. Non profits vs. hospital) but am I being unreasonable?

Posted Apr 9, 2026, 9:20 PM UTC

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