Studying Social Work in St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg offers BSW students a distinctive setting across the bay from Tampa, in Pinellas County, the most densely populated county in Florida and one with a notably large older-adult population. That demographic shapes much of the city’s social-service work, with a strong emphasis on aging, healthcare, and behavioral health.
St. Petersburg does not have a CSWE-accredited BSW program within the city itself, but several programs sit a short drive away in the Tampa Bay area, and online options let residents study from home. Placements and entry-level jobs span hospitals, behavioral-health agencies, county schools, and a large network of aging and disability services.
Because the city is part of the Tampa Bay region, St. Petersburg students often train and work alongside the wider metro’s hospitals, agencies, and nonprofits.
The Best BSW Programs in St. Petersburg, FL
No CSWE-accredited BSW program currently lists a campus inside St. Petersburg. See the nearby and online options below.
Accredited Campuses Within 60 Miles of St. Petersburg
3 accredited programs with a campus within about 60 straight-line miles of central St. Petersburg, ranked by our five-factor model. The full profile for each school sits on the page of the city its campus is in, or in the Florida ranking.
| Program | Nearest campus | Miles | Format | Natl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of South Florida | Tampa | ~17 | Online or On-Campus | #36 |
| Saint Leo University | Tampa | ~17 | On-Campus | #245 |
| Southeastern University | Lakeland | ~47 | On-Campus | #387 |
Online BSW Programs Open to St. Petersburg Students
Florida-based CSWE-accredited programs with an online option, which St. Petersburg residents can complete from home. Programs based outside Florida that also take St. Petersburg students are in the national online BSW ranking.
| Institution | Accredited | Format | Natl. |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Central Florida | 1974 | Online or On-Campus | #5 |
| University of South Florida | 1976 | Online or On-Campus | #36 |
| Florida Memorial University | 2004 | Online or On-Campus | #347 |
| Warner University | 2010 | Online or On-Campus | #455 |
What Social Workers Earn in the St. Petersburg Area in 2026
St. Petersburg, Florida sits within the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL metro area, the labor market that sets pay and demand for its social-service workforce. The labor market St. Petersburg draws on employs roughly 5,370 social workers across the specialties , and the most common BSW-level specialty there, child, family, and school social work, pays a $58,540 median. These figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS program (May 2025) for the area around St. Petersburg.
| Occupation | Employed | Median wage | Typical range (10th–90th) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child, family & school social workers | 2,160 | $58,540 | $42,530 to $79,670 |
| Social & human service assistants (entry-level) | 3,840 | $45,000 | $34,210 to $59,970 |
| Healthcare social workers | 1,500 | $64,790 | $48,480 to $82,470 |
| Mental health & substance abuse social workers | 930 | $52,730 | $36,500 to $78,210 |
| Social workers, all other | 780 | $68,310 | $47,280 to $113,170 |
| Social & community service managers (macro) | 1,280 | $77,560 | $50,600 to $136,620 |
How local pay compares
Child, family & school social workers around St. Petersburg earn a median of $58,540 versus $56,550 statewide in Florida and $59,550 nationally. That is at or above the Florida median.
Where do social workers work in St. Petersburg in 2026?
St. Petersburg sits across the bay from Tampa in Pinellas County, the most densely populated county in Florida, with a notably large older-adult population that shapes its social-service work. Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, based in the city, anchors pediatric social work, while BayCare Health System adds medical and behavioral-health roles across the county.
Community behavioral health is delivered by organizations such as Directions for Living and Personal Enrichment through Mental Health Services (PEMHS), and Pinellas County Schools and Pinellas County Human Services anchor school and safety-net roles. Because Pinellas has one of the state’s highest shares of residents over 65, aging, hospice, and disability services are an especially large field for BSW graduates here.
St. Petersburg, Florida sits in Pinellas County. Representative organizations in and around the city that commonly employ social workers and BSW-level human-service staff include:
- Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital
- Directions for Living and Personal Enrichment through Mental Health Services (PEMHS)
- BayCare Health System
- Pinellas County Schools
- Pinellas County Human Services
- Aging, hospice, and disability-services providers across Pinellas County
An illustrative list of employers known to operate around St. Petersburg, not an exhaustive or BLS-sourced one.
Beyond St. Petersburg, BLS projects national social worker employment to grow 7% from 2024 to 2034, faster than the average for all occupations, with healthcare and mental-health settings leading. Pay by role for St. Petersburg graduates to compare against is in our salary guides.
Source for St. Petersburg: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025) for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL, with projections from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook. The medians include every worker in each occupation, so BSW-level pay in St. Petersburg usually sits toward the low end of each range.
Who Social Workers Serve in St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg social workers serve a population with one of Florida’s highest shares of residents over 65, so aging, hospice, and disability services are central fields. Older adults navigating health changes, caregiving, and end-of-life needs make up a large part of the caseload.
Beyond aging services, the city has significant need around behavioral health, housing, and pediatric care, anchored by Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and community providers. Pinellas County’s density means services are relatively accessible compared with more spread-out parts of the state.
Field Placements and Agencies Around St. Petersburg
With CSWE’s 400-hour field requirement, St. Petersburg-area students train across Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, BayCare, Directions for Living, PEMHS, Pinellas County Schools, and the county’s many aging and disability-services providers.
Because no BSW program sits inside the city, students typically enroll at a Tampa Bay-area or online program and complete placements locally. Aging- and hospice-focused field sites are especially abundant here and often lead into first jobs.
Micro Social Work Jobs in St. Petersburg
Micro social work, direct practice with individuals and families, is the heart of St. Petersburg’s BSW job market, with a strong aging-services focus. Micro roles include case management for older adults, hospice and palliative support, hospital and pediatric case management, and benefits and resource navigation, and the county’s aging-services providers and hospitals hire steadily for this one-on-one work.
A BSW is the standard qualification for these non-clinical micro roles. Clinical micro practice, meaning therapy and diagnosis, requires a master’s and an LCSW in Florida, so BSW-level work in St. Petersburg centers on support, coordination, and connecting older adults and families to care.
Can I work in aging and older-adult services with a BSW in St. Petersburg?
Yes, and St. Petersburg is one of the best places in Florida to do it. Pinellas County has one of the state’s largest concentrations of older adults, so aging-services organizations, hospice and palliative programs, hospitals, and area agencies on aging all hire social workers and case managers for older-adult care.
A BSW qualifies you for case-management, care-coordination, and family-support roles in this field, helping older adults and their caregivers navigate health, housing, and benefits. It is a growing area nationally as the population ages, and St. Petersburg offers unusually deep experience in it.
Can I earn a BSW online while living in St. Petersburg?
Yes, and for St. Petersburg residents it is a practical option, since the city has no CSWE-accredited BSW program of its own. Several Florida programs, including the nearby University of South Florida and others statewide, offer online or hybrid BSW options that residents can complete from home.
Online CSWE-accredited programs carry the same accreditation as on-campus ones and still require at least 400 hours of in-person field education, which is arranged locally, often at the Tampa Bay-area hospitals, aging-services providers, and agencies where many graduates later work.
Can I get a Social Work license with a BSW in St. Petersburg, Florida?
Florida licenses social workers statewide, so the rules a St. Petersburg graduate follows are the state's, taken here from the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) regulatory database as captured in 2026.
From a St. Petersburg BSW, the license ladder continues to the master's level (CMSW) , and the clinical, independent-practice level (LCSW, RCSW-I). A recent BSW from an accredited St. Petersburg-area program also opens Advanced Standing admission to a master's.
Common Questions About BSW Programs in St. Petersburg
How many CSWE-accredited BSW programs are in St. Petersburg?
How much do social workers earn in St. Petersburg?
Can I earn a BSW online from St. Petersburg?
Does Florida license social workers at the bachelor level?
BSW programs in other Florida cities
Sources
- CSWE Directory of Accredited Programs for the accreditation, campuses, and structure of each St. Petersburg-area program.
- U.S. Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer and Population Estimates Program for St. Petersburg's coordinates and population.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS (May 2025) for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL wages; ASWB regulatory database for Florida license requirements.
This St. Petersburg page was published 2026-06-29 and last updated 2026-08-05. "Near" means a campus within 60 straight-line miles of central St. Petersburg.