Best Online Social Work Programs in Richmond, VA (2026)

Updated June 11, 2026 BLS data College Scorecard On this page

Richmond, Virginia has 5 accredited schools offering social work programs. Richmond has a population of about 227,595. Median household income is $62,671 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 44.1% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Richmond, VA metro area, the top-earning social work-related role is Social and Community Service Manager at a median $104,070 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

The 5 accredited institutions below are the closest among the 5 schools in our directory that offer social work programs near Richmond. Distances are calculated from Richmond city center.

How We Rank Schools

Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:

Graduation rate 30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
Average net price (lower is better) 20%
Retention rate 15%
Fully online availability 10%

Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Richmond. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.

Published tuitionContact school for pricing

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Published tuitionContact school for pricing

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Published tuitionContact school for pricing

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Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Virginia schools on the Virginia social work page.

Richmond is part of the Richmond, VA metro area (BLS area code 40060). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Virginia statewide.

Occupation	Median Wage	Source	COL-Adjusted (US=100)
Child, Family, and School Social Worker	$60,520	Richmond, VA	$61,818
Healthcare Social Worker	$71,690	Richmond, VA	$73,228
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker	$63,020	Richmond, VA	$64,372
Social Worker, All Other	$96,970	Richmond, VA	$99,050
Social and Community Service Manager	$104,070	Richmond, VA	$106,302
Social and Human Service Assistant	$42,170	Richmond, VA	$43,075
Community Health Worker	$51,420	Richmond, VA	$52,523

Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.

Richmond at a Glance

Metric	Value	Source
Population	227,595	Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003)
Median household income	$62,671	Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013)
Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+	44.1%	Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003)
Regional Price Parity (US=100)	97.9 (below U.S. average)	BEA RPP 2024
Social Work-related employment in Richmond (city) County	3,268 workers, 1,015 establishments	BLS QCEW 2024 annual

Hopewell, VA – 19.1 mi away (22,735 pop)
Petersburg, VA – 22.9 mi away (31,882 pop)
Williamsburg, VA – 45.8 mi away (81,840 pop)
Fredericksburg, VA – 53.2 mi away (164,610 pop)
Newport News, VA – 60.2 mi away (181,825 pop)

Frequently Asked Questions

Our directory has 5 accredited schools offering social work programs near Richmond. The closest is Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA (1.9 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Christopher Newport University (63.2 miles). 4 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.

Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying social work-related roles near Richmond are: Social and Community Service Manager ($104,070), Social Worker, All Other ($96,970), Healthcare Social Worker ($71,690). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Virginia statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.

Should I look at programs in Hopewell instead of Richmond?

Hopewell, VA is 19.1 miles from Richmond and has its own set of local social work programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.

Richmond’s median household income of $62,671 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Richmond while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and Virginia public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.

How do I verify a program is accredited?

Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.

Other Programs Available in Richmond

Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Richmond:

Data verified: June 11, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.

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