Best Online Social Work Programs in Federal Way, WA (2026)

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

Federal Way, Washington has 5 accredited schools offering social work programs. Federal Way has a population of about 99,232. Median household income is $82,144 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 31.1% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area, the top-earning social work-related role is Social and Community Service Manager at a median $106,400 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 Federal Way. Distances are calculated from Federal Way 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 Federal Way. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.

Published tuitionContact school for pricing

Online programsYes

Published tuitionContact school for pricing

Online programsYes

Published tuitionContact school for pricing

Online programsYes

Published tuitionContact school for pricing

Online programsYes

Published tuitionContact school for pricing

Online programsYes

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

Federal Way is part of the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area (BLS area code 42660). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Washington statewide.

Occupation	Median Wage	Source	COL-Adjusted (US=100)
Child, Family, and School Social Worker	$75,280	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$67,759
Healthcare Social Worker	$83,550	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$75,203
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker	$78,350	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$70,522
Social Worker, All Other	$105,570	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$95,023
Social and Community Service Manager	$106,400	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$95,770
Social and Human Service Assistant	$58,090	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$52,286
Community Health Worker	$57,980	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$52,187

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.

Federal Way at a Glance

Metric	Value	Source
Population	99,232	Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003)
Median household income	$82,144	Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013)
Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+	31.1%	Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003)
Regional Price Parity (US=100)	111.1 (above U.S. average)	BEA RPP 2024
Social Work-related employment in King County	49,558 workers, 2,489 establishments	BLS QCEW 2024 annual

Des Moines, WA – 5.8 mi away (31,172 pop)
Auburn, WA – 5.9 mi away (77,472 pop)
Tacoma, WA – 7.1 mi away (211,277 pop)
Kent, WA – 8.0 mi away (127,514 pop)
Puyallup, WA – 9.2 mi away (40,640 pop)

Frequently Asked Questions

Our directory has 5 accredited schools offering social work programs near Federal Way. The closest is Highline College in Des Moines, WA (5.6 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Seattle University (24.9 miles). 5 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 Federal Way are: Social and Community Service Manager ($106,400), Social Worker, All Other ($105,570), Healthcare Social Worker ($83,550). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Washington statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.

Should I look at programs in Des Moines instead of Federal Way?

Des Moines, WA is 5.8 miles from Federal Way 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.

Federal Way’s median household income of $82,144 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Federal Way while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and Washington 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 Federal Way

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

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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