Resettlement caseworkers earn $38K-$47K while managing 15+ complex cases monthly

Refugee resettlement case managers in the U.S. earn a median salary of roughly $47,000 per year, with the 25th percentile earning $38,500. These caseworkers are expected to manage 15 or more simultaneous cases, each involving navigating housing, medical enrollment, school registration, SSA applications, employment referrals, and cultural orientation for an entire family that speaks little or no English. So what? At these pay levels, caseworkers in high-cost resettlement cities like San Diego, Seattle, or the D.C. metro area qualify for the same public assistance programs their clients use. So what? This creates annual turnover rates of 22% or higher, meaning a refugee family's caseworker often leaves mid-case and gets replaced by someone unfamiliar with their situation. So what? Critical tasks fall through the cracks during handoffs: a medical follow-up is missed, a benefits recertification deadline passes, or an employer contact goes cold. So what? The refugee family, who has no independent ability to navigate American bureaucracy yet, loses services they are legally entitled to and may never recover them. The structural reason this persists is that resettlement agency funding is almost entirely federal per-capita grants with no line item for competitive staff compensation, and agencies cannot raise caseworker pay without cutting direct client services.