Speech Language Pathologist Salary

Q: Do speech-language pathologists make good money?

Yes, speech-language pathologists make good money. The average salary for a speech-language pathologist is $83,240 a year or $49.02 an hour. However, the pay range for speech pathologists can go as high as $136,000 a year to as low as $20,500 a year.

Q: How much do speech pathologists make starting off?

Speech pathologists make $66,682 a year starting off. However, the pay range for an entry-level speech pathologist can go from as high as $136,000 a year to as low as $20,500 a year. Fluctuations in pay rate reflect differences in location and the type of speech pathologist or industry.

Updated April 6, 2023

Speech Language Pathologist Salary Estimate

$62,340

$29.97 hourly

Entry level Salary

$43,000 yearly

$43,00010%

$62,340Median

$89,00090%

How much does a Speech Language Pathologist make?

The average salary for a speech language pathologist in the United States is $62,340. Speech language pathologist salaries typically range between $43,000 and $89,000 a year. The average hourly rate for speech language pathologists is $29.97 per hour.

Location, education, and experience impacts how much a speech language pathologist can expect to make. Speech language pathologists make the most in California, Nevada, Alaska, New Jersey, and Virginia.

Research Summary.

The average salary for a speech language pathologist is $62,340 in the US.
The average speech language pathologist salary ranges between $43,000 and $89,000 in the US.
Hourly rates for speech language pathologists in the US typically range between $20 and $42 an hour.
The average speech language pathologist salary is $82,600 in California, $79,594 in Nevada, and $76,983 in Alaska. These are the three highest-paying states for speech language pathologists in the US.
Northeastern University has the highest average salary for speech language pathologists.
Professional is the highest-paying industry for speech language pathologists in the US.

Highest Paying States For Speech Language Pathologists

Throughout the U.S., the average salary for a speech language pathologist is roughly $62,340 per year, which boils down to $29.97 per hour. Interestingly enough, speech language pathologists have the highest salaries in Redwood City, CA at about $85,108 per year. For those who are just starting out, the average entry-level salary in Redwood City, CA is $61,000. Additionally, speech language pathologists make more than the average salary in Las Vegas, NV, Washington, DC, Tacoma, WA, New York, NY, and Fairfield, CT. On a more broad level, speech language pathologist salaries are highest in California, Nevada, Alaska, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington, and New York. On the contrary, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Nebraska offer the lowest speech language pathologist salaries.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Speech Language Pathologist average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	California	$82,600	$39.71	1,957
2	Virginia	$74,834	$35.98	565
3	Washington	$74,039	$35.60	440
4	Nevada	$79,594	$38.27	97
5	Louisiana	$71,715	$34.48	177
6	Connecticut	$71,803	$34.52	233
7	New Mexico	$66,398	$31.92	151
8	Delaware	$69,835	$33.57	93
9	Arizona	$68,463	$32.91	337
10	New Jersey	$75,450	$36.27	306
11	Alaska	$76,983	$37.01	28
12	South Carolina	$64,043	$30.79	301
13	Maryland	$70,931	$34.10	389
14	Oregon	$69,006	$33.18	209
15	New York	$72,431	$34.82	638
16	Idaho	$66,674	$32.05	66
17	Pennsylvania	$65,926	$31.70	367
18	Wyoming	$63,500	$30.53	27
19	Missouri	$64,906	$31.20	268
20	Kansas	$61,142	$29.40	201
21	Hawaii	$70,475	$33.88	65
22	Wisconsin	$63,254	$30.41	239
23	Florida	$62,208	$29.91	1,166
24	District of Columbia	$76,451	$36.76	41
25	Iowa	$59,938	$28.82	232
26	Michigan	$61,645	$29.64	375
27	Ohio	$61,598	$29.61	364
28	Illinois	$62,468	$30.03	688
29	Colorado	$65,553	$31.52	284
30	Rhode Island	$61,548	$29.59	64
31	Massachusetts	$60,251	$28.97	620
32	West Virginia	$56,910	$27.36	262
33	Kentucky	$59,628	$28.67	200
34	Texas	$60,324	$29.00	1,175
35	Indiana	$59,412	$28.56	366
36	North Carolina	$60,425	$29.05	498
37	Arkansas	$61,072	$29.36	78
38	Georgia	$61,429	$29.53	441
39	Vermont	$55,532	$26.70	119
40	Montana	$60,844	$29.25	57
41	New Hampshire	$54,075	$26.00	271
42	Mississippi	$59,961	$28.83	84
43	Oklahoma	$60,038	$28.86	97
44	North Dakota	$54,504	$26.20	61
45	Nebraska	$54,229	$26.07	122
46	Tennessee	$57,230	$27.51	188
47	Alabama	$55,729	$26.79	155
48	South Dakota	$51,192	$24.61	51
49	Utah	$57,471	$27.63	56
50	Minnesota	$54,588	$26.24	226
51	Maine	$46,238	$22.23	53

Recent Job Searches

Top Speech Language Pathologist Jobs Near You

Highest Paying Cities For Speech Language Pathologists

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Redwood City, CA	$85,108	$40.92	8
2	Las Vegas, NV	$79,424	$38.18	33
3	Washington, DC	$76,504	$36.78	33
4	Tacoma, WA	$74,974	$36.05	17
5	New York, NY	$73,009	$35.10	137
6	Fairfield, CT	$72,773	$34.99	3
7	Baltimore, MD	$71,129	$34.20	75
8	Wilmington, DE	$69,773	$33.54	12
9	Salem, OR	$69,128	$33.23	20
10	Phoenix, AZ	$68,604	$32.98	70
11	Philadelphia, PA	$66,629	$32.03	62
12	Albuquerque, NM	$66,425	$31.94	37
13	Colorado Springs, CO	$66,135	$31.80	28
14	Chicago, IL	$62,591	$30.09	62
15	Miami, FL	$62,226	$29.92	22

Here Are The Five Most In Demand Cities Right Now:

Speech Language Pathologist Salary by Years of Experience

The salary for a speech language pathologist can vary depending on the years of experience that a person has, from entry level to senior level. An accountant with 0-2 years of experience earns an average salary of $59,517, a mid-career professional with 3-6 years of experience makes $62,340 a year on average, and a senior level accountant with 7-12 years of experience enjoys an average annual salary of $69,121. Data on how experience level affects total compensation is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as part of their National Compensation Survey, which is based on factors such as knowledge, complexity, contacts, and environment.

Speech Language Pathologist Salary By Experience Level

Experience Level	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
Entry Level	$59,500	$28.61
Mid Level	$64,300	$30.92
Senior Level	$69,100	$33.23

Speech Language Pathologists Salary Details

Average Speech Language Pathologist Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a Speech Language Pathologist's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$89,000	$7,417	$43
75th Percentile	$75,000	$6,250	$36
Average	$62,340	$5,195	$30
25th Percentile	$51,000	$4,250	$25
10th Percentile	$43,000	$3,583	$21

Highest Paying Types of Speech Language Pathologists

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Graduate Student Clinician	$59,667	$4,972	$28.69	39,709
Student Clinician	$59,506	$4,959	$28.61	36,281
Graduate Student Internship	$30,945	$2,579	$14.88	56,982
Speech Therapist	$70,411	$5,868	$33.85	57,509
Speech/Language Therapist	$67,378	$5,615	$32.39	45,699
Speech-Language Pathology Internship	$59,985	$4,999	$28.84	72,220

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Speech Language Pathologists The Most?

The highest paying companies for speech language pathologists are Northeastern University and Oculus according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like University of California, Berkeley and Bank of the West report highly competitive wages for speech language pathologists.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Northeastern University	$100,856	$48.49
2	Oculus	$100,138	$48.14	2
3	University of California-Berkeley	$98,131	$47.18
4	Bank of the West	$97,746	$46.99
5	The TJX Companies	$96,089	$46.20	4
6	Valley Children's	$95,883	$46.10
7	University of California	$95,217	$45.78	9
8	Mayo Clinic	$95,164	$45.75	6
9	DXC Technology	$95,042	$45.69
10	Professional Healthcare Resources	$93,760	$45.08
11	DC Prep	$91,960	$44.21	1
12	Tenet Healthcare	$91,959	$44.21	38
13	Blue Bird	$90,475	$43.50
14	New York University	$90,368	$43.45	1
15	Amazon	$89,850	$43.20	1
16	Innovative Services	$88,186	$42.40
17	Bozeman Health	$88,164	$42.39
18	Stanford Health Care	$88,006	$42.31	4
19	National Mentor Holdings Inc.	$87,240	$41.94
20	University of Maryland Medical System	$87,016	$41.83	6

Speech Language Pathologist Pay Trends

Average Speech Language Pathologist Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Speech Language Pathologist Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2023	$62,300	$29.97	+1.7%
2022	$61,300	$29.46	+2.0%
2021	$60,000	$28.87	+1.2%
2020	$59,300	$28.53	+2.5%
2019	$57,800	$27.81	+1.7%

Recently Added Speech Language Pathologist Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
State of Ohio	Speech-Language Pathologist	Columbus, OH	05/04/2023	$58,603
Reliant Rehabilitation	Speech Language Pathologist	Urban Honolulu, HI	05/04/2023	$83,480
Erickson Living	Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)-PRN	Ashburn, VA	05/03/2023	$114,785
Epic Travel Staffing (Formerly Emerald Health Services)	Travel Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)	Payson, UT	05/03/2023	$82,877
American Medical Staffing	Speech Language Pathologist (SLP School Year	Rockville, MD	05/03/2023	$93,915
Mas Medical Staffing	Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), Bremen, Indiana \| Up To 2	Bremen, IN	05/03/2023	$143,481
Mas Medical Staffing	Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), Troy, Michigan \| Up To 3	Troy, MI	05/03/2023	$161,743
Mas Medical Staffing	Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), Columbia, Kentucky \| Up To 2	Columbia, KY	05/03/2023	$143,481
Careerstaff Unlimited	Speech Language Pathologist-SLP-School	Indianapolis, IN	05/03/2023	$93,915
Ro Health, LLC	SLP-Speeach Language Pathologist-Remote CA	Novato, CA	05/03/2023	$114,785

Speech Language Pathologist Salaries FAQs

What State Pays Speech Language Pathologists The Most?

California pays Speech Language Pathologists the most in the United States, with an average salary of $82,600 per year, or $39.71 per hour.

How Do I Know If I'm Being Paid Fairly As A Speech Language Pathologist?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Speech Language Pathologist if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Nevada you should be paid close to $79,594 per year.

What Is A Good Starting Salary For A Speech Language Pathologist?

A good starting salary for a speech language pathologist is $49,000 in the United States. That puts you in the 10th percentile of annual income for a speech language pathologist in the U.S., which is about what you would expect if you were new to the field. The average salary for speech language pathologists is $65,973, but that normally requires some level of experience to achieve. Furthermore, a good starting salary for a speech language pathologist can vary by state.

Do Speech-language Pathologists Make Good Money?

Yes, speech-language pathologists make good money. The average salary for a speech-language pathologist is $83,240 a year or $49.02 an hour. However, the pay range for speech pathologists can go as high as $136,000 a year to as low as $20,500 a year.

How Much Do Speech Pathologists Make Starting Off?

Speech pathologists make $66,682 a year starting off. However, the pay range for an entry-level speech pathologist can go from as high as $136,000 a year to as low as $20,500 a year.

Fluctuations in pay rate reflect differences in location and the type of speech pathologist or industry.

Who Is The Highest-paid Speech Pathologist?

The highest-paid speech pathologist is dependent on location and type of speech pathologist. The median salary for a speech pathologist in the United States is $98,823 annually. However, speech pathologists can earn as high as $166,500 a year.

Have more questions? See all answers to common healthcare practitioner and technical questions.

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Updated April 6, 2023