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The differences between speech pathologists and assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a speech pathologist and an assistant. Additionally, a speech pathologist has an average salary of $62,640, which is higher than the $37,363 average annual salary of an assistant.
The top three skills for a speech pathologist include patients, language and speech. The most important skills for an assistant are patients, customer service, and patient care.
| Speech Pathologist | Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $62,640 | $37,363 |
| Hourly rate | $30.12 | $17.96 |
| Growth rate | 21% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 22,779 | 557,900 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 40 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
The job of speech pathologists is to diagnose, treat, and prevent speech, social communication, language, swallowing, and cognitive-communication disorders in both children and adults. They are responsible for providing aural rehabilitation for people with hearing impairment and hearing loss, and alternative and augmentative systems for people with severe language comprehension disorders such as progressive neurological disorders and the autism spectrum. Speech pathologists may also work with individuals without language, swallowing, or speech disorders, but are eager to know how to communicate more effectively.
An assistant intern is responsible for facilitating administrative and clerical tasks as assigned by the management. Assistant interns' duties include keeping records of meetings, receiving calls and handling customer inquiries, assisting on writing reports and data entry processing, cooperating and providing support for business events, and adhering to company policies and regulatory procedures. Successful assistant interns must have excellent time-management, multi-tasking, and communication skills. They must be a team player and fast-learner to handle various tasks in the corporate industry.
Speech pathologists and assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Speech Pathologist | Assistant | |
| Average salary | $62,640 | $37,363 |
| Salary range | Between $43,000 And $89,000 | Between $16,000 And $82,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Mayo Clinic | Latham & Watkins |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Education |
There are a few differences between a speech pathologist and an assistant in terms of educational background:
| Speech Pathologist | Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Communication Disorders Sciences | Business |
| Most common college | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between speech pathologists' and assistants' demographics:
| Speech Pathologist | Assistant | |
| Average age | 40 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 11.9% Female, 88.1% | Male, 40.7% Female, 59.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 4.5% White, 77.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |