Speech therapist vs therapist

The differences between speech therapists and therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a speech therapist has an average salary of $70,411, which is higher than the $55,943 average annual salary of a therapist.

The top three skills for a speech therapist include patients, home health and rehabilitation. The most important skills for a therapist are social work, patients, and group therapy sessions.

Speech therapist vs therapist overview

	Speech Therapist	Therapist
Yearly salary	$70,411	$55,943
Hourly rate	$33.85	$26.90
Growth rate	21%	17%
Number of jobs	57,509	159,770
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	40	41
Years of experience	2	-

What does a speech therapist do?

Speech Therapists work with patients across multiple age groups to facilitate the treatment of speech and language disorders, such as stammers and stutters. They work with people who cannot produce speech sounds or cannot produce them clearly.

What does a therapist do?

A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.

Speech therapist vs therapist salary

Speech therapists and therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Speech Therapist	Therapist
Average salary	$70,411	$55,943
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $93,000	Between $39,000 And $80,000
Highest paying City	Richmond, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Ohio's Hospice of Dayton	Childhelp
Best paying industry	Professional	Government

Differences between speech therapist and therapist education

There are a few differences between a speech therapist and a therapist in terms of educational background:

	Speech Therapist	Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Communication Disorders Sciences	Psychology
Most common college	Northwestern University	California State University - Long Beach

Speech therapist vs therapist demographics

Here are the differences between speech therapists' and therapists' demographics:

	Speech Therapist	Therapist
Average age	40	41
Gender ratio	Male, 9.0% Female, 91.0%	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 4.5% White, 76.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	6%	12%

Differences between speech therapist and therapist duties and responsibilities

Speech therapist example responsibilities.

Conduct individual and group therapy with individuals diagnose with speech and language impairment, learning disabilities, and autism spectrum disorder.
Conduct IEP meetings and provide documentation for Medicaid billing.
Provide services to children with developmental delay and autism.
Graduate student supervisor, and supervisor for CFY's.
Work under the supervision of an ASHA's certify SLP.
Instruct children in the proper use of assistive devices such as hearing aides.

Therapist example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator and BiPAP's and create or update care plans per patient needs.
Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Provide on-call crisis intervention as well as standard treatment, rehabilitation and support services with some interventions requiring specialize therapy services.
Develop and implement an effective curriculum of DBT inform group and art therapy classes specifically tailor for chemically dependent patients.
Provide trauma-inform individual psychotherapy, TREM group treatment protocol, and EMDR.
Utilize current brain base therapeutic techniques to teach clients adaptive skills to utilize in daily lives.

Speech therapist vs therapist skills

Common speech therapist skills

Patients, 29%
Home Health, 25%
Rehabilitation, 8%
Acute Care, 7%
Asha, 5%
Treatment Programs, 4%

Common therapist skills

Social Work, 23%
Patients, 12%
Group Therapy Sessions, 8%
Crisis Intervention, 7%
Mental Health, 4%
Patient Care, 3%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Speech Therapist
Speech Therapist vs Therapist

Updated January 8, 2025

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