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Becoming a speech language pathologist (SLP) gives you the chance to make a real difference in people’s lives and make a steady income doing it.
While the path requires a master’s degree and clinical hours before you can get licensed, it’s one of the higher-paying healthcare jobs out there with tons of different work settings and the opportunity to do deep meaningful work.
Ok, but first, what does a speech language pathologist do? Simply put: they help people communicate. For adults, that may mean helping a brain injury patient restore their communication skills. For kids, that may mean helping them with speech and language development, including finding alternative ways of communicating for nonverbal children.
We interviewed a licensed pediatric speech language pathologist, Jayah, to share how she got into the field, what she makes, and tips for those who also want to get into speech language pathology.
Why Jayah Chose to Become a Speech Language Pathologist
Jayah chose speech language pathology thanks to her mom, who owned a daycare and also worked in the special education field. This gave Jayah early exposure to the world of therapeutic support for children.
“She introduced me to the speech therapist at her school and once I got the opportunity to shadow her, I knew it was the field for me,” says Jayah. That shadowing experience where she got to see the daily job of a speech language pathologist firsthand was the turning point that solidified her career choice.
How to Become a Speech Language Pathologist
It isn’t exactly an easy path to become a speech language pathologist. You need a Master’s Degree in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology before you can even become licensed. But once you get into the field, it's one of the most secure jobs with a projected 15% growth rate by 2034.
Jayah faced significant challenges along the way. “I got rejected by over 10 schools and it took me 4 years to finally get accepted,” she shared. Graduate programs for speech language pathology are highly competitive, with the average acceptance rate being 30% to 40%, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
More competitive schools accept only 10% to 20% of applicants, but that doesn’t mean you have no chance of getting in. Persistence definitely pays off, as Jayah has shown us.
As you start looking into speech language pathology requirements and programs, use this full list of requirements as your checklist:
- A Bachelor’s degree in Communication Science and Disorders
- A Master’s Degree in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology
- 1,260 professional supervised hours after completing your degree (also known as your Clinical Fellowship Year)
- Pass the SLP Praxis exam
- Get licensed in your state (requirements vary by state)
Also read: How to Get Into Healthcare (+Tips From Real Healthcare Workers)
Free course to learn the skills for this job: Voice Disorders: What Patients and Professionals Need to Know
Where Do Speech Language Pathologists Work?
There are a variety of work settings available to speech language pathologists, so you have some flexibility to choose an environment that matches your interests and lifestyle.
Common work settings include:
- Public and private schools
- Hospitals and medical centers
- Rehabilitation facilities
- Nursing homes and long-term care facilities
- Private practices
- Early intervention programs
- Home health care
- Teletherapy companies
School-based speech language pathologists work during the academic year with summers off (unless they work another contract), while medical settings may offer higher pay with more flexibility. Nursing, residential care facilities, and hospitals offer the highest pay, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
How Much Do Speech Language Pathologists Make? Salary & Benefits
When we interviewed Jayah (shown at the beginning of the article), she is on track to make $110,000 to $125,000 this year as a pediatric speech language pathologist. Before that, the highest she earned from one job was $85,000.
The setting you choose to work in and your location has a lot to do with how your salary varies. For example, self-employed speech language pathologists tend to make more than those who are employed somewhere, as Jayah also indicated in her interview. This is partially why Jayah said in her interview that she would much rather have her own practice. This also allows her more flexibility.
But with your own practice, you aren’t getting health insurance benefits provided like you would be as an employee somewhere. Jayah recommends to “get a plan that makes sense to you”. You may have to do some shopping around on Healthcare.gov to find a plan that’s affordable. When you negotiate a competitive package at an employee, don’t forget to negotiate your benefits, including healthcare if you can!
For what other speech language pathologists make, we dug into some data from the BLS and our Salary Database of over 13,000 publicly shared salaries from our community. This is what we found:
- The national median salary is $95,410 per year, according to the BLS.
- The industry where speech language pathologists are paid the most is nursing and residential care facilities, which is a median salary of $106,500 per year.
- The highest recorded salary in our Salary Database for speech language pathologists is $230,000 per year. Their salary entry indicates they have 28 years of experience and work healthcare remotely full-time.
- The second highest recorded salary in our Salary Database is $154,000. Their salary entry indicates they have 23 years of experience and work a healthcare contract on-site.
When you’re ready to enter the job market as a speech language pathologist, or any job for that matter, don’t forget to always negotiate your salary!
Download our Market Research Guide to find out how much you should be getting paid, then download our Salary Negotiation Guide to use hand-in-hand to prepare for any job offer.
Pro tip: If you want to get a better idea of the different things speech language pathologists do, check out our Transparent Job Board and search for “speech language pathologist” to read different job descriptions from different companies and organizations!
Last-Minute Tips for Aspiring Speech Language Pathologists
As you’re exploring a speech language pathologist career path, the best thing you can do to determine where you should go in the field is to shadow someone. Shadowing was what showed Jayah that the field was perfect for her and getting insight from others helped her plan her career path.
You can also take free online courses to get introduced to the field and start building skills early. We recommend starting with the Voice Disorders: What Patients and Professionals Need to Know course on Coursera.
It’s also helpful while in school to find an entry-level healthcare job within speech pathology or an adjacent field to start gaining some insight into the industry. This could be a front desk receptionist job at a facility or hospital, a doctor office staff job that verifies insurance and enters patient records, or a school where you would handle student records or handle assistant-level work. It’s also great experience to add to an application for a master’s program to show how much you’re already actively pursuing the job.
It might take you a while to get licensed to practice, but that’s no excuse to pause on gaining useful skills directly from the field. That’ll just make you that much more experienced and ready to make a difference in other people’s lives when the time comes!
To learn more about Jayah, connect with her on Instagram!
This article is a part of our “Meet Your Neighbor” series, where we highlight real career paths and real paychecks from across the country.
Read more from the series:
- How to Become a Flight Attendant With No Experience
- How This Freelance Ghostwriter Built a $200K Business
- How This Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant Makes $300K a Year Without Going to Medical School
- From Professional Baseball Player to Software Tester
If this guide helped you start or pivot to a career in the airline industry, let us know! Send us an email ➡️ hello@salarytransparentstreet.com.
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