Salary Speech Pathology
In this video, I work up the courage to talk about my speech pathologist salary: everything I earned over the course of my career. Do you know the average speech pathologist salary or the average speech pathologist salary by state? Glassdoor says that number is around $84,000, which frankly was surprising to me.
I’m sad to say that after 15 years, my pay has not reach that level. I also mention the average teacher salary, which I read is $61,000. I have been paid in that range for my work as a speech pathologist, but some years it’s been more and other years is been less, way less. If you are wondering what the average pay is for speech pathologist by state, which Zip Recruiter compiled for us. Where does your state stack up? And more importantly, where does your salary fall? I have not touched the average salary for my state, which is in line with the national average, in my entire career.
Continuing, I also actually discuss in the video what my salary was when I worked for Kraft Foods (20 years ago now), after I first graduated from college in 1999. Back then, I was not a speech-language pathologist. (In the video, I briefly touch on grad school.) One thing I discuss was my CF salary at Chicago Public Schools and what I was making when I left after 6 years there. I do a comparison between urban school-based salaries and suburban school-based salaries. There are surprisingly big differences, but not in the way you might imagine.
Speech Pathology Salaries
There is variability in the salaries of speech pathologists depending on the setting. The speech and language pathologist salary requirements should be high because of our clinical preparation. There is an incredible amount of coursework and therapy planning in graduate school. Most programs are full-time, so we have to go to school and treat clients simultaneously. The curriculum is very science heavy and we all earn the same credentials to work in all settings. That means that every SLP from school-based to inpatient to outpatient to home health to hospitals to Early Intervention to skilled nursing facilities has the same credentials! Actually, the list of possible settings goes on and on (so there is a lot of flexibility in where you can work).
Speech Pathology Average Salary
Typically, there is a big difference between what someone gets paid via a salary and being a contractor. The salaried positions come with benefits and may be unionized. Being a contractor can come in two forms: W2 or 1099. W2 means that you are contractor and you have no benefits, but your employer pays taxes and contributes to Social Security. 1099 refers to being paid an hourly wage with no taxes taken out. That means that you need to work with an accountant to set up quarterly estimated taxes. You have to have the accountant figure out how much to pay in self-employment tax and possible Social Security payments. As you can imagine, the 1099 option puts a lot of the administrative burden on the employee.
Living without health insurance while working in an health profession seems unfair. However, I have been a 1099 employee because I was able to access health insurance through my husband. The only way to make a 1099 work is to be in a domestic partnership or marriage where you can receive the benefits of a more stable job through your partner.
Returning to the video, the last thing I talk about is hourly pay and being an advocate for yourself. I got many emails and comments on the video that are stately that I have been vastly underpaid almost my entire career. That is truly depressing to make that revelation. But I think that knowledge is power. Even though it’s pretty vulnerable of me to share, I hope it helps you. Many of you might be looking for a new job. I tell my entire salary history, a story with ups and downs!