A month or so ago, I saw a post on Instagram from Jordyn Carroll (jrc_theslp) where she talked about the need for more SLPs to discuss what we’re paid in our speech therapy salary. I agreed and decided to dig through the archives and share my exact salaries for the first 5 years I was an SLP.
Now, just to preface all of this info. This was the first 5 years I was an SLP. This is in Madison, Wisconsin – which has a reasonable cost of living. This is also in pediatric settings – public schools and an outpatient clinic. I know all of these details matter a lot when comparing speech therapy salary numbers so please keep all of that in mind! Oh, and this was all between ~2014-2019 in case you’re reading this further in the future!
SLP SALARIES: PEDIATRIC OUTPATIENT CLINIC (as a CF) – $42,125
–Full-time, year-round position
I started my SLP career at a pediatric outpatient clinic. It was a highly supportive environment where I was able to work closely with other skilled SLPs, OTs, and PTs. My speech therapy salary began at $42,125 but went up slightly as I took on some extra shifts/days and got small raises during my time there. Benefits were okay although we relied mostly on my husband’s benefits at this time.
SPEECH THERAPY SALARY CONTRACT SCHOOL JOB – $40.25/hour
–Paid hourly, 30 hours a week for 179 student days a year
After burning out hard, I wanted to work 4 days a week (to have a day during the week for Speechy Musings) so I started a contract school job in December (mid school year). They were desperate for help and when I started I was the only SLP for the district (that should have 2-3 SLPs) for a period of time. So while the work was a little wild, the pay was good and set me up for success in applying for my next job. I also should mention this came with no benefits and I was not paid during breaks or other days off.
SLP SALARIES: FULL TIME IN THE SCHOOLS – $51,000
–Full time position, ~10 months a year (paid year-round)
After finishing the school year in my contract position, I applied to an amazing school district in our area and was thrilled when I was offered the job. I worked primarily with 5th and 6th graders in a middle school. The benefits were good which provided some increased work flexibility for my husband. The biggest downside was the time off – only 2 days per school year were provided for vacations for fulltime employees.
One of my side passions to SLP is financial independence. I was one of those people that buckled down hard after graduating in order to pay off my loans from both undergrad and grad school. My husband also graduated with significant loan debt so this was 100% a team effort! We learned a ton about FIRE (financial independence, retire early) methods and went hard at chipping away at our debt!
One thing I definitely did right was to advocate for myself and my SLP salary each time I took a new job. ?
If you want to learn more about finances and financial literacy for SLPs, check out @speechgoods on Instagram! She shares some great info if this is a topic of interest for you too.
I hope this information is helpful for you! Happy negotiating!
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This is what we need- total transparency! I too am inspired by the FI/RE movement. Thank you for sharing your money info from your corner of the world.
I am fortunate to work in a school district where the previous union president was an SLP. During her tenure she got us on a separate pay scale with the Psychs. I have 32 years in the public schools and make 130,000 a year. We also get paid a per diem to work past our hours for IEP meetings up to 42 hours yearly. In addition, for ever 2 students past the 55 cap we have for a full month we receive $150 dollars monthly. I am in Hollister California
Thanks for chiming in! That’s amazing that your union president was able to advocate for you and get extra pay for extra meetings and over the cap! Sounds like a great system that more of us should push for!
Thank you for posting this. Transparency is so necessary in this field. We are constantly lowballed and our expertise taken for granted.
In grad school, we were told that jobs started around 70k and not to accept any job below 60k. Yeah….I was hired in a local district for 39k and after 4 years of full time work and a caseload of 60+, was only up to 43k. It was terrible. Luckily, I have accepted a new position for the fall making 15k more than I was previously.
I live in the Central Valley of California. My school district starts SLPs (CFY Year) at $85,000 and tops at year 12 at 104,000, but it is an endless salary cap due to longevity. After 20 years, one can expect a salary in the range of $110,000.
I work in a therapeutic day school for kids and adults with autism (up to age 21) and make $61,125 with yearly bonus opportunities and pay adjustments. Our benefits are decent, not the best now that we recently changed providing companies. This is my second year, first year with my CCC’s. I am in Chicago suburbs.
Thank you for sharing Megan!
Could we ask what you are making now?
From which sources?
I really appreciate this article. Thank you for the transparency! I am an SLP with 20 years of experience. I started in an outpatient clinic here locally in Jacksonville Florida as a CF making $25 an hour. II really appreciate this article. Thank you for the transparency! I am an SLP with 20 years of experience. I started in a outpatient clinic here locally in Jacksonville Florida as a CF making $25 an hour. I transitioned to working for skilled nursing facilities, where my pay steadily increased Significantly over the years. However, there is massive burnout working at skilled nursing facilities as your hired full-time but if the case log goes down your sent home and are paid hourly so it’s not really a steady salary. That is my biggest frustration as a speech language pathologist. The salary seems never to be steady. as I mentioned, when you were in skilled nursing facilities, you are paid hourly and are sent home when the caseload does not justify a full day. Most outpatient clinics will not pay you if your patients don’t show up. Working in the school system if you are by contract, you don’t get paid on school holidays when school is out at any point. The biggest one being winter break in summer break. So the annual salary is a significant decrease from working in a skilled nursing facility. If you do teletherapy at home, most of the time you don’t get paid when clients don’t show up. if you’re doing Home Health as a speech language pathologist, you will only get paid when you see clients not for all the extra time you spend working and the client referrals can go up and down significantly . So it seems that no matter what,your salary is not dependable and I find this incredibly frustrating and wish , our profession on a whole could rally together and do something to change the structure.