Speech-Language Pathologists

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$97,870

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$77,730 – $114,570

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

183,390

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

+16.6%

Growing at twice the all-jobs rate or more (7%+)

Openings a year (projected)

12,500

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

Master's degree

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Assess and treat persons with speech, language, voice, and fluency disorders. May select alternative communication systems and teach their use. May perform research related to speech and language problems.

Main tasks

• Evaluate hearing or speech and language test results, barium swallow results, or medical or background information to diagnose and plan treatment for speech, language, fluency, voice, or swallowing disorders.
• Write reports and maintain proper documentation of information, such as client Medicaid or billing records or caseload activities, including the initial evaluation, treatment, progress, and discharge of clients.
• Monitor patients' progress and adjust treatments accordingly.
• Develop or implement treatment plans for problems such as stuttering, delayed language, swallowing disorders, or inappropriate pitch or harsh voice problems, based on own assessments and recommendations of physicians, psychologists, or social workers.
• Administer hearing or speech and language evaluations, tests, or examinations to patients to collect information on type and degree of impairments, using written or oral tests or special instruments.
• Educate patients and family members about various topics, such as communication techniques or strategies to cope with or to avoid personal misunderstandings.
• Supervise or collaborate with therapy team.
• Participate in and write reports for meetings regarding patients' progress, such as individualized educational planning (IEP) meetings, in-service meetings, or intervention assistance team meetings.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

Master's degree

Training once hired: internship/residency

O*NET Job Zone 5

Extensive preparation

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 4 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

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