Speech-Language Pathologists salary

SOC 29-1127 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$97,870

per year, nationally

Middle half

$77,730–$114,570

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

183,390

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+15.0%

13,300 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$62,900$134,160

10th: $62,900
25th: $77,730
Median: $97,870
75th: $114,570
90th: $134,160

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Master's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Internship/residency

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where speech-language pathologists earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$118,970	110.7	16,930	0.79×
2	Colorado	$110,750	103.1	4,420	1.30×
3	District of Columbia	$109,380	109.9	390	0.47×
4	Washington	$105,550	107.0	3,570	0.85×
5	Nevada	$104,510	100.0	1,270	0.69×
6	Rhode Island	$104,000	102.3	720	1.22×
7	Delaware	$102,760	99.8	690	1.21×
8	Alaska	$102,670	102.4	340	0.89×
9	Oregon	$102,660	103.4	1,600	0.69×
10	New Jersey	$101,560	108.8	6,840	1.35×
11	Massachusetts	$101,310	105.8	5,290	1.23×
12	New York	$100,610	107.9	15,310	1.34×
13	Connecticut	$100,110	103.6	2,390	1.19×
14	Florida	$99,990	103.4	10,080	0.86×
15	Texas	$99,910	97.1	19,120	1.15×
16	Maryland	$99,190	105.0	3,510	1.08×
17	New Mexico	$98,690	92.2	1,250	1.22×
18	Arizona	$97,800	100.7	3,390	0.89×
19	Hawaii	$97,560	110.0	270	0.37×
20	Georgia	$96,760	96.3	4,030	0.70×
21	Virginia	$96,250	101.1	4,460	0.92×
22	Illinois	$95,080	100.0	9,040	1.26×
23	Ohio	$93,300	92.8	7,270	1.11×
24	Pennsylvania	$92,960	97.6	6,570	0.92×
25	Utah	$91,560	98.9	1,460	0.71×
26	South Carolina	$90,530	93.7	2,190	0.81×
27	Minnesota	$89,380	98.6	3,890	1.12×
28	Missouri	$89,280	90.8	3,230	0.93×
29	Michigan	$89,120	96.2	4,730	0.91×
30	Indiana	$87,360	93.3	3,310	0.88×
31	North Carolina	$86,460	94.3	5,600	0.96×
32	Tennessee	$84,630	91.9	3,320	0.86×
33	Oklahoma	$84,470	87.8	1,870	0.93×
34	Idaho	$84,380	95.5	1,210	1.20×
35	Nebraska	$84,350	90.1	1,310	1.08×
36	Arkansas	$83,580	86.9	2,430	1.58×
37	Kentucky	$83,550	90.2	2,610	1.11×
38	New Hampshire	$83,040	104.2	720	0.89×
39	Wisconsin	$83,000	94.1	2,940	0.85×
40	Maine	$82,660	97.0	640	0.85×
41	Vermont	$82,090	98.0	430	1.20×
42	Wyoming	$82,040	92.7	240	0.72×
43	Iowa	$81,050	87.8	1,540	0.84×
44	West Virginia	$80,970	89.5	880	1.07×
45	Kansas	$80,120	90.1	1,690	1.00×
46	Montana	$78,740	94.6	490	0.81×
47	Mississippi	$78,130	87.0	1,790	1.31×
48	North Dakota	$75,240	89.0	630	1.24×
49	Alabama	$73,660	88.8	2,060	0.83×
50	Louisiana	$69,610	88.2	3,000	1.31×
51	South Dakota	$65,680	88.6	410	0.77×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where speech-language pathologists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for speech-language pathologists

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	El Centro, CA	$133,760	95.2	70	0.94×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$132,720	110.4	890	0.67×
3	Boulder, CO	$131,620	105.2	320	1.40×
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$130,850	115.6	1,760	0.63×
5	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$127,470	107.8	160	0.65×
6	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$126,850	108.8	200	0.85×
7	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$126,360	106.7	1,030	0.81×
8	Vallejo, CA	$124,440	108.5	130	0.74×
9	Napa, CA	$123,870	112.6	50	0.56×
10	Salinas, CA	$122,770	109.0	200	0.92×
11	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$120,550	101.6	50	0.84×
12	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$119,690	111.9	1,590	0.88×
13	Pueblo, CO	$119,670	91.8	80	1.15×
14	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$118,670	109.9	110	0.97×
15	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$118,660	105.1	310	0.90×
16	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$118,560	106.4	2,120	1.05×
17	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$117,350	100.9	310	0.77×
18	Modesto, CA	$116,770	104.1	220	0.98×
19	Sherman-Denison, TX	$115,940	93.8	110	1.76×
20	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$115,560	108.6	100	0.70×
21	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$115,060	110.5	530	1.39×
22	Merced, CA	$114,220	98.3	100	1.05×
23	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$112,090	105.8	2,480	1.31×
24	Fresno, CA	$110,960	102.2	820	1.45×
25	Chico, CA	$110,720	101.2	130	1.38×
26	Grand Junction, CO	$110,360	95.5	120	1.46×
27	Yuba City, CA	$109,830	104.2	80	1.24×
28	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$109,740	113.6	4,800	0.65×
29	Bend, OR	$109,560	103.6	100	0.75×
30	Casper, WY	$109,540	93.8	40	0.77×
31	Fairbanks-College, AK	$108,700	103.2	40	1.04×
32	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$108,690	111.1	1,910	0.78×
33	Colorado Springs, CO	$108,140	100.7	710	1.91×
34	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$107,860	112.6	15,260	1.36×
35	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$107,650	105.4	1,140	0.80×
36	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$106,960	103.2	170	0.85×
37	Visalia, CA	$106,760	99.8	220	1.10×
38	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$106,290	98.1	2,860	1.88×
39	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$105,950	102.4	80	1.31×
40	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$104,510	100.2	960	0.72×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where speech-language pathologists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.