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Speech Pathologist: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of speech pathologists earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$97,870
Hourly
$47.05
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Speech Pathologists assess and treat persons with speech, language, voice, and fluency disorders. The median pay is $97,870 a year ($47.05 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a master's degree (89% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$97,870
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
183,390
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 5 of 5
extensive preparation
Most common education
Master's Degree
89% of workers

Data Government data groups this job as Speech-Language Pathologists (O*NET-SOC 29-1127.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Explore the role

Every page for Speech Pathologists

SalarySpeech Pathologist salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomeSpeech Pathologist how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

Open →ResumeSpeech Pathologist resume

Keywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.

Open →Career changeSpeech Pathologist career change

Where these skills transfer, with skill match and pay change.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

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The work

What speech pathologists do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Monitor patients' progress and adjust treatments accordingly.
  2. 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.
  3. Educate patients and family members about various topics, such as communication techniques or strategies to cope with or to avoid personal misunderstandings.
  4. Supervise or collaborate with therapy team.
  5. 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.
  6. Teach clients to control or strengthen tongue, jaw, face muscles, or breathing mechanisms.
  7. Instruct clients in techniques for more effective communication, such as sign language, lip reading, or voice improvement.
  8. Consult with and advise educators or medical staff on speech or hearing topics, such as communication strategies or speech and language stimulation.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Social PerceptivenesscoreReading ComprehensioncoreActive ListeningcoreCritical ThinkingWritingSpeakingLearning StrategiesInstructingComplex Problem Solving

Knowledge areas: English Language, Education and Training, Customer and Personal Service, Psychology, Therapy and Counseling, Administrative.

Tools and technology

Software speech pathologists use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • eClinicalWorks EHR softwareMedical softwareHot technology
  • Adobe AuditionMusic or sound editing software
  • Apple Logic ProMusic or sound editing software
  • Avaaz Innovations AphasiaMateMedical software
  • Avaaz Innovations Computerized Speech Research Environment CSREAnalytical or scientific software
  • Avaaz Innovations Interactive Voice Analysis System IVANSMedical software
  • Biofeedback softwareMedical software
  • Bungalow Software Aphasia TutorMedical software
  • DropboxCloud-based data access and sharing software
  • ELR Software eLr Extra Language ResourcesMedical software
  • KayPENTAX Multi-SpeechMedical software
  • KayPENTAX NasometerMedical software

Also called: Speech Language Pathologist, Speech Therapist, Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist (Bilingual SLP), Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist (Pediatric SLP), Speech and Language Clinician, Speech and Language Specialist, Speech and Language Teacher, Speech and Language Therapist.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).