Median pay for speech-language pathologists runs from $51,920 in San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas to $133,760 in El Centro — a 2.58× range across 502 metropolitan areas. The national median of $97,870 sits inside that range but describes no particular market.
Ten per cent of speech-language pathologists earn below $62,900 and ten per cent above $134,160 — a 2.13× band. The upside from median to 90th percentile is 37%, which is a normal amount of room for experience and specialisation to matter. An offer below the 25th percentile is worth questioning; one above the 75th is worth taking seriously.
9 of the ten best-paying metros for speech-language pathologists are in CA. When one state dominates the top of the table like this, cost of living is doing part of the work but rarely all of it — state licensing rules, public-sector pay scales and the presence of a few large employers usually explain the rest. If you are comparing an offer in CA against one elsewhere, adjust for housing before concluding anything.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Centro CA | $133,760 | $64.31 | 0.94 | 70 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA | $132,720 | $63.81 | 0.67 | 890 |
| Boulder CO | $131,620 | $63.28 | 1.4 | 320 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA | $130,850 | $62.91 | 0.63 | 1,760 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma CA | $127,470 | $61.28 | 0.65 | 160 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara CA | $126,850 | $60.99 | 0.85 | 200 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom CA | $126,360 | $60.75 | 0.81 | 1,030 |
| Vallejo CA | $124,440 | $59.83 | 0.74 | 130 |
| Napa CA | $123,870 | $59.56 | 0.56 | 50 |
| Salinas CA | $122,770 | $59.02 | 0.92 | 200 |
| North Coast Region of California nonmetropolitan area | $122,210 | $58.75 | 0.67 | 90 |
| Hanford-Corcoran CA | $120,550 | $57.96 | 0.84 | 50 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad CA | $119,690 | $57.55 | 0.88 | 1,590 |
| Pueblo CO | $119,670 | $57.54 | 1.15 | 80 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville CA | $118,670 | $57.05 | 0.97 | 110 |
| Stockton-Lodi CA | $118,660 | $57.05 | 0.9 | 310 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario CA | $118,560 | $57.00 | 1.05 | 2,120 |
| Bakersfield-Delano CA | $117,350 | $56.42 | 0.77 | 310 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area | $117,000 | $56.25 | 0.68 | 50 |
| Modesto CA | $116,770 | $56.14 | 0.98 | 220 |
| Sherman-Denison TX | $115,940 | $55.74 | 1.76 | 110 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles CA | $115,560 | $55.56 | 0.7 | 100 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura CA | $115,060 | $55.32 | 1.39 | 530 |
| Merced CA | $114,220 | $54.91 | 1.05 | 100 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial CO | $112,090 | $53.89 | 1.31 | 2,480 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas PR | $51,920 | $24.96 | 0.11 | 90 |
| Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville FL | $60,000 | $28.85 | 1.07 | 310 |
| Southwest Louisiana nonmetropolitan area | $60,230 | $28.96 | 1.32 | 120 |
| Slidell-Mandeville-Covington LA | $60,790 | $29.23 | 2.62 | 300 |
| Hammond LA | $61,300 | $29.47 | 1.21 | 70 |
| East North Dakota nonmetropolitan area | $62,400 | $30.00 | 1.9 | 140 |
| Northwestern Pennsylvania nonmetropolitan area | $64,010 | $30.78 | 0.99 | 170 |
| East South Dakota nonmetropolitan area | $64,610 | $31.06 | 0.75 | 120 |
| Lake Charles LA | $64,720 | $31.11 | 1.77 | 210 |
| Baton Rouge LA | $65,020 | $31.26 | 1.26 | 610 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonesboro AR | $91,020 | $43.76 | 3.31 | 240 |
| Victoria TX | $95,950 | $46.13 | 3.12 | 140 |
| Slidell-Mandeville-Covington LA | $60,790 | $29.23 | 2.62 | 300 |
| Homosassa Springs FL | $99,170 | $47.68 | 2.58 | 110 |
| Greenville NC | $101,580 | $48.84 | 2.47 | 240 |
| Pocatello ID | $76,140 | $36.60 | 2.34 | 110 |
| Gadsden AL | $80,070 | $38.50 | 2.23 | 90 |
| Las Cruces NM | $102,850 | $49.45 | 2.15 | 200 |
| Bay City MI | $79,540 | $38.24 | 2.09 | 80 |
| Massachusetts nonmetropolitan area | $100,420 | $48.28 | 2.03 | 100 |
| Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway AR | $86,380 | $41.53 | 1.93 | 810 |
| Colorado Springs CO | $108,140 | $51.99 | 1.91 | 710 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | $107,860 | $51.86 | 1.36 | 15,260 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN | $98,490 | $47.35 | 1.34 | 7,150 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $109,740 | $52.76 | 0.65 | 4,800 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX | $99,540 | $47.86 | 1.01 | 4,800 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $100,400 | $48.27 | 0.97 | 3,780 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA-NH | $102,810 | $49.43 | 1.17 | 3,720 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | $100,080 | $48.12 | 0.97 | 3,330 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV | $99,960 | $48.06 | 0.85 | 3,140 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach FL | $101,590 | $48.84 | 0.88 | 2,930 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos TX | $106,290 | $51.10 | 1.88 | 2,860 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler AZ | $98,040 | $47.14 | 0.94 | 2,640 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI | $93,370 | $44.89 | 1.11 | 2,570 |
Figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme, May 2025 release, SOC code 29-1127. OEWS surveys employers, so it reports what is actually paid rather than what job advertisements claim, and it excludes the self-employed. Estimates cover 502 of 528 metropolitan areas — near-complete coverage, which means the ranges above are reliable rather than drawn from a handful of markets. Read the methodology.