|
Between June and November of 2011, 1,575 speech-language pathologists and audiologists took the 2011 ADVANCE Salary Survey. We are pleased to announce that we have the results!
Before we get to the national numbers, we would like to extend our thanks to everyone who took the time to submit their information in 2011. It seems that salary statistics were a great point of interest for many of you: the total number of participants in last year's survey increased more than 40 percent over the total from 2010, when only 891 clinicians took the survey. An increase in participation means that we are able to bring you results that better represent the professions overall. We will launch the 2012 ADVANCE Salary Survey this spring, so please come back and help us double the number of last year's participants!
The 2011 Salary Survey included new questions based on reader feedback from the previous year, and we will do the same for the 2012 survey. (This article contains remarks on the national results of our survey. To view regional breakdowns, please click the "View the 2011 Salary Survey Results" link on the left. Note: You may be asked to input certain information in order to access the results.)
The majority of speech-language pathology respondents (22.5 percent) reported earning between $50,001 and $60,000. More than 19 percent earn between $60,001 and $70,000, and 17.2 percent earn between $40,001 and $50,000. Slightly behind that is the group that makes between $70,001 and $80,000 (15.8 percent).
Eight percent reported incomes of $80,001 to $90,000, 4.92 percent earn between $90,001 and $100,000, and 2.49 percent take in over $100,000. A total of 5.5 percent earn $30,001 to $40,000, and a little more than 3 percent make less than $30,000.
Twenty-nine audiologists also participated in the survey. More than 27 percent reported incomes of $50,001 to $60,000, and 24.14 percent earn $70,001 to $80,000. Over 17 percent take home between $60,001 and $70,000, and just over 10 percent make $80,001 to $90,000. One reported an income of $30,001 to $40,000, four earn between $40,001 and $50,000, and one makes more than $100,000.
Bonuses in either field were rare, with only 14.9 percent of respondents indicating they received one.
Of the 1,363 speech-language pathologists who participated in the survey, 95.8 percent of the respondents were female. About the same number of women (29.55 percent) and men (30.7 percent) with one to five years of experience reported making the national average salary of $50,001-$60,000. However, another 26.9 percent of male respondents who have been in the profession one to five years earn $70,001-$80,000, compared to just 9.5 percent of female respondents with the same amount of experience.
Thirty percent of respondents reported a loss in salary or benefits.
More than 64 percent of respondents said their employers offer full health insurance coverage, and 11.68 percent of employers offer partial coverage. Twenty percent of respondents are on their spouse's or partner's health plan, and just over 4 percent said their employers offer no insurance plan.
More than half (57 percent) of the survey respondents worked overtime, but only 18.7 percent were compensated for the extra time they put in.
Curious as to what the average caseload is for your peers? The numbers were close, but most clinicians (24.5 percent) have caseloads of 21 to 40, followed by 41 to 60 (23.05 percent) and 11 to 20 (22 percent). Fewer numbers reported caseloads of less than 10 (13 percent), 61 to 80 (9 percent), over 100 (1.27 percent), and 81 to 100 (1.3 percent).
The majority of respondents were speech-language pathologists (86.5 percent) or in the field of speech-language pathology, including positions such as director of communication disorders, director of rehabilitation, director of speech education, and director of speech-language pathology.
Audiology respondents comprised just 2.09 percent of the total. Of those, 29 were audiologists, and four were directors of audiology.
More than half of the survey respondents have a master's of science degree (55 percent), while 36 percent have a master's of arts. Just 1.6 percent have a PhD, and only 1.4 percent have an AuD. Others listed their degree as doctor of education, master's of public health, doctorate of speech-language pathology, and doctor of audiology (DA).
The majority of respondents (86.6 percent) work full-time. Nearly one-fourth (23.3 percent) also work a second job in speech-language pathology or audiology, while 6.4 percent have a second job outside of the professions.
More than three-fourths of respondents have just one employer, while 23.8 percent have more than one.
A quarter of the respondents work in the Middle Atlantic Region, which is comprised of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The least populated area was the Mountain Region, a new addition to the 2011 survey. Only 15 respondents (0.95 percent) lived in Idaho, Montana, Nevada or Wyoming.
The speech-language pathology and audiology fields remain young, with the majority of respondents indicating that they have been in the professions one to five years (32.3 percent). More than 15 percent have six to 10 years of experience, 13.7 percent have 11-15 years, and 10.2 percent have 16 to 20 years. A total of 4.76 percent have been in the professions more than 35 years.
The majority of respondents (88.8 percent) did not stop working for any amount of time between 2010 and 2011, and 11.6 percent of those who had been away returned to the field.
Most respondents (44.3 percent) work in the schools. Less than a third (32 percent) are contract workers, while a fourth are independent.
More than three-quarters of the respondents take work home with them.
Most respondents (36.6 percent) have no budget for therapy tools, but 14.16 percent have $101-$200 to spend, and 10.4 percent have more than $500 at their disposal for materials.
When asked about job satisfaction, the majority (55 percent) responded they were "somewhat satisfied" and a third said they were "very satisfied."
One survey question asked, "If working in a classroom setting, how do teachers react to your presence overall?" More than 27 percent of respondents described their experience with teachers as being "a mixed bag," and nearly 21 percent indicated teachers are "very supportive" of their presence and they have a collaborative or team-based teaching model.
Most respondents (43.81 percent) selected the "Other" response to this question, indicating that the available options were not sufficient in expressing their perception of teacher acceptance. In the future we will share some of the comments that readers left in response to this question, which proved to be controversial and complex.
Jason Mosheim is Managing Editor of ADVANCE. He can be contacted at jmosheim@advanceweb.com.
|