What is the average audiologist salary?

November 6, 2006 2:53 PM

Average Doctoral Audiologist salary?

My daughter will graduate from college in about six months with a doctorate in audiology and be board certified. It has taken her four grueling years to get this degree. She will be the only graduate student with this degree graduating in her state in 2007. What I am interested in finding out is what the starting salary for this type of degree will be. I ran across some internet statistics that range anywhere from three to six years old. Salary at that time at the upper level (doctoral degree, board certified) was around $72,000/year. Does anyone know what the current day salary would be? Her department chairman told her it could be $100,000/year. Does this seem correct?

posted by malhaley to work & money (7 answers total)

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Fact Sheet
posted by Aanidaani at 3:20 PM on November 6, 2006

Here's what the Bureau of Labor Statistics says in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. They don't differentiate between audiologists with doctorates vs. those with masters, though they note that more states are requiring the dr. degree.
posted by jessicak at 4:10 PM on November 6, 2006

Thanks for the links, I found those sites, are there any audiologists out there who can give me any info?
posted by malhaley at 4:35 PM on November 6, 2006

It might be helpful if you could identify the location where your daughter plans on working. Salaries in many occupations vary from place to place, and from country to country.
posted by gwenzel at 6:32 PM on November 6, 2006

As you note, audiologists are pretty rare, so there might not even be one on MeFi. Your daughter's department should be able to put her in touch with alums if she wants to talk to real live audiologists elsewhere.

I really don't know what you want though; it seems unlikely the salary would have changed more than any other job in three years. Don't expect that she will necessarily get $100,000, although of course it is possible.
posted by grouse at 11:57 PM on November 6, 2006

Thanks, she'll be working in Connecticut.
posted by malhaley at 2:43 AM on November 7, 2006

I'm not an audiologist, but I sleep with one.

My wife is an audiologist at a children's hospital here in the Midwest. She's been there 10 years and ran one of the largest Cochlear Implant departments in the country, published several research papers etc... I think the most she ever made was about 85k a year. She's part-time now raising our kids.

There is a big range in salaries, a non-profit Children's Hospital won't pay nearly as much as private practice. Working with an elderly population and dispensing hearing aids can be really lucrative if she wants a six-figure salary

I'm sure hospitals in Connecticut pay more, I'd guess she can expect maybe 50 grand a year starting salary in a hospital setting.

FYI, there aren't different "levels" of audiologists, they are all licensed/certified, and must graduate with an AuD (Doctor of Audiology)
posted by hilby at 7:27 AM on November 7, 2006