How to calculate take-home pay as an SLP

First, did you find the job with us?

If you’re searching for a job inside our database, you can skip this entire article, because we do all this math for you, with every single job post!

How? 

• We ask employers all the right questions, and they're not allowed to auto-post or skip responses.

• We then run the math on each job.

   

Since our database is new (launched 2025), you'll still be browsing our jobs and elsewhere. Plus, some employers will never post with us because they've been blocked for low pay or misleading posts. So you still need to know how to judge job posts NOT on our site. We show you how, below!

If you’re looking outside Informed Jobs:

Step 1) Understand your contract type

Most of the time, you won't know what you’ll be paid by looking at the job post. Even when pay is disclosed, most jobs are very misleading. And before trying calculate pay, you’ll need to know:

a) What contract type you’re looking at, and

b) How you’re being classified (1099 vs W2)

➡️ IMPORTANT: Knowing that a job pays "$50/hour" isn’t enough information. A $50/hour job could yield under $50,000 per year to over $100,000 per year, both for full-time work. The details matter, a lot! So once you understand that and have collected those details, you're ready to: 

Step 2) Input details into a calculator to predict take-home pay

We’ve built a Pay Calculator to to help you with any job posted outside our database. It considers:

• 1099 vs W2, and the tax and write-off implications
• Employment benefits (401K, health insurance, etc.)
• Whether you’re paid for both direct and indirect services, or direct only
• And more, to get you as close as possible to being able to estimate the value of a job offer and take-home pay.

Find our Pay Calculator here, then compare it to other options here.

Step 3) Compare that to local and national norms

Now that you know what the true pay is for the job you’re considering, you’ll want to know if that’s normal. And “normal” will vary primarily by:

• Local cost of living
• Work setting
• Years of experience

Find SLP wage norms, here. Then visit our Career Advice page for additional helpful information for being on the SLP job market!