How to negotiate a raise as an SLP

Asking for a raise as a speech–language pathologist can feel intimidating—but negotiating an SLP raise doesn’t have to be complicated. Whether you work in a school district, hospital, SNF, or private practice, this guide breaks down how to ask for a pay raise with confidence, professionalism, and the right amount of prep. You’ll learn what to say, how to start the conversation, and how to improve your chances of a salary increase without spiraling into hours of overthinking.

The first thing you need to decide is this: Do you want the easy answer to this (under 5-minute version) or do you want the much-harder answer (which includes follow-up research), which may only slightly change your chances of getting a better raise?

Pick your preference, then let’s proceed!

The Easy Answer

The truth is, most SLPs delay or avoid asking for raises by overthinking it. You can spend hours upon hours strategizing and researching something that you may or may not be able to control, for a marginal change in results. Instead, this can be a five-minute task you do when you feel it’s time. Craft the email to your boss, six sentences max, structured like this:

• Intro
• Ask if there’s room for a raise (don’t give the number first)
• Express gratitude, with a comment or two about why you like the job or company.
• Signoff

… and be done with it. Don’t get long-winded; keep it under 200 words. Why?

• Half of the time, asking won’t change anything. More often than not, the reasons you can or can’t get a raise are completely out of your or your boss’s control. Your employer—whether at a school district, hospital, SNF, or private practice—has likely already calculated what they can afford to pay you, and usually they’re paying you pretty close to that.
• The other half of the time, you can get a raise with a quick ask and no “strategy” at all. For SLP jobs, there’s usually a range you could be within, and employers may be willing to bump you up a bit in order to keep you. So just ask and see what happens.

What if you’re trying to change their pay range? If you’re asking this, you’re ready for the more complicated answer. Being successful in changing your employer’s decision about an appropriate pay range for SLPs requires learning, research, and perspective-taking. The chance of this sort of pay increase is probably worth your time, but not everyone has the bandwidth.

Have you got the time? Then keep reading! If not, go send that email—doesn’t hurt!

The Complicated (but Highly Informed) Answer

The first step in getting a significant raise for yourself or your SLP peers is to get into your employer's headspace.

To be successful in negotiating a raise, SLPs need to recognize key realities about how companies operate. Many SLPs don’t have experience running a company and making wage decisions, so there is a gap in understanding how these processes work and the difficult decisions that employers often face. That gap is understandable and OK (not all SLPs need deep knowledge about this!), but for SLPs to negotiate, we need to acknowledge that there is information we don’t have visibility into.

Negotiation issues arise when employees make assumptions about their employer’s intentions, budgets, and available options. When we assume greed and approach negotiations with a me-vs-you attitude, it’s unlikely that we’ll get the outcome we are hoping for. When we extend good faith, acknowledge gaps in knowledge, and withhold assumptions, we are more likely to walk away with what we need.

With that crucial framing, we’ll cover the following topics:

• Budget
• Amount
• Rationale and Reasons
• Method
• Psychology and Strategy
• Alternatives to Raises
• and the Bottom Line

Budget

Traditional advice is to learn as much as you can about your company’s budget so you know whether to ask for a raise—and how much to ask for. That’s true. But it’s also true that you’ll never have the full picture. Ever. Even for nonprofits and publicly traded companies, public-facing budget documents are usually built to market and protect the organization more than to offer real transparency. It’s pretty “faux transparency,” so take what you can get—just don’t assume it’s complete.

All SLPs’ workplace budgets will be either:

• Completely immovable in the short-term:
  • In this case, there is a dollar range that somebody (or a whole team of somebodies, plus a board) has decided to pay people in your position. They can’t pay you outside that range this year for legal reasons. The only thing that’s negotiable is the future years’ range. This means you’re working a long game, and for all SLPs, not just yourself.
• Somewhat (or significantly) moveable in the short-term:
  • These are situations in which there is only one or two people between you and what you’re paid, and they can change what you're paid without a significant approval process.

Your goal is to know everything you can about the company’s budget and how giving you a raise will impact the company and its other employees, or other plans (expenses).  It’s very common for employees to think about compensation almost exclusively from their own vantage point, especially when they don’t have access to the full financial picture. But budgets are finite, meaning paying you more means paying somebody else less or paying less for something else. Increasing pay in one area requires adjustments elsewhere, whether that’s reallocating funds from another role, reducing spending in a different category, or changing the timing of other plans.

It’s easy to think that the employer limiting what you know as an employee is unethical. Sometimes it is. But excessive or absolute transparency are issues too. Not only is it often logistically impossible, but can be dangerous to both the company and its employees.

In sum: Recognize the information asymmetry at play, but learn what you can.

Amount

Before you decide what your numbers are going to be, you need to figure out—are you asking for market rate, or above market rate with your raise request?

“Market rate” means what SLPs in your setting, city, and with your years of experience are currently being paid on average, high and low. Unfortunately, getting to the bottom of what the true “market rate” is can be harder than you would imagine, as speech–language pathologists’ pay is uniquely misleading. We’ve built a ton of resources around this, so start here to get informed.

Once you identify the market rate, it may or may not be the number you want to see. Market rate isn’t what you “should” be paid, but what is happening with pay. Employers and SLPs often take this market rate, then thread it through their own perspective:

• SLPs think in terms of "fair pay", which includes self-value, the (ethical) value of SLPs to the world at large, career growth, living-wage needs, and non-SLP peer comparison.
• Employers additionally have to think in terms of company strategy and dollars. They dealing with the realities of reimbursement rates and state budgets, while making sure positions remain filled with competent people.

From an employer’s perspective, they don’t want to pay you below market rate because that could make it hard to fill the position if you leave. Healthy companies aren’t paying below-market rates unless they have other perks that keep people (like very low productivity or flexible schedules).

And on the flip side, why would they pay above market rate? You have to think carefully about what it is your employer wants. Do they want highly competent SLPs, because it’s crucial for the survival of their company? Do they want to ensure you don’t leave, because SLPs coming in and out is a problem for them? How do they weigh the value of an SLP against the value of all other people they staff? Ultimately, asking for a raise above market rate takes a slightly different strategy, where rationale and reasons are key (see next section).

Rationale and Reasons

To make a compelling case for a raise, it helps to understand how pay decisions usually get made. This isn’t because employers don’t care about you as a person—many do. It’s because even the kindest boss is still working inside constraints: budgets, pay bands, reimbursement rates, school board decisions, equity rules, and plain old cash flow. In practice, pay usually comes down to:

1. What your role typically pays in your market + what you bring to the organization.

   In practice, compensation is a mix of local SLP market rates and the value you create for the company or department (and sometimes, the mission impact you contribute to). If you’re asking for above market rate, you’ll need to connect the dots between keeping you and outcomes the organization cares about—financial stability, retention, quality, or mission.

2. Replacement risk and ripple effects.

   Employers weigh their options the same way you do. How hard would it be to replace you with another SLP? (Lucky for us, SLPs are hard to hire right now.) Would a “no” affect morale, turnover, or culture? Are there legal/equity constraints? What are the downsides of not adjusting your pay, or not adjusting it enough?

Given that framing, the most persuasive reasons tend to be the ones that show (kindly, clearly) how you go above and beyond in ways that help the organization and protect the team. You’re not arguing that you matter as a human (you do). You’re helping your employer justify a raise inside the constraints they have to answer to. Spend time asking your supervisors questions like:

“I want to make sure I’m really successful here. What are the things you would love to see me do or improve this year? What could I focus on that would help the company or our department the most? What could I focus on that would help YOU most?”

Find a way to understand the company’s priorities and perception of excellence before asking for a raise.

With those things in mind, here’s a list of things NOT to do:

• Don’t give your personal reasons for wanting a raise. Your bills and personal life are irrelevant to wage decisions. Not only that, it can be illegal for the employer to use as rationales. Keep your personal stuff private; be open about work-you, and more private about personal-you.
• Don’t assume the company’s financials. Saying things like, “I know the company is doing well…” when it’s actually not can put employers on the defensive. It’s both common and advised for employers to keep the company’s financial stressors private to minimize staff stress.
• Don’t over-weight tenure. “I’ve been here a long time” doesn’t matter much if your value to the company hasn’t also grown during that time. Unfortunately, insurance reimbursement doesn’t differ for an SLP who’s been working 2 years from one who’s been working 20. You will likely need to create increasing value to the company over time in order to see wage increases. Focus on your value, not your years. This can include things like mentoring other staff, bringing in clients by word of mouth, or having specialized expertise that creates demand.
• Don't wait until you're desperate, resentful, or angry. If you’re not calm when you ask, it tells the employer you’re already unhappy and it may be too late to get you to stay. Employers hesitate to throw money at someone who might be on their way out the door or actively damaging company culture due to their anger and resentment.
• Don't make ultimatums unless you mean them. Tell your employer if you intend to leave by a certain date if you can’t get the wage you want or need. Be kind and respectful, but clear. Employers need you to be clear about your needs, and almost every employer wishes their SLPs were more honest and direct, not less. Say something like, “My goal is to make (dollar amount) here within (time frame) by doing what I need to make it worth it to this company, because I love working here. If that’s not possible, please let me know, because (insert reasons you’d rather not leave).” Speaking like that to your employer is not a threat. It’s much-needed clarity for both parties.

Method

Most of the time this conversation should be started via email so that the employer can decide if the next steps are an email response, a live meeting, or both. And it’s always good for you to have a time-stamped record.

Psychology and Strategy

There. are. so. many. books about this. We’ve read many of them to save you the time. Here are the issues we see most commonly applying to SLPs:

1. Financial success as an employee requires doing what your employer values. But that’s not what SLPs are taught to do. Instead, we’re typically trained on: Client first, family second, me (SLP) third, employer last. And adding that employer need to the list can really complicate things. So how do you do it? First, recognize this doesn’t mean pleasing everyone, and it’s not about overextending yourself either. Instead, it’s about prioritizing what you do by cutting things that are less valuable to your employer, so that you’re able to excel. For example, are you a person who enjoys writing 4+ page evaluation reports with tons of detail because it makes you proud, and you think it’s the right thing to do? That’s great. But if your employer doesn’t care about these evaluation reports, and the only person who wants something other than a 1-page report is you, it’s time to stop spending so much time writing them.
2. A raise negotiation isn’t a debate. If you think of your goal as “winning,” you’re already cooked. Inevitably, this will put your employer in the situation of “losing,” and no human likes that feeling. Extract information; don’t debate. You have your reasons why you think you deserve a raise, and they have their reasons why they haven’t given you one. The point of the negotiation isn’t to battle out who’s “right.” Rather, it’s better to think of your goals during a raise negotiation as follows:
   • Demonstrating the ways in which you’ve achieved what your employer wants and went even further than what they expected from you.
   • Asking more questions about what they want and expect, and what their true financial limits are. You’re making plans together.
3. Some employers treat negotiating like a game; others do not. Some employers think it’s normal for pay to be a negotiation game. In their minds, the employer holds the cards, and the employee has to be savvy enough to negotiate for the highest pay possible. They want to write “70,000+” on the job post, not “70,000–90,000,” which is the actual range they’re prepared to pay. These employers are trying to get you to accept as little as possible. Other employers prioritize wage transparency and equity. They’re honest with you from the get-go and tell you straight-up what they’re paying. With these employers, your negotiation skills do matter, but less, because they have tight, deeply thought-through rules around what they pay people. They often create these rules to protect their staff from needing to play negotiating games. Which employer do you have? You’re about to find out! You should always ask for more money, and you’ll figure out quickly how things work at your company. Just know that declining a raise doesn’t mean the employer doesn’t value you; it can actually mean they were simply more honest with you about pay from the get-go.
4. Extend good faith to those you are negotiating with. Spot-check your headspace before entering negotiations and remind yourself that your employer is coming to the table with their own goals and priorities (they’re human, too!). It’s easy to slip into an “me vs. them” mentality, but this will only harm your ability to negotiate. The most successful negotiations take place when both parties respect each other and are aligned towards a common goal. You may have disagreements, frustrations, and differing opinions and values with your employer, but you’ll need to set them aside to negotiate successfully. Employers can tell if you like/trust them or not (or if instead you think they’, just like you can tell when people don’t like or trust you. If you think your employer is evil, incompetent, greedy, crazy and/or rich, they will sense it, and it can harm your ability to grow at that company. We’re not telling you to kowtow to gross employers, nor stay at places that are bad. Just check your headspace– ask yourself what goals you do share with your employer (e.g., “We both want this company to stay afloat,” or “We both want me to be satisfied in my role”), and continually reorient towards them.

5. There isn’t a hard and fast rule about “who should say a number first” during a negotiation. Most good wage negotiation advice says it’s best to let the employer give the first number, so that you get more information about their perspective, and so you don’t accidentally lowball yourself. But the flip side to that is that an open-ended ask is also more work for the employer. Unless they already have a tight and defined range to work within, they have to spend more time running a wider range of numbers and non-wage comp and perk scenarios in order to prepare for discussions with you. It helps them the more they know about what it is that you want and would accept.

   Whoever goes first with that number, by the end of the back-and-forth conversation, you need to be clear about what you want or need, with dollars, details, and timelines. Anything left open-ended may cause the employer to assume you’re “unhappy” in general, and they won’t be clear on how to solve that. This is a risk to you because they’ll start assuming you’re on your way out the door and start creating backup plans for that. Your employer is tracking satisfaction because it’s what causes people to leave companies or create problems for company culture, far more than absolute dollars. Clarity here protects you.

6. Keep in mind that everybody at your company wants more money, regardless of what they’re paid now. This is known as the "hedonic treadmill.” Applied to compensation, it’s the phenomenon where rising income raises expectations rather than satisfaction. Even the highest-paid people at your company think they should be paid more—guarantee it! And this isn’t (at all) to discourage you from asking for more, but instead to help you realize that most people at your company are also asking for more. Knowing this helps put you in the employers’ headspace.
7. Avoid burning bridges. The SLP world is small, and the further you get in your career the smaller it’ll feel. You choose your boundaries, but always leave amicably, if possible.
8. Finally, get clear on your priorities and what you want out of your SLP career. Make sure you know what you can make elsewhere and ensure your numbers are correct. Then proceed with confidence! 

Consider the full contract

We can’t wrap this up without making sure to remind you that there’s more to your contract than pay. That “more” is all the things Informed Jobs require in job posts! In addition to wages, make sure you’re considering other contract changes that could help, like:

Financial:

• Licensure and CCCs reimbursement
• Professional development stipends or reimbursement
• Stipends for mentoring CFs or SLPAs

Less-financial or non-financial:

• Time release for professional development
• Change in hours or a more flexible schedule
• Reduced productivity expectations or more (or a different type) of breaks. For example, many people feel 15 minutes is not a “break”. They want 30+ minutes or nothing. So consolidating multiple 15 minute breaks into fewer 30-minute ones can make an intolerable day tolerable.
• Limits to how far you must travel for clients
• Someone else to do scheduling for you
• Holidays off or more PTO
• And so much more…

Sometimes you need more money per paycheck, period. But other times, the money you’re making would be fine if the job were less stressful or more fulfilling to you personally. So make sure you consider all those “other” things you could ask for, too. We interview employers deeply for each of our jobs, so get ideas from the jobs in our database.

Common Questions

We’re trying to predict the questions you’ll have, but email us if you have others!

Does asking for a raise make me look greedy or bad to my employer?

Mostly no. Decent employers are pretty immune to reacting emotionally when you ask for a raise, because they’ve had a lot of practice at it. Just like med SLPs don’t react to saliva and school SLPs don’t react to squealing or sticky hands.

The only things that could start to impact your chances are asking often (like annually) or aggressively (like >30% raise), which may cause them to think you’re a flight risk. But good employers recognize that the majority of employees don’t have access to a business’s bottom line or breaking point, and therefore don’t mind what you ask for or how, because they know it would be unfair to judge you for it.

What do I do if they say no?

Well first, what do you want to do?

• If you are going to leave, do that, but make sure you know your numbers and what you can get elsewhere before doing it. It’s common for SLPs to take misleading contracts thinking they’re leaving to make more by leaving, but end up making less at their next job. Get prepared by working your way through our pay and contract basics articles first.
• If you are not going to leave, but just wanted more pay, you need more information. Ask your employer what would justify a raise for your role. The employer needs to be honest with you about your performance and earnings potential. It’s a red flag if they aren’t.

Shouldn’t I be getting an annual cost of living raise or adjustment?

We wish! From am employee’s perspective, it’s frustrating when your paycheck buys less each year through no fault of your own. Watching your real wages shrink while you're working just as hard (or harder) is demoralizing and can feel unfair. While wages should keep pace with inflation they don’t for the following reasons:

• In the United States, there are generally no federal laws requiring private employers to provide cost-of-living adjustments or any annual raises. If it’s not in your contract, it might not happen.
• Giving raises can be labor-intensive for small employers. It takes dozens of hours (or more) to run numbers accurately, annually, in order to keep giving cost-of-living increases to everyone. In small practices, you’re much more likely to get raises every few years than annually, because it’s harder to do it safely. These jumps though, when they come, should be bigger because they’re not annual.
• COL increases require a (somewhat) predictable economy and inflation, with predictable business growth. In order for your employer to be able to commit to paying you a rising % more each year, they also have to be certain that their expenses and profits will change by that % (or more) each year, too. Otherwise they’re COL-adjusting the business into a hole. And all businesses aren’t the same– while your cost of living increases, their business expenses may also be increasing, and those aren’t always at the exact same rate. Some businesses really suffer in certain economies, while others soar. It varies by industry, year, and company. If it seems like your employer is insensitive to the fact that your bills are higher or unpredictable, it’s probably because the company’s are too.

Should I be getting a raise when I go from CF-SLP to CCC-SLP?

That depends. Employers pay SLPs one of two ways:

1. They under-pay CFs because they’re new and have to be supervised. In this case, expect a raise.
2. They pay CFs the same as they would any other SLP starting at their practice. In this case, you’re already being paid the SLP rate, so expect raises when the SLPs get raises.

Just ask which one they do before you sign your contract, and if they say they do (1), get that raise in writing.

Is it a red flag if I have to ask for a raise? Shouldn't I just be given raises?

Yes. But there's some "but"s here:

• If you're a contractor (1099) instead of employee (W2) the employer can't and shouldn't be offering you raises. It's literally your job to request contract increases. This is part of the relationship classification of contractors.
• If you're an employee (W2) the right thing to do is to have a tight structure and rules around raises, and for your employer to tell you you're eligible without you having to ask. But some employers just don't think this way. And it doesn't even make them "bad" employers, they just assume raise negotiation is in your hands, not theirs.