how much can a speech therapist earn

Average Salaries for Speech Therapists by State (2022)

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On average, speech therapists earn about $96,000 per year in the United States in 2022. This number is affected by where you work and how many years of experience you have. Entry-level speech therapist salaries average around $66,000, while speech therapists with 20 years of experience report average earnings of $100,000 or more.

Data collected by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association shows that speech therapists working in health care positions typically earn more than speech therapists working in education. Likewise, administrative and supervisor roles pay more than clinical service provider positions.

Speech therapists are also likely to earn more if they work in large cities and in certain states. Top-paying areas for speech therapists in 2020 included California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois.

Careers in Speech Therapy

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are graduate-level professionals who have earned a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP). In order to earn the CCC-SLP, speech therapists must first complete graduate coursework, a clinical practicum, and pass a national exam.

SLPs work with clients struggling with speech, language, voice, or fluency problems.

Once speech therapists are certified, they can work in a variety of settings, including education, health care, and research. They can also work in private practice but will most likely always be part of an interdisciplinary team established to help their clients. Speech therapists frequently collaborate with teachers, parents, doctors, audiologists, psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, and rehabilitation counselors to ensure that their clients are receiving the comprehensive care they need.

Average Speech Therapy Salary

While the average speech therapy salary in the United States is about $96,000 per year, or $51 per hour, exact salary numbers vary based on a number of factors, such as employment setting, job position, geographic location, and years of experience. Speech therapists working in health care settings, for example, tend to earn more than speech therapists working in educational settings.

According to 2021 data collected by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the annual salaries of SLPs working in health care positions were as follows:

• $97,616 for administrators or supervisors
• $77,000 in outpatient clinics or offices
• $91,000 in skilled nursing facilities
• $78,000 for SLPs who were primarily clinicians
• $64,000 for SLPs with one to three years of experience
• $95,000 for SLPs with 31 or more years of experience

According to 2020 data on speech-language pathologists working in school settings, the average speech therapist salaries were as follows:

• $66,000 for SLPs working 9 or 10 months
• $80,000 for SLPs working 11 or 12 months
• $63,000 for clinical service providers in preschools
• $75,000 for clinical service providers in secondary schools

Speech Therapy Salary by State

Data collected by ASHA shows that speech therapists earn higher average salaries in some states than in others. California, for example, reported the highest average salary for SLPs in school settings, at $95,000 per year in 2020. North Carolina, on the other hand, reported the lowest average salary at $54,060. Overall, average academic salaries are higher in Pacific states, at about $90,000 per year.

Speech therapist salaries in health care settings tend to be higher in the western U.S. According to ASHA, the average salary for an SLP in 2021 in the West was $90,000, up 5K from 2019. Salaries were lower in the Northwest at $79,830.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), these are the top-paying states for SLPs:

• California: $102,650 per year
• Hawaii: $100,120 per year
• New York: $98,850 per year
• New Jersey: $98,270 per year
• District of Columbia: $98,240 per year

These are the states with the highest concentration of speech therapy jobs and their respective salaries as of 2019:

• Colorado: $93,460 per year
• Illinois: $82,590 per year
• Vermont: $84,290 per year

Top Cities for Speech Therapists

In general, speech therapists who work in urban settings earn higher average salaries than speech-language pathologists in more remote work settings. Just as some states offer more lucrative opportunities for speech therapists, so do some cities.

According to June 2022 data provided by Indeed, these are the highest paying cities for speech therapists:

• Los Angeles, CA: $104,745 per year
• Chicago, IL: $103,612 per year
• Denver, CO: $101,561 per year
• Queens, NY: $100,049 per year
• Houston, TX: $97,591 per year
• Bronx, NY: $95,225 per year
• Las Vegas, NV: $94,017 per year
• Easton, PA: $84,999 per year

Popular Companies for Speech Therapists

Companies that employ speech therapists include large corporations, nonprofit organizations, and community clinics. Selecting the right company for you depends on your personal goals, such as working full-time, part-time, as a direct care provider, or as an administrator or supervisor.

Here is a selection of top-rated companies on Indeed for speech therapists in the U.S.:

• First Choice Home Care
• JayCare Therapy
• Dynamicare Health, Inc.
• CareMeridian

Therapists report that they enjoy working at the above companies because of the excellent work environments, outside-of-the box thinking, professional work etiquette, and care for both clients and employees.

In many positions, SLPs are able to set their own schedules, and companies are supportive of their employees receiving further education and training.

Job Growth & Future Expectations

The BLS predicts that the field of speech-language pathology will see 27% job growth from 2018 to 2028, which is much higher than the national average job growth rate.

An increased number of SLPs will be needed across the country to work with the aging baby boomer population and young children with speech disorders who are becoming more widely identified.

Rising rates of autism around the country also contribute to the increased need for speech therapists. Often, SLPs work with children on the spectrum to improve their communication and social skills.

• 2020 Schools Survey: SLP Annual Salaries and Hourly Wages . American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
• Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2019: Speech-Language Pathologists . U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• SLP Health Care 2021 Survey: Annual Salary Report . American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
• Speech-Language Pathologists . American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
• Speech-Language Pathologists: Job Outlook . U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Speech Therapist . Indeed.

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Speech-Language Pathologist Salary

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How Much Does a Speech-Language Pathologist Make?

Salary outlook, best-paying cities for speech-language pathologists, the 5 best-paying cities for speech-language pathologists.

Best-Paying States for Speech-Language Pathologists

The states and districts that pay Speech-Language Pathologists the highest mean salary are Hawaii ($110,470), California ($108,960), District of Columbia ($105,360), New York ($104,240), and New Jersey ($102,200).

Average Speech-Language Pathologist Pay vs. Other Best Jobs

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Trusted Health Blog

Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) Salary Guide

Speech-language pathologists specialize in evaluating and treating conditions that affect one’s ability to speak and swallow. Speech-language pathologists are also called speech therapists, or abbreviated as SLPs. Their work helps people improve and regain functions related to speech, language, vocalization, communication, swallowing, and more.  

In this guide, we’ll discuss the average salary, how to find the highest-paying speech therapist jobs, how to maximize your SLP pay, and more.   

This rewarding career path is needed in all 50 states, and demand is only projected to grow. Check out Trusted’s Speech-Language Pathologist Career Guide to learn how to get started in this rewarding career path. Now, let’s talk about speech and language pathologist salary.  

How Much Does a Speech Pathologist Make?

The average speech pathologist salary is $89,290 annually, or $42.93 per hour.  

• The highest-earning 10% of SLPs earn $129,930 annually or more, which is approximately $62.47 per hour. 
• The lowest earning 10% of SLPs earn approximately $57,910 annually, equal to $27.84 per hour.  

What Type of Speech Pathologist Makes the Most Money?

Your speech-language pathologist salary will vary depending on the environment you work in. SLPs have the flexibility to work in a wide variety of healthcare settings. Currently, the highest-paid speech therapists work in: 

• Civic and social organizations- $130,620 per year
• Home health care services- $121,410 per year
• Management- $112,110 per year
• Child care services- $109,110
• Skilled nursing facilities- $108,640

Here are even more types of speech pathologist work settings and the average salaries for each: 

• Specialty hospitals- $105,830 per year
• General hospitals- $ 98,790 per year
• Healthcare offices- $96,540 per year
• Education and schools- $83,720 per year

Speech-language pathologists are skilled healthcare providers needed in a wide variety of clinical environments. Each work setting allows you to specialize in a certain area of speech therapy, allowing you to gain experience, grow your skillset, and increase your salary as a speech-language pathologist. 

Speech-Language Pathologist Salary by Experience

To be a speech-language pathologist, you must have a master’s degree in speech pathology. Additionally, SLPs must be state-licensed and nationally certified through the American Speech-Langage-Hearing Association (ASHA). 

What is a speech pathologist salary with a master’s degree? Since all speech pathologists hold master's degrees, the wages of master’s prepared SLPs are the same as those listed above. Here’s a brief review: 

• The average speech pathologist salary with a master’s degree is $89,290.  
• The highest earning 10% of SLPs earn $129,930. 
• The lowest earning 10% of SLPs earn $57,910 annually.  

On average, it can take six years or more to earn a master’s degree and get started in speech therapy. First, a bachelor’s degree is needed, which takes approximately four years. After that, your next step is a master’s degree, which takes an average of two years to complete. 

How much does an SLP make as they gain experience? 

As you gain experience in speech and language pathology, you can expect your salary to increase. The number of years worked in this field will translate to higher pay. Learning advanced skills, expanding your expertise, and moving into leadership and management roles are great ways to earn more. 

What are the Top-Paying States for Speech-Language Pathologists?

The top-paying states for SLPs , by average yearly salary, are:

• California- $112,030 per year
• Washington, DC- $111,110 per year
• Colorado- $107,780 per year
• Hawaii- $106,790 per year
• New Jersey- $102,820 per year

SLP pay varies by geographic region and location. In general, areas of the country with higher costs of living pay more than areas with lower costs of living. Larger, urban cities tend to pay more than smaller, rural ones. 

SLP Salary Range Considerations:

Many other factors affect speech-language pathologist pay, including work setting and location. Obtaining voluntary certification can unlock opportunities for career advancement, increase job mobility, and boost earning potential. 

• The Speech-Language Pathology Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC-SLP) is an additional certification that SLPs can obtain to showcase their dedication and expertise.  

Don’t forget that gaining experience, taking on additional responsibilities, growing your skills, and expanding into leadership or management roles are all great ways to increase your speech therapy salary in addition to certification. 

What is the Job Outlook Like for SLPs?

Speech and language pathology has an impressive 19% projected growth rate over the next ten years! This is much faster than average compared to all professions, with an expected 33,100 additional speech therapists needed to meet demand by 2032. 

As healthcare needs continue to grow, the demand for skilled and experienced speech therapists will only increase. Staff and travel SLPs will be needed to fill this gap, and becoming a travel SLP is one of the most effective ways to increase your speech therapist salary. 

Travel SLP Salary

Trusted Health's current median travel speech therapist salary is $2130 weekly. Working at this rate for 50 weeks annually would net you approximately $106,500 annually!

Travel speech therapists are expert healthcare providers who can work in a wide range of SLP roles with minimal orientation and guidance. Consequently, travel SLP pay is often higher than SLP pay. Travel SLPs are experts in their field and can hit the ground running to ensure patients’ healthcare needs are promptly met despite regional staffing shortages.

Find a Speech-Language Pathologist Job with Trusted Health

Taking your skills on the road as a travel speech-language pathologist is a great way to maximize your earning potential! It is also an excellent way to see the United States, enjoy new experiences, and expand your speech-therapist career. 

Trusted Health proudly offers the industry’s highest-paying travel SLP jobs, outstanding benefits, and unmatched clinical support. Becoming an allied health traveler is the start of the adventure of a lifetime, and Trusted Health is here for you every step of the way. 

Get started by searching our current travel speech language pathologist jobs today!  

Lindsey is a nurse with over 15 years of experience in pediatric intensive care and pediatrics. She has worked as a staff nurse, charge nurse, and travel nurse, and is now beginning a role in quality assurance nursing. She is also a freelance writer at her own business, L&L Copywriting. Lindsey lives in Alaska, and when she's not writing or nursing, you can find her out in the mountains- skiing, mountain biking, hiking, fishing, and exploring the Alaskan wilderness.

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Speech Therapist salary

Average speech therapist salary, how much does a speech therapist make.

The average speech therapist salary in the United States is $70,411. Speech therapist salaries typically range between $52,000 and $93,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for speech therapists is $33.85 per hour. Speech therapist salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Speech therapists earn the highest average salary in California.

Where can a Speech Therapist earn more?

• Speech Therapist

A speech therapist with 0-2 years of experience earns an average entry-level salary of $67,223. A mid-career speech therapist with 3-6 years of experience makes $70,411 a year on average. A senior level speech therapist with 7-12 years of experience enjoys an average annual salary of $78,070. According to Ronda Walker , Associate Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders at Longwood University, "Start before you even start your first job. You must negotiate. Check to see what comparable salaries are in the area and in the setting before you even go in for the interview. Have a range in mind. Once you are in the job. Keep up with continuing education and professional development."

Speech Therapist salary estimates from across the web

Average speech therapist salary by state.

The highest-paying states for speech therapists are California, Virginia, and New Jersey. The lowest average speech therapist salary states are Tennessee, Nebraska, and Arizona.

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Highest paying states for speech therapists

Highest paying cities for speech therapists.

The highest-paying cities for speech therapists are Richmond, CA, Arlington, VA, and Springfield, MO.

Speech Therapist salary details

A speech therapist's salary ranges from $52,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $93,000 at the 90th percentile.

What is a speech therapist's salary?

Highest paying speech therapist jobs.

The highest paying types of speech therapists are occupational therapist, speech/language therapist, and speech-language pathologist teacher.

Top companies hiring speech therapists now:

• Aya Healthcare Jobs (11)
• Aegis Therapies Jobs (14)
• Dignity Health Jobs (5)
• Amedisys Jobs (12)
• Momentum Pediatric Therapy Network Jobs (4)

Which companies pay speech therapists the most?

Speech therapist salaries at Ohio's Hospice of Dayton and Aya Healthcare are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average speech therapist salary at companies like Therapy Source and Chapters Health System are highly competitive.

Wage gap by gender, race and education

Speech therapist salary trends.

The average speech therapist salary has risen by $9,956 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average speech therapist earned $60,455 annually, but today, they earn $70,411 a year. That works out to a 8% change in pay for speech therapists over the last decade.

Compare speech therapist salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average speech therapist salary over time

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Speech Therapist salary by year

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Speech language pathologist salary

The average salary for a speech language pathologist in the United States is around $79,060 per year.

Speech language pathologists earn an average yearly salary of $ 79,060 . Wages typically start from $ 51,310 and go up to $ 125,560 .

26 % above national average ● Updated in 2021

Speech language pathologist earnings by seniority

Top-level speech language pathologist earnings begin at :.

$ 60.36 per hour

$ 125,560 per year

Senior-level speech language pathologist earnings begin at :

$ 48.18 per hour

$ 100,200 per year

Mid-level speech language pathologist earnings begin at :

$ 38.01 per hour

$ 79,060 per year

Junior-level speech language pathologist earnings begin at :

$ 29.79 per hour

$ 61,970 per year

Starting level speech language pathologist earnings begin at :

$ 24.67 per hour

$ 51,310 per year

Approximate values based on highest and lowest earning segments.

Speech language pathologist salary by state

How do speech language pathologist salaries compare to similar careers.

Speech language pathologists earn about the same as related careers in the United States. On average, they make less than physical therapists but more than registered dietitian.

Source: CareerExplorer (Aggregated)

Speech Pathologist Assistant Salary in the United States

Speech pathologist assistant salary.

How much does a Speech Pathologist Assistant make in the United States? The average Speech Pathologist Assistant salary in the United States is $94,794 as of April 24, 2024, but the salary range typically falls between $85,922 and $104,486 . Salary ranges can vary widely depending on many important factors, including education , certifications, additional skills, the number of years you have spent in your profession. With more online, real-time compensation data than any other website, Salary.com helps you determine your exact pay target.

Speech Pathologist

Barstow Community Hospital - Barstow, CA

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Day Treatment Program - , NY

Speech Language Pathologist

Tilly - , PA

Cortica - Irvine, CA

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Speech Pathologist Assistant

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• Speech Pathologist/Speech- Fellow Day Treatment Program - , NY Speech Pathologist /Clinical Fellow. Private Non-Profit Therapeutic School in Westchester County, servicing students 3-21. Requirements: MASTERS TSSLD / Cl... - 26 Days Ago
• Speech Language Pathologist Tilly - , PA Are you interested in helping children receive the education and care they deserve. Tilly is looking for dedicated, compassionate Speech Language Pathologi... - 11 Days Ago
• Speech Language Pathologist Cortica - Irvine, CA Cortica is looking for a full-time Speech Language Pathologist to join its growing multi-disciplinary team. We are a rapidly growing healthcare company pio... - 17 Days Ago
• Speech Language Pathologist Childs Play Therapy Services - Lafayette, CA About Childs Play Therapy Services. Child's Play Therapy Services, PC, is an award-winning multidisciplinary pediatric clinic located in downtown Lafayette... - 22 Days Ago

What does a Speech Pathologist Assistant do?

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How Trump’s guilty verdict will impact the 2024 presidential election

Scandals have swirled around former President Donald Trump since his first presidential campaign in 2016. But as of Thursday — having been found guilty on all counts in his New York hush-money case — he is now officially a convicted felon. Could that fact cut through all the other headlines and be a game-changer for the 2024 election?

At first glance, there's some evidence from polls that this conviction will meaningfully erode Trump's support. An April survey from CNN/SSRS found that, while 76 percent of Trump supporters said they would support Trump regardless, 24 percent said they "might reconsider" their support for him if he was convicted. And a May poll from Emerson College found that 25 percent of voters said a guilty verdict in New York would make them less likely to vote for Trump.

A few pollsters have also asked two versions of the standard "who will you vote for?" question in recent weeks : one straightforward one, and one that asked respondents who they would vote for if Trump was convicted in the New York case. On average, Trump went from leading by 1 percentage point in these polls without considering the conviction to trailing by 6 points with it.

But Democrats would be wise to not get too excited about these numbers. Take another look at the wording of the CNN/SSRS poll: Twenty-four percent of Trump supporters said they "might reconsider" their vote. That's not the same as "will definitely change" their vote! In light of this conviction, many Trump supporters might simply have a crisis of confidence about their vote without outright switching to President Joe Biden.

That's basically what another poll from ABC News/Ipsos found. Like CNN/SSRS, they asked Trump supporters what they would do if Trump was convicted in the New York case, but they provided options for both "reconsider" and "no longer support." Sixteen percent said they would reconsider supporting Trump, but only 4 percent said they would no longer support him. (Similar to CNN/SSRS, 80 percent said they would continue to support him.)

Likewise, you should always be careful with polls like Emerson's that ask Americans whether something makes them more or less likely to vote a certain way. Respondents often don't take these questions literally ; instead, they use them as a proxy for whether they approve or disapprove of the thing being asked about.

Indeed, over three-quarters of those who told Emerson a conviction would make them "less likely" to vote for Trump had told the pollster on a different question that they were already voting for Biden. By contrast, only 11 percent of Trump voters said a guilty verdict would make them less likely to vote for him — so the potential impact on his actual support is much smaller than it initially appears.

Other polls also support the theory that this conviction won't cause mass defections to Biden. Those horse-race polls I cited above? They don't actually show many Trump voters switching their vote to Biden. Instead, most of the support Trump loses goes into the undecided column or to an unnamed, hypothetical "someone else":

On average, Trump loses 6 points of support after a conviction is taken into account — but Biden gains only 1 point. "Someone else" or undecided gains 5 points. That's consistent with the idea that this conviction will make some Trump supporters squeamish about the idea of pulling the lever for him, so they will stop identifying as Trump supporters for a while — but most of them won't go so far as to vote for Biden.

And that, in turn, could indicate that this drop in Trump's support will be short-lived. Sure, Trump supporters who abandon him after this conviction could conceivably abstain from voting or vote for a third-party candidate. But the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, so there's also a good chance that they will eventually get over their discomfort and return to Trump's side, especially considering there are still five months left until Election Day — plenty of time for Trump to spin a narrative that helps voters overcome any hangups about voting for a convicted felon.

We don't need to search far for a precedent for this. In October 2016, Trump's campaign was blindsided by the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape, on which Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women. Polls at the time showed that the tape made some Republicans uncomfortable about supporting Trump , and his national support in 538's polling average at the time fell by about 1 point. But Trump's support quickly recovered: Within three weeks of the tape's release, he was polling better than he was before it.

That said, even if most Trump defectors only switch to undecided and eventually return to the fold, that doesn't mean the conviction will have zero effect on the race. That average 1-point gain for Biden isn't nothing — in a close race (which 2024 is shaping up to be), it could mean the difference between winning and losing. But it's also important not to overstate the conviction's impact. If the hush-money trial ends up determining the presidential race, it will likely be because the campaign was a game of inches anyway.

Irena Li contributed research.

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Pope apologizes after being quoted using vulgar term about gay men in talk about ban on gay priests

FILE - Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Pope Francis apologized Tuesday, May 28, 2024, after he was quoted using a vulgar term about gays to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s ban on gay priests. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement acknowledging the media storm that erupted about Francis’ comments, which were delivered behind closed doors to Italian bishops on May 20. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis apologized Tuesday after he was quoted using a vulgar and derogatory term about gay men to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s ban on gay priests.

The ruckus that ensued underscored how the church’s official teaching about homosexuality often bumps up against the unacknowledged reality that there are plenty of gay men in the priesthood, and plenty of LGBTQ+ Catholics who want to be fully part of the life and sacraments of the church.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement acknowledging the media storm that erupted about Francis’ comments, which were delivered behind closed doors to Italian bishops on May 20.

Italian media on Monday had quoted unnamed Italian bishops in reporting that Francis jokingly used the term “faggotness” while speaking in Italian during the encounter. He had used the term in reaffirming the Vatican’s ban on allowing gay men to enter seminaries and be ordained priests.

Bruni said Francis was aware of the reports and recalled that the Argentine pope, who has made outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics a hallmark of his papacy , has long insisted there was “room for everyone” in the Catholic Church.

“The pope never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he extends his apologies to those who were offended by the use of a term that was reported by others,” Bruni said.

With the statement, Bruni carefully avoided an outright confirmation that the pope had indeed used the term, in keeping with the Vatican’s tradition of not revealing what the pope says behind closed doors. But Bruni also didn’t deny that Francis had said it.

And for those who have long advocated for greater inclusion and acceptance of LGBTQ+ Catholics, the issue was bigger than the word itself.

“More than the offensive slur uttered by the pope, what is damaging is the institutional church’s insistence on ‘banning’ gay men from the priesthood as if we all do not know (and minister alongside) many, many gifted, celibate, gay priests,” noted Natalia Imperatori-Lee, chair of the religious studies department at Manhattan College.

“The LGBTQ community seems to be a constant target of offhand, off the cuff ‘mistakes’ from people in the Vatican, including the pope, who should know better,” she added.

Francis was addressing an assembly of the Italian bishops conference, which recently approved a new document outlining training for Italian seminarians. The document, which hasn’t been published pending review by the Holy See, reportedly sought to open some wiggle room in the Vatican’s absolute ban on gay priests by introducing the issue of celibacy as the primary requirement for priests, gay or straight.

The Vatican ban was articulated in a 2005 document from the Congregation for Catholic Education, and later repeated in a subsequent document in 2016, which said the church cannot admit to seminaries or ordain men who “practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called gay culture.”

The position has long been criticized as homophobic and hypocritical for an institution that certainly counts gay priests in its ranks. The late psychotherapist Richard Sipe, a onetime Benedictine monk who taught in U.S. seminaries, estimated in the early 2000s that as many as 30% of the U.S. clergy was homosexually oriented.

The late Rev. Donald Cozzens, a seminary rector, said the percentage was even higher, and asserted in his book “The Changing Face of The Priesthood” that the U.S. priesthood was increasingly becoming a gay profession since so many heterosexual men had left the priesthood to marry and have families.

Priests in the Latin rite Catholic Church cannot marry, while those in eastern rite churches may. Church teaching holds that gay people must be treated with dignity and respect but that homosexual activity is “intrinsically disordered.”

Francis strongly reaffirmed the Vatican ban on gay priests in his May 20 meeting with the Italian bishops, joking that “there is already an air of faggotness” in seminaries, the Italian media reported, after initial reporting from gossip site Dagospia.

Italian is not Francis’ mother tongue language, and the Argentine pope has made linguistic gaffes in the past that raised eyebrows. The 87-year-old Argentine pope often speaks informally, jokes using slang and even curses in private.

He has been known for his outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics, however, starting from his famous “Who am I to judge ” comment in 2013 about a priest who purportedly had a gay lover in his past. He has ministered to transgender Catholics , allowed priests to bless same-sex couples and called for an end to anti-gay legislation, saying in a 2023 interview with The Associated Press that “ Being homosexual is not a crime. ”

However, he has occasionally offended LGBTQ+ people and their advocates, including in that same interview where he implied that while homosexuality wasn’t a crime, it was a sin. He later clarified that he was referring to sexual activity, and that any sex outside marriage between a man and a woman was sinful in the eyes of the church.

And most recently, he signed off on a Vatican document asserting that gender-affirming surgery was a grave violation of human dignity.

New Ways Ministry, which advocates for LGBTQ+ Catholics, welcomed Francis’ apology Tuesday and said it confirmed that the “use of the slur was a careless colloquialism.” But the group’s director Francis DeBernardo questioned the underlying content of the pope’s comments and the overall ban on gays in the priesthood.

“Without a clarification, his words will be interpreted as a blanket ban on accepting any gay man to a seminary,” DeBernardo said in a release, asking for a clearer statement on Francis’ views about gay priests “so many of whom faithfully serve the people of God each day.”

Andrea Rubera, a spokesperson for Paths of Hope, an Italian association of LGBTQ+ Christians, said he was incredulous when he first read about the pope’s comments, and then sad when no denial came from the Vatican. It showed, he said, that the pope and the Vatican still have a “limited view” of the reality of LGBTQ+ people .

“We hope, once again, that the time will come to undertake a discussion in the church toward a deepening of the LGBT issue, especially from the experience of the people themselves,” he said.

Are electric cars better for the environment than fuel-powered cars? Here's the verdict

Whether you drive an electric car or are considering making the switch, you've probably been drawn into a discussion about whether they are really better for the climate.

Electric cars are key to the world reducing emissions, with transport accounting for almost 20 per cent and rising, so you probably haven't had that debate for the last time.

To save you from your next barbecue encounter, we have turned to the EV Council, which has crunched the numbers for you.

We're comparing an electric car and a traditional petrol one and looking at the life-cycle emissions — that is, all the emissions produced from cradle to grave.

For both types of car, these are the key stages where emissions are produced:

• manufacturing of the car,
• production of the battery, especially for electric cars
• running the cars over their life-cycle, either on petrol or electricity
• disposal and recycling of the vehicle at the end of its life, including batteries

We'll also compare electric cars in different states because each state uses different amounts of fossil fuels for electricity, which affects how "clean" the car is.

To compare cars, we've chosen an average medium SUV, the sort of car you commonly see on Australian roads.

Some examples of a medium SUV are the electric Tesla Model Y, Toyota's RAV4 and the Mazda CX-5 on the petrol side.

So, buckle up and let's go.

Let's start at when the car is made

Manufacturing covers the production of the raw materials in the car's metal body, interiors, tyres, seating, the whole bundle. At this first stage, all these cars come out with similar emissions profiles.

… adding batteries for EVs

Battery production is the stage where we start to see a split between petrol and electric cars.

Electric vehicles (EV) are powered by batteries, so their batteries are significantly larger and heavier, and use more critical minerals. Our electric SUV also needs a bigger battery than a small hatchback.

It's important to note that this is about life-cycle emissions, so we aren't evaluating other environmental or human rights impacts from battery production for EVs, and we're also not critiquing the oil industry in those areas for petrol cars. That barbecue debate is for another day.

Batteries produced in China have higher emissions than those produced in Europe, and as most Australian electric cars currently have Chinese-made batteries, that's what's used here.

Climate experts and even the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expect these figures to drop as more renewable energy is used in the coming years to make the batteries.

"So the energy needed to produce batteries is decarbonised, and therefore has lower emissions," according to University of Technology Sydney transport researcher, Robin Smit.

So at this point, before the cars hit the road, electric cars have more embedded emissions.

But that all changes when you start driving …

Taking our cars on the road

It won't shock you to find out that most of a car's lifetime emissions come from powering it to drive.

"The fuel energy cycle is normally the most important part of the life-cycle assessment [and] that includes on-road driving, the maintenance, and of course, the production of the energy," Professor Smit said.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimates the average Australian car drives about 12,600 kilometres a year, or 189,000 over its lifetime, so that is what's used in this modelling.

Petrol cars are dirty. That's a fact. Combustion cars are powered by burning petrol, which releases emissions into the atmosphere and is — pardon the pun — a major climate change driver. These are referred to as "tailpipe emissions".

The petrol SUV here is up against an electric SUV charged on the national grid, which has a mix of fossil fuels and renewables.

Our petrol SUV produces almost 46 tonnes of carbon over its lifetime on the road.

These figures also factor in the emissions coming from refining and transporting the fuel.

"When you look at fossil fuels, they need to be extracted, processed, and then transported to service stations, for example, to make them available. So there's a greenhouse gas emission costs associated with that," Professor Smit said.

The estimated petrol used here is 8.3 litres for 100km and comes from the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). These figures are almost always lower than real-world petrol use.

So, a lot of energy is burnt to move petrol cars, but most of it is wasted.

"They are not efficient, about 70 to 80 per cent of the energy is wasted in heat. So you only use 20 to 30 per cent of the energy into fuels for actually driving around," Professor Smit said.

What's more, Australians typically drive heavier cars than other countries, especially in Europe. Heavier cars require more fuel to move them, resulting in higher emissions.

This all means that petrol cars start producing significantly more emissions during their use, leaving electric cars in the dust.

Let's look at a different view of our two cars as we drive them for 15 years or 189,000km. Petrol cars are displayed in the blue line, and electric cars in red .

Electric cars are powered by electricity (obviously!) but how that electricity is created makes a huge difference to the overall emissions profile of EVs.

You can see emissions for the petrol car   rise while the electric car's life-cycle emissions curve is flattening. That's because the composition of our electricity grid is rapidly changing and more renewables are coming online.

To account for that, this modelling from the EV Council uses the scenario mapped out by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) which predicts the rate of new renewables coming into the grid and fossil fuel plants being decommissioned. That is, by 2030, the same electric car will be producing lower emissions because it will be charged with more renewable power.

So this is for Australia as a whole, but where you live can also have a big impact on how much cleaner an EV is.

Some Australian states already have mostly renewable energy powering their grids, while others still have lots of fossil fuels.

A car that's charged off a grid with lots of fossil fuels produces much higher emissions than a car charged somewhere with mostly renewable energy.

Let's look at our electric SUV in Western Australia, where in 2022 more than 83 per cent of electricity came from fossil fuels, mostly gas.

Now this is what our SUV's emissions look like in Tasmania (shown in the green line) , which powers almost its entire electricity network on hydro.

It's the same in South Australia, which has lots of wind and solar energy in the grid. You can see here that no matter where the EV is, it saves tonnes of emissions overall compared to a petrol SUV.

This highlights the huge opportunity to reduce transport emissions with electric cars.

The cleaner the grid, the cleaner the electric car.

What about cars charged on rooftop solar?

More than 3 million Australian homes have rooftop solar and, according to a 2021 survey, most EV owners plug into their own set-up.

A car that's charged with rooftop solar produces even lower emissions over its lifetime.

"When you use solar panels, they basically have very small-to-negligible emissions," Professor Smit noted.

Less than a tonne of carbon over all those kilometres!

Now, it's time to say goodbye to our cars and send them to the car afterlife …

Getting rid of our cars

According to Professor Smit, the greenhouse gas emissions from taking cars off the road are small compared to the overall driving life of a car.

What's more, most of the materials in a car can be recycled, so this offsets some of the emissions from the production of the car at the start of the cycle.

To complete our emission profile, let's add the emissions for the disposal of our cars.

There's a lot of potential for improvements here too.

It takes a lot of grunt to power a car, and when a battery can no longer do that and comes out of an electric car, it still holds a lot of value and charging potential.

It can be used as a backup household battery, for example. Some car companies like Tesla are already using old car batteries to power their factories.

It's estimated this second life for EV batteries could cut the carbon footprint of battery production by half.

At the finish line

Overall, every electric car will produce fewer emissions than its petrol equivalent, no matter where they are charged.

Even with an electricity grid that still uses some fossil fuels, electric cars have much lower overall carbon emissions, and that will continue to drop as the electricity gets greener.

And remember, this example uses SUVs, so lighter electric cars like hatchbacks have even lower emissions.

Hang on, what about hybrids?

Put simply, hybrids are complicated.

Plug-in hybrids can be run off either petrol or from a battery that's plugged in and charged. Therefore, the life-cycle emissions from a plug-in hybrid depend on the region where it gets charged but also on how diligent the driver is with charging. Remember, it can also run on petrol.

The European Union's Environment Agency recently found that emissions from plug-in hybrids were 3.5 times higher than reported.

It concluded that hybrids "are charged and driven in electric mode much less than how they were expected to be used".

Where we get our figures from

These figures come from the Electric Vehicle Council, which based its life-cycle emissions calculator on modelling from the European organisation Transport & Environment .

We got Professor Smit to look over the EV Council's modelling and he said while it was generous to petrol cars, it provided a good way to compare life-cycle emissions.

The inputs for petrol use are based on the WLTP . As mentioned in the story, this is likely to underestimate real-world petrol usage.

The modelling uses data for a Nickel-Mangenese-Cobalt NMC li-ion battery produced in China, as that's the most common type of battery in the Australian EV market.

It calculates 105kg CO2/KWh  for the carbon produced from battery production .

This same study found that "producing batteries with photovoltaic electricity instead of Chinese coal-based electricity decreases climate impacts of battery production by 69 per cent". Considering this estimate would reduce the emissions calculation in the point we make about battery production.

For a medium electric SUV, the energy used is 17.3 KWh/100km and a battery size of 70.2 KWh average for cars available in that category.

The emissions factors for energy sources are based on data from the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change  here. 

To model the rate of renewables coming into the grid, the EV Council used the step-change scenario from the AEMO .

Statements about the composition of the electricity grids in different states come from 2022 numbers from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

The estimate of recycling emissions comes from a study by Transport & Environment .

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