Lactation Consultant Salary – Expectations
If you have ever wondered what a lactation consultant salary looks like, you have come to the right place. We can give you a better idea of what to expect and what variables may come into play. The salary for lactation consultants are fairly priced and they compare well with those of other professionals in the related fields. According to salary.com, the lactating consultants’ average annual salary is $76,999 with an annual s
alary range of $68,500 – $86,000. This, compared to salary range of $69,500 to $71,200, for clinical nursing professions, is impressive.
The lactation consultants annual salaries are very good, more so if the academic entry level is higher. According to salary.com, the entry salary ranges according academic qualification are:
For a lactation consultants with associates degree their earning range is $73,200 – $77,900
For lactation consultants with Bachelor’s degree their earning range is $ 73,600 – $78,300
For lactation consultants with Master’s degree or MBA their earning range is $74,200 – $79,000
For the top lactation consultants with highest academic qualifications i.e. Jd/md/phd their salaries are between $74,500 – $79,400
Do Salaries Make This a Better Job?
Salaries attract top notch and qualified people to a profession. Lactation consultants’ salaries are very attractive and fairly similar to the salaries of their counterparts in the health sector i.e. nursing and clinical nurse specialists. The salaries get even more attractive especially for those joining the profession with higher academic qualification, experience or training. If one joins the profession from a medical field like doctor, or clinical nurse, the entry salaries would be very attractive not mentioning that getting certified would also be easier for such professionals
Apart from lactation consultants’ salaries being impressive and attractive to the prospecting professionals who may want to join the lactation consultancy profession, the qualification and certification process is also quite straight forward and easy more so for those already in the medical/health professions.
Experience Needed for Each Salary Level
Experience of course comes with the skills one has in the job. The more the experience and training one has on job, the more he is likely to earn. As mentioned earlier on, whereas the average annual starting salary of lactation consultants is about $68,500, it is not uncommon for fresh entrants to the profession to earn about 13% less of this salary.
As one gains more experience, so does his salary which can grow to highs of 27%. This is usually for those that are late into their career. Annual basic salary of those in their mid-careers, can be as high as 13% of the basic entry salary.
It should be noted that the most sought after skills that affect lactation consultants salaries include registered nurses who earn between 20-23% more than their counterparts, and IBCLC who earn about 20% more than average national salaries making them some of the highly paid professionals in lactation consultants.
Experiences needed for various lactating consultants’ salary levels are as below:
Salary level $56,000 – $59,000- 0-5years
Salary level $59,000 – $62,500 -5-10years
Salary level $62,500 – $75,100 -10-20 years
Salary level $75,100 – above – over 20 years
Salary and job satisfaction
From the provided salaries information, it’s apparent that lactation consultants has competitive salaries which are in tandem with the job requirement.