Salary of Hearing Aid Specialist Overview

Aaron Toth, president of the Michigan Association of Hearing Care Professionals, an affiliate of the International Society of Hearing, says there’s much more to a hearing care professional than fitting a device in a client’s ear. “There’s a stigma around hearing aids,” Toth says. So you really have to spend some time letting them know what they’re missing out on.

Studies have shown that people with hearing loss start to withdraw because they don’t want to be in awkward social situations where they either can’t hear the conversation or only get bits and pieces of it. “We need to bring hearing back into their lives,” he says. “It’s great to watch people hear again.”

But this is not a business either. A hearing aid manufacturer once told Toth that there are more than 23,000 different ways to make a hearing aid. At Miracle Ear in Saginaw, Michigan, where Toth is a partner and owner, professionals like to see clients every six months for hearing aid maintenance. “You’re basically putting an electrical circuit in 98-degree humidity, so they need to be cleaned and maintained by a professional,” he explains.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment growth of 15.7 percent for hearing care professionals between 2021 and 2031. During this period, about 1,800 jobs should be created.