June 17, 2013 marked the day when New York’s State Senate passed legislation that enshrines into law insurance reimbursement for applied behavior analysis as a therapeutic intervention for autism. The governor signed this at the beginning of 2014, and it went live on July 1 of that year.
The highlights of this law mean Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA®s) are paid for their services by health insurance plans, instead of out-of-pocket by the parents of those with autism.
This law stipulates:
- Insurance companies must provide coverage for the diagnosis, treatment, and screening of autism spectrum disorders, including ABA treatment
- Insurance companies cannot deny or amend coverage for autism treatments based solely on new diagnoses
- Holders of the BCBA® credential (BACB certification) are specifically noted for being eligible for insurance reimbursement when providing ABA treatments
- The law creates a new state licensing procedure for the new class of professional, behavior analysts
There is no age limit for coverage of ABA services to treat autism, with a treatment coverage cap at $45,000 per year per child.
Having been the law of the land going on three years now, this legislation has helped to bolster the state’s average salary for BCBA®s.
- New York City offers the highest entry-level median salary, followed by Yonkers and New Rochelle
- Outside the NYC metro area Schenectady, Albany, and Buffalo offer the highest median entry-level salaries
- New York City offers the highest median salary for BCBA®s with 10 years of experience, followed by Yonkers and New Rochelle
- Outside the NYC metro area Albany, Schenectady, and Rochester offer the highest median salaries for BCBA®s with 10 years of experience
- BCBA®s in New York City have the largest median salary increase over their initial 10 years of employment
Salaries for Experienced Behavior Analyst in New York’s Major Cities
Shown here are salary figures for BCBA®s with 10-years of experience in New York’s largest cities. Each list provides an overall salary range (from median to 90th-percentile) for behavior analysts with 10-years of experience, followed by the average in each employment sector (December 2016).
New York – $69,576 – $94,000
- Government – $71,690
- Private practice – $71,487
- School district – $71,203
- Company – $70,900
- Non-profit – $67,578
Buffalo – $56,793 – $75,000
- Company – $60,864
- Private practice – $60,270
- Government – $60,024
- School district – $57,631
- Non-profit – $56,940
Rochester – $58,544 – $76,000
- Company – $62,529
- Private practice – $62,081
- Government – $61,866
- School district – $59,675
- Non-profit – $58,717
Yonkers – $67,802 – $91,000
- Private practice – $69,801
- Government – $69,270
- Company – $68,820
- School district – $68,446
- Non-profit – $65,349
Syracuse – $58,030 – $76,000
- Company – $60,994
- Private practice – $60,522
- Government – $60,402
- School district – $58,351
- Non-profit – $57,221
Albany – $60,253 – $80,000
- Company – $63,635
- Government – $63,355
- Private practice – $63,325
- School district – $61,682
- Non-profit – $59,952
New Rochelle – $64,245 – $86,000
- Government – $67,250
- Private practice – $67,141
- Company – $67,042
- School district – $66,140
- Non-profit – $63,451
Mount Vernon – $60,571 – $82,000
- Government – $61,326
- Private practice – $61,042
- Company – $60,883
- School district – $60,597
- Non-profit – $57,828
Schenectady – $58,837 – $77,000
- Company – $62,045
- Private practice – $61,834
- Government – $61,828
- School district – $60,238
- Non-profit – $58,485
Utica – $54,972 – $73,000
- Company – $59,287
- Private practice – $58,597
- Government – $58,252
- School district – $55,591
- Non-profit – $55,269
Starting Salaries for Board Certified Behavior Analyst in New York by City
Shown here are entry-level BCBA® salary figures for the largest cities in New York by sector. Each list provides an overall salary range (from median to 90th-percentile) for each city, followed by the average in each employment sector (December 2016).
New York – $56,278 – $76,000
- Government – $57,066
- Private practice – $56,964
- School district – $56,644
- Company – $56,481
- Non-profit – $53,823
Buffalo – $48,028 – $63,000
- Company – $49,221
- Private practice – $48,725
- Government – $48,510
- Non-profit – $46,036
- School district – $45,544
Rochester – $46,464 – $61,000
- Company – $48,513
- Private practice – $48,175
- Government – $47,981
- School district – $46,251
- Non-profit – $45,547
Yonkers – $54,755 – $74,000
- Government – $55,390
- Private practice – $55,289
- Company – $55,067
- School district – $54,697
- Non-profit – $52,279
Syracuse – $46,653 – $62,000
- Company – $48,457
- Private practice – $48,093
- Government – $47,964
- School district – $46,304
- Non-profit – $45,449
Albany – $50,034 – $67,000
- Company – $50,418
- Private practice – $50,184
- Government – $50,181
- School district – $48,820
- Non-profit – $47,490
New Rochelle – $53,065 – $72,000
- Government – $54,374
- Private practice – $54,342
- Company – $54,246
- School district – $53,440
- Non-profit – $51,328
Mount Vernon – $51,697 – $70,000
- Government – $52,262
- Private practice – $52,081
- Company – $51,928
- School district – $51,612
- Non-profit – $49,318
Schenectady – $50,377 – $67,000
- Company – $50,712
- Private practice – $50,554
- Government – $50,503
- School district – $49,163
- Non-profit – $47,789
Utica – $44,020 – $59,000
- Company – $46,346
- Private practice – $45,815
- Government – $45,511
- School district – $43,405
- Non-profit – $43,194
Salary data for entry-level and experienced applied behavior analysts was sourced from PayScale.com in December 2016. Using its daily-updated database of over 54 million salary profiles, PayScale’s proprietary algorithms provide access to real-time salary information.