ASHA's state pages list 36 states where audiologists may dispense hearing aids under the audiology license, some with extra consumer rules. About a dozen others, including California, New York, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, require a separate dispensing license, registration, certificate or endorsement. Iowa dropped its separate requirement in 2024, and a compact privilege does not replace a required dispensing credential.
For many audiologists, dispensing hearing aids is half the practice and most of the revenue. It is also the part that some states license separately. An audiologist who moves from a state where dispensing comes with the audiology license to one where it does not can be fully licensed to test hearing and still not allowed to sell a hearing aid.
In which states can audiologists dispense under the audiology license?
Most of them. ASHA's state information pages, which ASHA collects from state boards and reviews yearly, list 36 states where audiologists may dispense hearing aids under the audiology license. Some attach conditions:
- Illinois: dispensing is allowed, but audiologists must follow the Hearing Instrument Consumer Protection Program's law and rules, and a $45 hearing instrument fee is built into every Illinois SLP and audiology license and renewal fee.
- Arkansas: allowed, subject to rules on medical clearance and consumer protection.
- Alaska: allowed, subject to certain consumer practices.
- South Dakota: allowed, but audiologists are also subject to the practice rules for hearing aid dispensers.
- Nebraska: allowed for audiologists who maintain a practice in which hearing instruments are regularly dispensed.
Texas, Florida, Ohio, Georgia, New Jersey, Tennessee and Washington are among the states ASHA lists without conditions on its summary pages. Florida's statute still sets minimum procedures whenever a licensed audiologist fits and sells a prescription hearing aid, including pure-tone testing by air and bone conduction and speech testing (Fla. Stat. § 468.1225), and makes it unlawful to sell or distribute prescription hearing aids to consumers through the mail (§ 468.1265).
Which states require a separate dispensing credential?
According to ASHA's state pages:
- California: audiologists who dispense must obtain a hearing aid dispenser license.
- New York: audiologists who dispense must be registered hearing aid dispensers.
- Pennsylvania: a hearing aid dealer certificate, without the qualifying examination.
- Minnesota: a hearing dispenser license; audiologists skip the written dispenser exam but must pass the practical exam.
- Arizona: dispensing under a separate "dispensing audiologist" license.
- Nevada and New Mexico: an endorsement on the license. Nevada's requires passing the exam required of hearing aid specialists; New Mexico's requires six months of dispensing experience through a practical exam, a dispensing facility and a jurisprudence exam.
- Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota and Virginia: a hearing aid dispenser license.
- New Hampshire: registration as a hearing aid dealer.
- District of Columbia: a certificate of registration.
One correction to ASHA's list: its Iowa page still says audiologists need a hearing aid specialist license. Iowa's Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing says that under a 2024 law (SF 2385), Iowa-licensed audiologists "are no longer required to hold a separate hearing aid specialist license" and dispense under the audiology license, following the hearing aid dispensing rules. Secondary summaries lag; the board's own page is the one to trust.
What does California's dispensing license involve?
California's Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board says an audiologist who wants to dispense "must take and pass the California hearing aid dispensers written and practical licensing examinations." Its fee schedule for a dispensing audiologist lists:
- Written hearing aid dispensers examination: $225
- Practical hearing aid dispensers examination: $500
- Application and initial license, paid after passing both: $280
- Renewal: $280, every year
You must already hold a California audiology license. The dispensing license renews annually on the last day of your birth month, while the audiology license renews every two years, so a California dispensing audiologist carries two renewal dates. See California licensing.
How does New York treat dispensing audiologists?
Beyond the registration ASHA describes, New York ties continuing education to dispensing. The State Education Department's continuing competency page says audiologists who are hearing aid dispensers must complete six of their professional hours in each three-year cycle in courses related to hearing aid selection and fitting. See New York licensing and continuing education across states.
Does a compact privilege let you dispense?
Only where the state does not require a separate credential. The ASLP Commission's FAQ says: "If a state requires a separate credential to dispense hearing aids, audiologists must obtain that credential to dispense hearing aids." Of the four states issuing privileges as of October 2026 (Louisiana, West Virginia, Ohio and Tennessee), ASHA's pages list all four as states where audiologists dispense under the audiology license, but check each board before relying on it. See the ASLP Compact for audiologists.
What should you check before dispensing in a new state?
- Whether dispensing needs a separate license, registration, certificate or endorsement, from the board's own page rather than a summary.
- Whether that credential sits with the same board or a different agency, and whether it has its own exam.
- Its renewal cycle and fee, which may differ from the audiology license.
- Any dispensing-specific CE, as in New York.
- State consumer rules on fitting procedures, return rights and sales channels, such as Florida's statute.
How can we help you dispense in another state?
Our Hearing Aid Dispensing License Add-On is $349 per state. We confirm what the state requires, prepare the application, schedule the exams where there are any and track both renewal dates. You sit any exam yourself, and board and exam fees are separate. For the audiology license itself, see audiology license by endorsement.
Common questions
- Do audiologists need a separate license to sell hearing aids?
- In most states, no. ASHA lists 36 states where audiologists dispense under the audiology license. California, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and about a dozen others require a separate dispensing credential of some kind.
- How much does California's dispensing audiologist license cost?
- The board's fee schedule lists $225 for the written exam, $500 for the practical exam and $280 for the application and initial license after passing both, with a $280 annual renewal. Confirm current amounts with the board.
- Do Iowa audiologists still need a hearing aid specialist license?
- No. Iowa's licensing department says a 2024 law ended the separate requirement, so Iowa audiologists dispense under the audiology license while following the hearing aid dispensing rules.
- Can I dispense hearing aids on an ASLP Compact privilege?
- Only in states that do not require a separate dispensing credential. The Commission says that where one is required, you must obtain it.
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