How Much Do PTs Earn? | Berxi™ (2023)

As a physiotherapist, you know that your job varies from day to day and you need to be prepared to treat a variety of patients and injuries. You'll need to know how to do things like assess a football player for a stress fracture, help someone regain mobility after breaking their leg, or help someone relearn to walk after suffering a traumatic brain injury.

Needless to say, your job will get quite complicated at times and will involve managing a lot of moving parts (pun intended). Due to this complexity, you and your colleagues can earn more than many other healthcare professionals. (Actually, PTs ranked 9th in themonstruo.comlist of the 10 highest paying healthcare jobs). But how much more?

Let's take a look at the data to see what your earning potential and job prospects are as a PT. First, we'll cover how much you can earn when you're starting out as a PT.

What is the typical starting salary for a physical therapist?

HeAverage Entry Level Physical Therapist Salaryis about $63,465 per year. As with all averages, this number can fluctuate, and most starting PT salaries in the US range from $38,500 to $83,500 per year. Factors that can cause a salary to fluctuate can include:

• Location:Larger metropolitan areas and cities with larger populations generally have higher wages than more rural areas.
• Specialty or Industry:Forexample, physical therapists at performing arts companies earn a higher hourly wage than those in an assisted living community.
• Skills and Certifications:More information on APTALearning Center.

How much does a physiotherapist earn per hour?

According toBureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), hethe average hourly rate for PTs is around $44.08 per hour. As we mentioned earlier, this number can change depending on the type of work the PT does and where you live. We'll discuss how hourly wages can vary by specialty and location in more detail later.

How much does a physiotherapist earn per year?

When determining how much you can expect to earn as a PT, it's important to consider both average and median salary. Why? well knowing whataverage salaryis for your field can help you get a better and more realistic idea of ​​your earning potential. (As a reminder, the median is the number that is right in the middle of a range of values. In this case, it would be the salary that is right in the middle of the salary range for PTs.)

Meanwhile, an average (aka "average") can be affected by outliers, i.e. some PTs whose salaries are significantly higher or lower than others.

Physical therapist average annual salary

According to the BLS, theaverage annual salary of PTsis $91,680 per year. This number includes an average of all PT salaries in the US.

Physical therapy average annual salary

The BLS data also show that theThe average annual salary for a PT is $91,010 per year.. In other words, half of all PTs in the US made more than that number and the other half made less. For added perspective, PTs in the top 10% of the salary range earn about $126,780 per year, while the bottom 10% earn about $63,530 per year.

How much do physiotherapists earn in different work environments?

There are a number of different factors that can affect your salary as a PT. One, in particular, is the type of work you are doing. According toBLS dataHere are the top five work environments that offer PTs the highest annual salaries.

The 5 Highest Paying Workplaces for PTs

While PTs are not required to become board-certified clinical specialists, some types of jobs (such as those listed above) may be made easier if you have some sort of specialization under your belt. (This is particularly true for some of the work environments that have a very specific audience, such as nursing homes and nursing homes.) Council Certified Areas of Expertise for PTinclude:

• Cardiovascular and Pulmonary
• Clinical Electrophysiology
• Geriatrics
• Neurology
• Orthopedics
• Pediatrics
• sports physiotherapy
• women's health

How much do physical therapists earn in each state?

Another factor that can significantly influence a PT's salary is where you live. Typically, states that have a higher cost of living, as well as greater demand for a particular profession, tend to offer higher wages. This rule also seems to apply to the PT field. Here is a list of the top five states that pay the most for PTs:

The 5 states that pay the most for PTs

Don't see your state on this list? Here is a table with the complete BLS data on PT salaries by state and it also includes numbers for the District of Columbia:

How much do physical therapists earn by state

Although the BLS did not publish state-specific average annual salary data, it did provide the following groups:

States where PTs tend to earn $91,960 - $108,580

• Alabama
• Alaska
• California
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Illinois
• Mississippi
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• Oklahoma
• Virginia

States where PTs tend to earn $88,950 - $91,930

• Arizona
• Georgia
• hawaii
• Kansas
• Louisiana
• Ohio
• Oregon
• pennsylvania
• Texas
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

States where PTs tend to earn $85,410 - $88,650

• Colorado
• Florida
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• North Caroline
• Tennessee
• Utah
• Wisconsin

States where PTs tend to earn $48,200 - $85,010

• Arkansas
• Idaho
• Iowa
• Maine
• Measurements
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• Dakota do Norte
• Puerto Rico
• Carolina do sul
• Dakota del Sur
• Vermont

Physiotherapy Job Outlook Overview

As you can see, you are entering a very exciting, lucrative, and fast-paced field, and the BLS predicts that you will enjoy a significant amount ofjob growth between now and 2026. (Concretely, the number of jobs available is estimated to grow by around 28 percent, which translates into around 67,100 jobs open to PT during this period.) This should help you feel more confident that not only will he be able to make a very comfortable living in this line of work, but that his skills and experience will continue to be in demand for quite some time to come.

Do you want to know how to get started? The path to becoming a PTincludes:

1. Obtain a bachelor's degree.

2. Earn a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree, a three-year program that costs around $25,000 to $75,000, depending on the school.

3. Pass the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy exam, which costs $350.

4. Complete a clinical residency or fellowship.

5. Earn additional certifications for areas of expertise.

6. Obtain a state license, which usually costs between $30 and $50.

The last stage is continuous: Continuing Education. This is an important step in keeping your license up to date. It means constantly learning more about being a PT withcareer developmentcourses or going tonational conferencesand meet with other PTs across the country.

Physiotherapy Salary Vs. Occupational therapy: what's the difference?

The first big difference between PTs and OTs is the type of work they do. At a high level, as a physiotherapist, you are treating your patients by helping them improve their mobility and manage pain. On the other hand, OTs treat clients by providing therapy for their daily activities.

The second big difference is the level of education that both need to work in their field. PTs must obtain a Ph.D. before they can officially start working with patients. On the other hand, OTs need a master's degree to be able to practice as an OT.

When it comes to salary, the difference between PTs and OTs is minimal, although PTs seem to earn a bit more. Below is a comparison table that provides hourly and yearly earnings for OT and PT:

Wage difference between PT and OT

Furthermore, PTs and OTs should expect similar increases in demand for their skills between now and 2026: the BLS predicts that PTs will see job growth of around 28%, while OTs will see job growth of around 24% .

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