Physical Therapists salary

SOC 29-1123 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$102,760

per year, nationally

Middle half

$86,160–$121,160

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

267,330

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+10.9%

13,200 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$77,140$135,140

10th: $77,140
25th: $86,160
Median: $102,760
75th: $121,160
90th: $135,140

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Doctoral or professional degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where physical therapists earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$124,190	110.7	26,580	0.85×
2	Alaska	$115,280	102.4	680	1.22×
3	New Jersey	$112,140	108.8	9,750	1.32×
4	Nevada	$111,250	100.0	2,030	0.76×
5	Maryland	$106,890	105.0	3,940	0.83×
6	New Mexico	$106,880	92.2	1,330	0.89×
7	Washington	$105,950	107.0	5,370	0.88×
8	Texas	$105,810	97.1	21,870	0.90×
9	Illinois	$105,250	100.0	9,800	0.93×
10	Connecticut	$104,360	103.6	4,060	1.39×
11	Massachusetts	$103,790	105.8	6,850	1.09×
12	Oregon	$103,510	103.4	3,210	0.95×
13	Arizona	$103,220	100.7	5,170	0.93×
14	Ohio	$103,050	92.8	10,280	1.08×
15	Georgia	$102,700	96.3	6,780	0.81×
16	Delaware	$102,050	99.8	1,260	1.51×
17	Colorado	$102,030	103.1	5,630	1.14×
18	Minnesota	$102,010	98.6	5,180	1.02×
19	Wisconsin	$101,840	94.1	5,580	1.10×
20	Hawaii	$101,700	110.0	950	0.88×
21	District of Columbia	$101,640	109.9	610	0.50×
22	Indiana	$101,560	93.3	6,130	1.11×
23	Virginia	$101,450	101.1	7,630	1.08×
24	Pennsylvania	$101,380	97.6	11,710	1.12×
25	South Carolina	$101,330	93.7	3,930	0.99×
26	Florida	$101,040	103.4	16,290	0.95×
27	Michigan	$100,900	96.2	8,630	1.14×
28	Kentucky	$100,710	90.2	3,390	0.98×
29	New York	$100,660	107.9	20,940	1.26×
30	Wyoming	$100,400	92.7	560	1.15×
31	Tennessee	$100,140	91.9	4,800	0.85×
32	Mississippi	$99,990	87.0	1,980	0.99×
33	North Carolina	$99,910	94.3	7,350	0.86×
34	Utah	$99,880	98.9	2,300	0.77×
35	New Hampshire	$99,850	104.2	1,960	1.67×
36	Maine	$99,720	97.0	1,860	1.69×
37	Rhode Island	$99,400	102.3	1,020	1.18×
38	Missouri	$99,310	90.8	4,900	0.97×
39	Arkansas	$99,010	86.9	2,680	1.20×
40	Idaho	$99,000	95.5	1,030	0.70×
41	Oklahoma	$98,590	87.8	2,560	0.87×
42	Louisiana	$98,530	88.2	3,280	0.99×
43	Kansas	$98,290	90.1	2,660	1.07×
44	Vermont	$97,970	98.0	760	1.45×
45	Iowa	$97,560	87.8	2,530	0.95×
46	Alabama	$97,290	88.8	3,040	0.84×
47	Nebraska	$97,090	90.1	2,140	1.22×
48	West Virginia	$96,600	89.5	1,310	1.08×
49	South Dakota	$92,660	88.6	1,060	1.35×
50	Montana	$91,450	94.6	1,180	1.35×
51	North Dakota	$85,330	89.0	830	1.12×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where physical therapists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for physical therapists

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$141,980	115.6	3,140	0.77×
2	Vallejo, CA	$141,530	108.5	300	1.23×
3	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$140,100	107.8	290	0.81×
4	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$139,000	110.4	1,460	0.75×
5	Napa, CA	$138,540	112.6	50	0.40×
6	Chico, CA	$134,970	101.2	180	1.35×
7	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$131,430	106.7	1,610	0.87×
8	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$128,680	108.8	310	0.90×
9	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$127,460	101.6	40	0.42×
10	Salinas, CA	$127,120	109.0	190	0.60×
11	Modesto, CA	$126,600	104.1	400	1.19×
12	Merced, CA	$126,000	98.3	60	0.45×
13	Decatur, IL	$125,600	88.4	40	0.51×
14	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$125,490	100.9	310	0.53×
15	Santa Fe, NM	$124,870	98.8	80	0.78×
16	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$124,790	109.9	160	0.96×
17	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$124,260	105.1	350	0.70×
18	Fresno, CA	$123,820	102.2	620	0.76×
19	Carson City, NV	$120,810	98.1	50	0.85×
20	Las Cruces, NM	$120,350	90.2	200	1.43×
21	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$120,110	106.4	2,240	0.76×
22	Midland, TX	$118,450	95.8	130	0.62×
23	El Centro, CA	$116,950	95.2	70	0.60×
24	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$116,770	110.5	550	0.99×
25	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$116,480	100.2	1,530	0.78×
26	Springfield, IL	$115,990	92.7	150	0.88×
27	Walla Walla, WA	$115,740	98.5	30	0.74×
28	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$114,980	103.9	130	1.44×
29	Longview, TX	$113,980	89.5	190	0.93×
30	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$113,850	111.9	2,680	1.02×
31	Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	$113,700	90.0	250	0.87×
32	Fairbanks-College, AK	$113,570	103.2	50	0.80×
33	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$113,510	102.4	80	0.93×
34	Enid, OK	$113,190	84.3	30	0.77×
35	Anchorage, AK	$112,590	105.4	460	1.50×
36	Spartanburg, SC	$111,860	91.1	350	1.24×
37	Lexington Park, MD	$111,780	100.8	80	0.70×
38	Sherman-Denison, TX	$110,750	93.8	120	1.32×
39	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$110,620	100.2	100	0.87×
40	Amarillo, TX	$109,800	91.8	190	0.88×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where physical therapists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.