Recreational Therapists salary

SOC 29-1125 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$61,960

per year, nationally

Middle half

$50,240–$79,930

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

14,930

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+3.3%

1,300 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.

$40,990$100,420

10th: $40,990
25th: $50,240
Median: $61,960
75th: $79,930
90th: $100,420

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's 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 recreational 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	$98,170	110.7	1,920	1.10×
2	District of Columbia	$95,640	109.9	50	0.79×
3	New Hampshire	$82,280	104.2	70	1.11×
4	Nevada	$78,730	100.0	400	2.66×
5	Washington	$77,860	107.0	240	0.69×
6	Minnesota	$76,360	98.6	250	0.89×
7	Colorado	$66,580	103.1	200	0.73×
8	Oregon	$66,530	103.4	250	1.34×
9	New York	$65,520	107.9	1,230	1.33×
10	Hawaii	$64,500	110.0	40	0.65×
11	Maryland	$64,300	105.0	290	1.09×
12	Vermont	$63,380	98.0	40	1.23×
13	Connecticut	$63,240	103.6	380	2.30×
14	Nebraska	$62,980	90.1	150	1.57×
15	Massachusetts	$62,820	105.8	210	0.61×
16	Arizona	$62,610	100.7	170	0.53×
17	Texas	$62,490	97.1	800	0.59×
18	Michigan	$61,700	96.2	590	1.39×
19	Virginia	$61,270	101.1	570	1.43×
20	Ohio	$60,770	92.8	310	0.58×
21	New Jersey	$60,400	108.8	430	1.03×
22	Wisconsin	$59,350	94.1	350	1.24×
23	Kentucky	$59,240	90.2	100	0.51×
24	Pennsylvania	$58,940	97.6	720	1.24×
25	Missouri	$58,620	90.8	140	0.49×
26	North Dakota	$58,370	89.0	80	1.84×
27	Florida	$57,980	103.4	640	0.67×
28	Maine	$57,560	97.0	40	0.58×
29	Alabama	$57,360	88.8	160	0.77×
30	Utah	$56,640	98.9	210	1.26×
31	Iowa	$56,140	87.8	230	1.55×
32	Illinois	$54,910	100.0	440	0.75×
33	Indiana	$53,770	93.3	190	0.62×
34	Georgia	$52,010	96.3	530	1.12×
35	Tennessee	$51,910	91.9	150	0.49×
36	Louisiana	$51,150	88.2	190	1.02×
37	Delaware	$51,110	99.8	70	1.61×
38	Montana	$51,110	94.6	40	0.75×
39	North Carolina	$51,030	94.3	440	0.93×
40	Oklahoma	$50,480	87.8	120	0.72×
41	Idaho	$49,720	95.5	90	1.13×
42	New Mexico	$49,210	92.2	100	1.18×
43	West Virginia	$49,010	89.5	130	1.93×
44	South Carolina	$48,880	93.7	190	0.84×
45	South Dakota	$46,850	88.6	40	0.99×
46	Arkansas	$42,670	86.9	70	0.60×
47	Kansas	$40,010	90.1	710	5.11×
48	Mississippi	$39,560	87.0	140	1.26×

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 recreational therapists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for recreational 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	Vallejo, CA	$115,330	108.5	50	3.47×
2	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$115,330	105.1	50	1.80×
3	Napa, CA	$107,810	112.6	150	19.99×
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$102,420	115.6	190	0.83×
5	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$101,670	110.4	60	0.58×
6	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$98,530	111.9	90	0.59×
7	Fresno, CA	$98,160	102.2	150	3.31×
8	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$98,120	106.4	340	2.05×
9	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$91,790	106.7	90	0.91×
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$91,740	113.6	380	0.64×
11	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$82,660	111.1	140	0.70×
12	Mankato, MN	$81,950	91.0	30	5.95×
13	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$78,730	100.2	340	3.10×
14	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$73,980	104.8	150	0.78×
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$72,390	105.4	60	0.49×
16	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$71,050	108.9	380	1.27×
17	Ann Arbor, MI	$70,960	100.9	110	5.11×
18	Cleveland, OH	$67,390	93.9	50	0.53×
19	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$66,840	105.8	130	0.83×
20	New Haven, CT	$66,740	104.6	60	2.18×
21	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$66,050	112.6	1,090	1.20×
22	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$65,940	100.3	50	1.88×
23	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$65,080	95.8	60	1.21×
24	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$64,700	104.5	160	1.26×
25	Urban Honolulu, HI	$64,500	111.0	40	0.90×
26	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$63,950	102.7	170	2.90×
27	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$63,950	96.9	130	1.62×
28	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$63,740	95.4	50	0.45×
29	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$63,710	100.9	90	1.15×
30	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$63,390	108.3	180	0.70×
31	Syracuse, NY	$63,370	95.7	80	2.89×
32	Lincoln, NE	$62,980	91.6	50	3.08×
33	St. Louis, MO-IL	$62,810	95.1	60	0.49×
34	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$62,610	103.3	130	0.56×
35	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$62,600	100.3	230	1.25×
36	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$62,390	100.9	110	0.80×
37	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$62,000	91.7	50	1.20×
38	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$61,840	93.1	50	0.71×
39	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$61,830	99.6	30	0.72×
40	Oklahoma City, OK	$61,550	90.4	60	0.91×

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 recreational therapists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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