Occupational Therapy Assistants salary

SOC 31-2011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$72,300

per year, nationally

Middle half

$61,710–$79,160

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

51,290

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+19.2%

7,200 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.

$51,490$89,780

10th: $51,490
25th: $61,710
Median: $72,300
75th: $79,160
90th: $89,780

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Associate'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 occupational therapy assistants 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	Maryland	$82,010	105.0	710	0.78×
2	California	$81,770	110.7	3,840	0.64×
3	Texas	$81,500	97.1	5,610	1.21×
4	Nevada	$79,510	100.0	220	0.42×
5	Arkansas	$78,940	86.9	730	1.69×
6	Delaware	$78,640	99.8	220	1.39×
7	Washington	$77,590	107.0	720	0.61×
8	New Mexico	$77,020	92.2	300	1.04×
9	Oregon	$76,850	103.4	250	0.38×
10	Georgia	$75,920	96.3	1,060	0.66×
11	Colorado	$75,340	103.1	710	0.75×
12	Massachusetts	$75,040	105.8	1,410	1.18×
13	New Jersey	$74,960	108.8	1,080	0.76×
14	Virginia	$74,960	101.1	1,130	0.84×
15	South Carolina	$73,740	93.7	830	1.10×
16	Arizona	$73,490	100.7	1,120	1.04×
17	Montana	$72,800	94.6	60	0.33×
18	Connecticut	$72,780	103.6	820	1.46×
19	Hawaii	$72,710	110.0	60	0.28×
20	Florida	$71,630	103.4	3,910	1.19×
21	Pennsylvania	$71,590	97.6	2,560	1.28×
22	North Carolina	$69,390	94.3	1,590	0.97×
23	New York	$68,530	107.9	2,230	0.70×
24	New Hampshire	$67,790	104.2	150	0.66×
25	Rhode Island	$66,710	102.3	300	1.80×
26	Indiana	$66,660	93.3	1,490	1.41×
27	Oklahoma	$66,520	87.8	1,000	1.77×
28	District of Columbia	$66,390	109.9	60	0.27×
29	Louisiana	$66,090	88.2	760	1.18×
30	Utah	$66,080	98.9	280	0.48×
31	Missouri	$66,070	90.8	1,470	1.52×
32	Idaho	$65,330	95.5	210	0.76×
33	Kentucky	$65,230	90.2	500	0.76×
34	Kansas	$65,010	90.1	660	1.39×
35	Minnesota	$64,920	98.6	540	0.56×
36	Maine	$64,270	97.0	250	1.17×
37	Iowa	$64,140	87.8	400	0.77×
38	Illinois	$64,120	100.0	2,470	1.23×
39	Michigan	$63,260	96.2	1,250	0.86×
40	Nebraska	$63,180	90.1	210	0.61×
41	Wyoming	$62,750	92.7	80	0.88×
42	Ohio	$62,700	92.8	3,890	2.13×
43	Tennessee	$62,420	91.9	1,300	1.20×
44	Alabama	$62,250	88.8	750	1.07×
45	Mississippi	$61,650	87.0	420	1.09×
46	North Dakota	$60,970	89.0	130	0.94×
47	West Virginia	$60,370	89.5	340	1.47×
48	Wisconsin	$59,960	94.1	1,050	1.08×
49	South Dakota	$56,180	88.6	100	0.65×
50	Alaska	$53,530	102.4	60	0.56×

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 occupational therapy assistants wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for occupational therapy assistants

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	$97,860	115.6	290	0.36×
2	Modesto, CA	$96,210	104.1	30	0.47×
3	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$95,370	110.4	160	0.42×
4	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$95,190	100.9	40	0.40×
5	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$95,180	106.7	170	0.48×
6	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$88,250	108.9	420	0.41×
7	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$86,440	108.8	40	0.62×
8	Spartanburg, SC	$86,040	91.1	80	1.42×
9	Boulder, CO	$84,860	105.2	50	0.72×
10	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$84,400	105.1	60	0.63×
11	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$82,680	111.9	360	0.72×
12	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$82,620	104.5	310	0.68×
13	Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	$82,610	90.0	70	1.29×
14	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$82,060	110.5	80	0.75×
15	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$81,500	98.1	1,190	2.79×
16	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$81,340	98.6	900	0.83×
17	Visalia, CA	$81,200	99.8	50	0.95×
18	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$81,170	103.1	1,220	0.91×
19	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	$80,910	91.4	100	1.09×
20	Fort Smith, AR-OK	$80,660	85.9	40	1.19×
21	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$80,070	106.4	400	0.70×
22	Charlottesville, VA	$79,770	99.1	40	1.13×
23	Texarkana, TX-AR	$79,720	84.0	40	1.92×
24	Lubbock, TX	$79,690	91.3	70	1.33×
25	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$79,520	100.2	170	0.44×
26	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$79,240	94.7	420	1.14×
27	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR	$78,720	89.4	260	2.18×
28	Jonesboro, AR	$78,660	85.9	90	4.67×
29	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$78,640	105.4	170	0.44×
30	Lynchburg, VA	$78,230	89.4	40	1.11×
31	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$78,180	100.1	590	0.61×
32	Reno, NV	$78,100	101.0	40	0.42×
33	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$78,090	113.6	1,720	0.83×
34	Lake Charles, LA	$77,820	85.9	50	1.44×
35	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$77,690	103.2	50	0.79×
36	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$77,590	111.1	350	0.51×
37	Waco, TX	$77,170	92.5	50	1.26×
38	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$76,980	105.8	340	0.65×
39	Richmond, VA	$76,760	97.9	210	0.94×
40	Amarillo, TX	$76,720	91.8	90	2.20×

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 occupational therapy assistants wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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