Physical Therapist Assistants salary

SOC 31-2021 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$68,380

per year, nationally

Middle half

$59,820–$78,680

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

112,430

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+22.0%

19,800 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.

$47,750$89,510

10th: $47,750
25th: $59,820
Median: $68,380
75th: $78,680
90th: $89,510

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 physical therapist 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	California	$83,110	110.7	9,400	0.71×
2	Massachusetts	$79,460	105.8	2,640	1.00×
3	New Jersey	$78,440	108.8	1,810	0.58×
4	Texas	$78,000	97.1	10,510	1.03×
5	Maryland	$77,670	105.0	1,430	0.72×
6	Alaska	$77,640	102.4	110	0.45×
7	Connecticut	$75,880	103.6	980	0.80×
8	Nevada	$75,520	100.0	560	0.50×
9	Delaware	$74,610	99.8	340	0.98×
10	Virginia	$73,760	101.1	3,370	1.13×
11	Oregon	$73,180	103.4	890	0.63×
12	Georgia	$72,800	96.3	2,620	0.74×
13	Florida	$72,530	103.4	9,870	1.37×
14	Vermont	$71,600	98.0	100	0.46×
15	New Hampshire	$71,440	104.2	500	1.02×
16	South Carolina	$70,500	93.7	1,870	1.12×
17	Rhode Island	$68,640	102.3	420	1.15×
18	North Carolina	$67,540	94.3	3,280	0.92×
19	Hawaii	$67,510	110.0	250	0.56×
20	Minnesota	$66,770	98.6	1,230	0.58×
21	Washington	$66,450	107.0	2,150	0.84×
22	Maine	$66,250	97.0	410	0.88×
23	Louisiana	$65,370	88.2	1,670	1.19×
24	Indiana	$65,280	93.3	2,830	1.22×
25	Illinois	$65,240	100.0	4,890	1.11×
26	Colorado	$64,810	103.1	1,350	0.65×
27	Arizona	$64,650	100.7	2,010	0.86×
28	Arkansas	$64,520	86.9	1,620	1.72×
29	Kansas	$64,500	90.1	1,300	1.25×
30	New York	$64,100	107.9	3,620	0.52×
31	Wisconsin	$64,080	94.1	1,650	0.78×
32	Ohio	$63,820	92.8	7,040	1.75×
33	Missouri	$63,770	90.8	2,490	1.18×
34	Wyoming	$63,550	92.7	240	1.17×
35	North Dakota	$63,520	89.0	120	0.38×
36	District of Columbia	$63,400	109.9	40	0.08×
37	Montana	$62,650	94.6	250	0.67×
38	Pennsylvania	$62,580	97.6	4,270	0.97×
39	Tennessee	$62,500	91.9	3,390	1.43×
40	New Mexico	$62,280	92.2	700	1.11×
41	Utah	$61,980	98.9	970	0.77×
42	Mississippi	$61,770	87.0	1,150	1.37×
43	Michigan	$61,670	96.2	4,520	1.42×
44	Kentucky	$61,480	90.2	2,580	1.78×
45	Alabama	$61,430	88.8	2,700	1.77×
46	Nebraska	$61,370	90.1	980	1.33×
47	Iowa	$61,030	87.8	1,060	0.94×
48	Idaho	$61,020	95.5	560	0.90×
49	West Virginia	$60,430	89.5	980	1.93×
50	Oklahoma	$59,480	87.8	2,380	1.93×
51	South Dakota	$49,310	88.6	300	0.89×

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 therapist assistants wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for physical therapist 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 Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$97,190	110.4	400	0.49×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$95,920	115.6	1,040	0.60×
3	Spartanburg, SC	$88,070	91.1	160	1.35×
4	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$87,330	109.9	60	0.87×
5	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$87,300	107.8	90	0.61×
6	Vallejo, CA	$86,630	108.5	50	0.50×
7	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$85,150	108.8	100	0.71×
8	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$84,930	98.1	1,180	1.26×
9	Salinas, CA	$84,850	109.0	70	0.52×
10	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$84,290	106.7	570	0.73×
11	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$84,100	100.9	150	0.60×
12	Modesto, CA	$83,450	104.1	150	1.09×
13	Midland, TX	$82,620	95.8	70	0.74×
14	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$82,160	111.9	870	0.78×
15	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$82,140	113.6	3,730	0.82×
16	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$81,310	105.1	160	0.78×
17	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$80,430	108.3	1,860	0.95×
18	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$80,370	103.1	2,110	0.72×
19	Barnstable Town, MA	$79,790	98.4	90	1.31×
20	Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA	$79,590	91.1	50	1.33×
21	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$79,480	110.5	210	0.91×
22	Visalia, CA	$79,440	99.8	100	0.80×
23	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$79,250	104.5	620	0.63×
24	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$79,210	106.4	860	0.69×
25	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$78,990	108.6	70	0.78×
26	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$78,790	108.9	1,340	0.59×
27	Wichita Falls, TX	$78,310	89.5	60	1.62×
28	San Angelo, TX	$78,200	92.5	60	1.69×
29	Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	$77,830	90.0	150	1.29×
30	Redding, CA	$77,740	100.7	60	1.17×
31	Anchorage, AK	$77,570	105.4	80	0.65×
32	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$77,280	98.6	2,210	0.93×
33	Reno, NV	$77,200	101.0	70	0.37×
34	Fresno, CA	$77,000	102.2	220	0.64×
35	Worcester, MA	$76,900	102.5	310	1.24×
36	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$76,830	94.7	960	1.18×
37	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$76,690	103.2	120	0.95×
38	Longview, TX	$76,680	89.5	120	1.40×
39	Chico, CA	$76,580	101.2	100	1.73×
40	Lexington Park, MD	$76,530	100.8	40	0.74×

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 therapist assistants wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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