Physical Therapist Aides salary

SOC 31-2022 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$35,240

per year, nationally

Middle half

$30,410–$38,810

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

48,150

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+2.8%

6,600 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.

$25,360$47,780

10th: $25,360
25th: $30,410
Median: $35,240
75th: $38,810
90th: $47,780

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

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

Where physical therapist aides 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	Alaska	$55,760	102.4	110	1.05×
2	Minnesota	$42,330	98.6	150	0.16×
3	Colorado	$41,970	103.1	360	0.40×
4	New Hampshire	$40,460	104.2	130	0.63×
5	Maine	$39,660	97.0	90	0.43×
6	Washington	$39,500	107.0	760	0.69×
7	Montana	$38,950	94.6	110	0.68×
8	District of Columbia	$38,950	109.9	30	0.16×
9	California	$38,330	110.7	7,330	1.30×
10	North Dakota	$37,680	89.0	120	0.89×
11	Massachusetts	$37,440	105.8	1,020	0.91×
12	Ohio	$37,220	92.8	760	0.44×
13	Wisconsin	$36,820	94.1	840	0.93×
14	Illinois	$36,650	100.0	680	0.36×
15	Oregon	$36,060	103.4	1,090	1.79×
16	Connecticut	$35,770	103.6	520	0.99×
17	Pennsylvania	$35,520	97.6	1,200	0.64×
18	Kentucky	$35,490	90.2	160	0.25×
19	New York	$35,380	107.9	4,950	1.65×
20	Arizona	$35,260	100.7	1,340	1.34×
21	Florida	$35,140	103.4	1,210	0.39×
22	Indiana	$35,100	93.3	860	0.86×
23	West Virginia	$34,840	89.5	170	0.77×
24	Maryland	$34,780	105.0	830	0.97×
25	North Carolina	$34,760	94.3	1,050	0.68×
26	New Jersey	$34,430	108.8	2,230	1.68×
27	Delaware	$34,060	99.8	300	2.00×
28	Hawaii	$33,810	110.0	60	0.33×
29	Virginia	$33,390	101.1	1,260	0.99×
30	South Carolina	$33,280	93.7	370	0.52×
31	New Mexico	$31,990	92.2	240	0.89×
32	Nevada	$31,970	100.0	900	1.88×
33	Texas	$31,590	97.1	5,710	1.31×
34	South Dakota	$31,330	88.6	70	0.53×
35	Rhode Island	$31,200	102.3	280	1.83×
36	Georgia	$30,550	96.3	1,200	0.79×
37	Wyoming	$30,470	92.7	240	2.78×
38	Tennessee	$30,320	91.9	710	0.70×
39	Arkansas	$29,450	86.9	160	0.40×
40	Michigan	$29,350	96.2	1,810	1.33×
41	Missouri	$29,250	90.8	750	0.83×
42	Utah	$29,150	98.9	1,130	2.11×
43	Iowa	$29,120	87.8	390	0.81×
44	Idaho	$28,660	95.5	540	2.04×
45	Nebraska	$28,080	90.1	670	2.13×
46	Oklahoma	$27,630	87.8	370	0.69×
47	Mississippi	$27,370	87.0	270	0.74×
48	Alabama	$27,290	88.8	750	1.15×
49	Kansas	$25,280	90.1	440	0.99×
50	Louisiana	$22,460	88.2	1,380	2.31×

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 aides wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for physical therapist aides

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	Abilene, TX	$49,790	90.4	70	2.97×
2	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$46,460	111.1	400	0.62×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$44,440	115.6	680	0.93×
4	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$43,300	110.4	330	0.94×
5	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$42,520	105.8	150	0.30×
6	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$42,230	104.8	80	0.13×
7	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$40,460	105.7	50	0.79×
8	Fresno, CA	$40,350	102.2	240	1.63×
9	Toledo, OH	$40,160	91.5	30	0.37×
10	Columbus, OH	$39,990	95.5	250	0.73×
11	Madison, WI	$39,420	97.3	90	0.75×
12	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$39,210	109.9	100	3.22×
13	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$38,980	106.7	330	1.00×
14	Anchorage, AK	$38,930	105.4	70	1.31×
15	Salinas, CA	$38,810	109.0	60	0.96×
16	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$38,810	96.9	340	1.34×
17	Pittsburgh, PA	$38,740	94.7	180	0.52×
18	Worcester, MA	$38,710	102.5	90	0.85×
19	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$38,440	106.4	740	1.40×
20	Chico, CA	$38,230	101.2	30	1.32×
21	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$38,050	95.7	310	0.91×
22	Cleveland, OH	$38,030	93.9	130	0.40×
23	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$37,850	111.9	760	1.61×
24	Portland-South Portland, ME	$37,720	101.9	40	0.39×
25	Visalia, CA	$37,700	99.8	80	1.48×
26	Fargo, ND-MN	$37,680	90.9	50	0.99×
27	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL	$37,630	102.3	50	0.51×
28	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$37,620	107.8	60	0.91×
29	Winston-Salem, NC	$37,610	92.0	60	0.77×
30	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$37,580	97.6	70	0.63×
31	Boulder, CO	$37,440	105.2	40	0.71×
32	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$37,440	108.3	840	1.00×
33	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$37,280	113.6	2,720	1.40×
34	Vallejo, CA	$37,270	108.5	30	0.71×
35	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$37,250	98.7	30	0.30×
36	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$37,130	105.6	40	1.24×
37	Midland, TX	$37,020	95.8	50	1.30×
38	Gainesville, FL	$36,830	96.7	50	1.03×
39	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$36,790	108.8	120	1.86×
40	Akron, OH	$36,750	93.4	40	0.38×

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 aides wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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