Salary guides / PT
PT salary guide
What we see Physical Therapist roles advertised at across the US, and what actually moves the number.
- Advertised range
- $80k – $112k
- Live roles
- 1 open now
- Basis
- Roles we recruit, US
How much does a PT earn in the US?
By experience
- Entry
- $80k
- First role after certification
- Mid-career
- $95k
- Two to five years, full caseload
- Senior
- $112k
- Supervisory scope or specialist skill
What moves the number
- Setting: center-based, in-home, school and telehealth all price differently for the same credential
- Caseload size and supervision responsibility
- State and metro cost of living, and how scarce the credential is locally
- Payer mix and billable expectation, which decide how achievable any bonus really is
- Bilingual capability and specialist skills such as feeding, AAC or severe behavior
PT pay questions
- How much does a PT make?
- Across the Physical Therapist roles we currently recruit in the US, advertised pay runs at roughly $80k – $112k, with $95k typical mid-career — around $45.67 an hour on a 2,080-hour year. That is what employers are publishing on live vacancies, not a survey average.
- What is a good starting salary for a PT?
- First roles after certification are advertised from about $80k. Treat anything below that as a signal to ask why: it usually means a heavier caseload, unpaid drive time, or a productivity target that makes the headline figure hard to reach.
- Does PT pay vary by state?
- Yes, but less than cost of living does. We publish advertised pay on the roles we hold rather than state averages, so the state guides cover licensure, setting mix and local market conditions instead of quoting a figure we cannot evidence.
Read the whole package
Base pay is only part of it. Before comparing two offers, get the caseload cap, the billable or productivity target, PTO, CEU allowance, supervision provided, drive time and mileage policy, and how cancellations affect pay. A lower base with a sane caseload routinely beats a higher one without.
Ranges reflect what we typically see advertised on roles we recruit for in the US. They are a market guide, not a survey, and vary by setting, caseload and experience. Last reviewed August 2026. Federal wage data is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Live PT roles
PT pay and jobs by state
The largest single behavioral health market in the country and the most competitive for BCBAs and pediatric therapists. Pay expectations track cost of living, which is why remote and hybrid models spread here first.
The fastest-growing ABA market we recruit in. Center expansion across Houston, DFW and Austin has outrun local BCBA supply, and relocation packages are now routine.
High-volume ABA and pediatric therapy market with strong Medicaid-funded demand. Bilingual Spanish clinicians are the scarcest hire in South Florida.
Dense, credential-heavy market. Licensure processing time is the main obstacle to out-of-state hires, so we start it before offer, not after.
A national hub for ABA growth and telehealth operations, helped by PSYPACT membership and a fast-growing population.
Rapid multi-site ABA and pediatric therapy expansion, with clinical director searches growing faster than clinician searches.
Atlanta anchors a strong Southeast market for ABA, community mental health and telepsychiatry.
Deep clinical labor market in Chicago, with school-based and community mental health demand strongest downstate.
Strong IDD and community mental health sector, with school-based contract work concentrated around Philadelphia.
Balanced market across ABA, community mental health and IDD, with strong nonprofit provider presence.
High-density ABA and school-based market that competes for the same clinicians as New York and Philadelphia.
Strong pay benchmarks and a competitive telehealth sector; in-person roles outside Seattle are the harder fills.
Attractive relocation market with high candidate inbound and a tight supply of experienced BCBAs.
Academic-heavy market with strong clinical standards and correspondingly high expectations on supervision quality.
Steady ABA and community mental health demand with strong Medicaid-funded volume.
Northern Virginia competes with DC and Maryland for the same candidate pool; multi-state licensure is common.
Dense provider market anchored by Baltimore and the DC corridor.
Fast-growing ABA and pediatric therapy market around Nashville.
High-volume ABA market relative to population, with strong center-based growth.
Two distinct metro markets that rarely share candidates; searches need to be run separately.
Stable market with strong school-based and IDD demand.
Strong nonprofit and hospital-affiliated behavioral health sector.
Undersupplied relative to demand; relocation incentives are common and effective.
Smaller pool, strong candidate preference for hybrid and part-time structures.
Concentrated market with a large residential treatment sector.
Growing ABA market pulling candidates from Charlotte and Atlanta.
High-pay, low-volume market competing directly with New York for candidates.
Steady school and clinic-based ABA demand around Birmingham and Huntsville, with less center saturation than the Southeast's larger metros.
Small, high-cost market where telehealth and travel contracts do most of the work; relocation and housing support are usually part of the offer.
Rural coverage is the recurring problem here: caseloads exist outside Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas but clinician supply concentrates in both.
Effectively part of the Philadelphia labour market, so pay has to be read against Pennsylvania and New Jersey rather than against state averages.
Island geography makes coverage the hiring constraint. Employers recruit for permanence rather than volume, and neighbour-island roles carry travel expectations.
Boise growth is pulling ABA and pediatric therapy providers in, but candidate pools are thin outside the Treasure Valley.
School-linked and Medicaid-funded work dominates. Roles are often the only opening in their county, so search is slower and retention matters more.
The Kansas City metro splits across two states, so licensure planning matters as much as pay when candidates move a few miles.
Louisville and Lexington carry most centre-based demand; rural districts rely heavily on telehealth supervision.
Medicaid-funded ABA underpins most vacancies, which keeps pay bands tighter and makes caseload structure the main differentiator.
A small market with an ageing workforce. Employers compete on schedule control and caseload size rather than headline salary.
One of the thinnest clinician supplies in the country relative to need, so out-of-state and remote supervision models are common.
Frontier caseloads mean long travel radii. Roles that fund mileage and offer four-day weeks fill materially faster.
Omaha and Lincoln hold most centre-based ABA work; the rest of the state is served by travelling and telehealth models.
Candidates routinely compare offers against Massachusetts, so total package and commute matter more than local benchmarks.
Persistent behavioural health shortage designations across most counties. Bilingual Spanish clinicians are the scarcest hire.
A very small market with wide shortage coverage, so single hires change service capacity across whole regions.
Oklahoma City and Tulsa both support multi-site ABA providers, with steady clinical supervisor demand rather than spikes.
Providence functions as one commuter market with south-eastern Massachusetts, which sets the real pay comparison.
Sioux Falls anchors almost all clinic-based hiring; elsewhere schools and tribal health services are the main employers.
Vermont Medicaid covers medically necessary ABA to age 21 under BCBA supervision, which keeps demand stable in a very small workforce.
State Medicaid covers medically necessary ABA under 21 through EPSDT, so most vacancies are publicly funded and rurally spread.
The smallest clinician workforce in the country. Roles are usually singular, so employers hire for autonomy and long travel tolerance.