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    Salary / PT / Illinois

    PT salary in Illinois

    What PT roles are advertised at, and the Illinois factors that change the number.

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    How much does a PT earn in Illinois?

    Federal wage data for Illinois puts the median for physical therapists at $105,250 a year, with the middle of the market between $83,000 and $140,410 and about 9,800 people employed in the state (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). Deep clinical labor market in Chicago, with school-based and community mental health demand strongest downstate. Nationally, the PT roles we recruit are advertised at roughly $80k – $112k; the national PT salary guide sets out the entry, mid-career and senior figures behind that.

    PT advertised pay by experience

    Entry
    $80k
    First role after certification
    Mid-career
    $95k
    Two to five years, full caseload
    Senior
    $112k
    Supervisory scope or specialist skill

    Official Illinois wage data

    Federal wage data for Illinois puts the median for physical therapists at $105,250 a year, with the middle of the market between $83,000 and $140,410 and about 9,800 people employed in the state (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025).

    Median
    $105,250
    Mean
    $109,080
    10th percentile
    $83,000
    90th percentile
    $140,410

    Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. State wage tables

    What changes a PT offer in Illinois

    • Physical Therapist practice in Illinois is regulated by the state board for that therapy profession (speech-language pathology and audiology, occupational therapy or physical therapy, depending on the credential), not by the counseling boards. We do not publish IL-specific requirements for this credential, so confirm them with that board before you accept a start date.
    • Setting: Pediatric clinics, Schools, Rehab hospitals price differently for the same credential.
    • Caseload cap and billable or productivity target, which decide whether a bonus is real.
    • Metro cost of living within the state; a city premium is not the same as a better offer.
    • Scarcity: Moderate overall, tight in pediatric and school-based work.

    How to read the IL figures

    The federal estimates above are the official Illinois picture for physical therapists, published annually and lagging the market by about a year. What we publish alongside them is what we actually see advertised on roles we recruit today. Use the federal median as a floor for negotiation and the advertised range as the live signal.

    Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data

    Last reviewed August 2026.

    Live PT roles in Illinois

    No live PT roles in Illinois right now. Tell us your license status and target setting and we will contact you when the next Illinois search opens.

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    Open PT roles elsewhere in the US

    How to work as a PT in Illinois

    1. 1

      Confirm the credential

      State licensure; Doctor of Physical Therapy. This is the baseline every Illinois employer screens on before anything else.

    2. 2

      Check the IL requirement

      Physical Therapist practice in Illinois is regulated by the state board for that therapy profession (speech-language pathology and audiology, occupational therapy or physical therapy, depending on the credential), not by the counseling boards. We do not publish IL-specific requirements for this credential, so confirm them with that board before you accept a start date.

    3. 3

      Check the multi-state routes

      PSYPACT: member; Counseling Compact: enacted Compact participation changes, so confirm the current position with the Illinois board rather than a secondary source.

    4. 4

      Build board processing into your start date

      Processing time, not eligibility, is the usual cause of a delayed start. Agree a start date with the licensing timeline already in it.

    5. 5

      Match the credential to open work

      Compare the advertised range for PT roles, roughly $80k – $112k, against the live Illinois vacancies on this page, or join the talent network to be contacted when the next Illinois search opens.

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    PT pay and licensure in Illinois: common questions

    Do you need a license to work as a PT in Illinois?
    Physical Therapist practice in Illinois is regulated by the state board for that therapy profession (speech-language pathology and audiology, occupational therapy or physical therapy, depending on the credential), not by the counseling boards. We do not publish IL-specific requirements for this credential, so confirm them with that board before you accept a start date. Confirm the current position with the Illinois board before you accept a start date, as processing time is the usual cause of a delayed start.
    What is the average PT salary in Illinois?
    Federal wage data for Illinois puts the median for physical therapists at $105,250 a year, with the middle of the market between $83,000 and $140,410 and about 9,800 people employed in the state (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). Advertised pay on the PT roles we recruit nationally sits at roughly $80k – $112k, and offers land inside that band according to setting, caseload and metro cost of living.
    Does PT pay in Illinois differ from the rest of the US?
    We publish advertised pay on the roles we recruit, not a Illinois average. Across the US those PT roles are advertised at roughly $80k – $112k, and where a Illinois offer lands inside that band is driven by setting, caseload and metro cost of living. For an official comparison, Illinois median pay for physical therapists is $105,250; treat that as a negotiating floor.
    Where are the PT jobs in Illinois?
    Deep clinical labor market in Chicago, with school-based and community mental health demand strongest downstate. The live PT vacancies we hold in Illinois are listed on this page; when nothing is open there today, the national PT board carries every role we currently hold.
    Who employs PTs in Illinois?
    The employers hiring this credential are pediatric clinics, schools, rehab hospitals, early intervention, home health. Which of those dominates in Illinois follows the local funding and provider mix rather than any national pattern, and it is the single biggest driver of what an offer looks like: the same PT is priced differently by a center-based provider, a school district and a hospital system.
    What do employers look for when hiring a PT in Illinois?
    First, the credential and the right to practise: state licensure; doctor of physical therapy. Physical Therapist practice in Illinois is regulated by the state board for that therapy profession (speech-language pathology and audiology, occupational therapy or physical therapy, depending on the credential), not by the counseling boards. We do not publish IL-specific requirements for this credential, so confirm them with that board before you accept a start date. After that, hiring managers screen on the specifics of the work — caseload size you have carried, the settings you have worked in, supervision responsibility, and documentation or payer experience. Availability matters too: a realistic start date that accounts for board processing usually beats a stronger resume that cannot start.
    What does the salary range on this page actually mean?
    Two different things, kept separate on purpose. $80k – $112k is what PT roles we recruit are advertised at across the US — a live market signal, not a survey. The federal figures are official Illinois estimates for physical therapists: $105,250 median, with $83,000 at the 10th percentile and $140,410 at the 90th. They cover the whole occupation in the state, are published annually and lag the market by roughly a year, so read the median as a negotiating floor rather than a target. Neither number is an offer; where you land inside a range is set by setting, caseload and metro cost of living.

    PT pay in other states

    A clinical director and a hiring lead shaking hands across a meeting-room table.

    Hiring PTs in Illinois

    Pay is the last thing that fixes a stalled search

    The PT Compact makes multi-state contract coverage genuinely practical; most employers underuse it.

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    • Behavioral health only
    • Recruiting across all 50 states
    • Pay published on every role
    • Recruitment partnerships, not job spam