As a Licensed Physical Therapist (PT), you will find that you are not limited to working in a particular patient care office or rehabilitation clinic. With a degree in Physical Therapist (DPT) from an accredited degree program in the United States, you can apply for licensure in any state and find a wide variety of practice jobs.
As a PT, you can combine an interest in helping patients achieve comfort, mobility, and strength with job security and adventure. please.
Where do physical therapists work?
The good news is that you can find PT jobs nationwide.
Physical therapy patients span all ages, injuries, and conditions, and physical therapists can find work in private clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, and in patients’ homes.1
Where to find the most physical therapy jobs
There are cities and states with more PT career options and positions. If you’re looking for the most PT jobs, consider these top five states.2
- California: 23,840
- New York: 16,130
- Texas: 14,040
- Florida: 13,220
- Pennsylvania: 10,700
The metropolitan areas with the following employment numbers and highest PT employment levels are:2
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA: 16,100 jobs1
- Los Angeles – Long Beach – Anaheim, CA: 9,530 Jobs
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Wisconsin, IL: 7,140 jobs
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD: 5,880 jobs
- Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, Massachusetts-New Hampshire: 5,700 jobs
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX: 3,920 jobs
- Miami, FL – Fort Lauderdale – West Palm Beach: 3,730 jobs
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV: 3,730 jobs
- Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan: 3,490 jobs
- Minneapolis-St.Paul Bloomington, Wisconsin: 3,140 jobs
Non-metropolitan areas with the following number of jobs and highest employment levels are located in:2
- Kansas: 520
- Southwest Maine: 430
- Piedmont, NC: 430
- Northeast Ohio (noncontiguous): 400
- Northeast Mississippi: 390
Many of these listings reflect the size and population of a place. There are not necessarily more open positions per applicant here than in sparsely populated places.
Geographic Opportunity by Location Index
If you’re specifically looking for states with higher-than-average employment levels relative to size and population, consider location ratios rather than total employment. The location index measures the concentration of jobs in a population compared to the national average.
The top five states based on this marker are:
- Maine: 1.5 times the national average (1,420 jobs)2
- Montana: 1.49 times the national average (1,120 jobs)
- Alaska: 1.44 times the national average (680 jobs)
- Vermont: 1.38 times the national average (630 jobs)
- Wyoming: 1.38 times the national average (570 jobs)
The top metropolitan areas based on location index are:
- Bay City, Michigan: 2.70 times the national average (140 jobs)2
- Bloomsburg-Berwick, Pennsylvania: 2.23 times the national average (140 jobs)
- Punta Gorda, Florida: 1.99 times the national average (160 jobs)
- Waterbury, Connecticut: 1.92 times the national average (200 jobs)
- Johnstown, Pennsylvania: 1.89 times the national average (140 jobs)
- Las Cruces, New Mexico: 1.87 times the national average (200 jobs)
- Athens-Clark County, Georgia: 1.84 times the national average (250 jobs)
- Rochester, Minnesota: 1.84 times the national average (340 jobs)
- New Bedford, MA: 1.82 times the national average (180 jobs)
- Cape Coral – Fort Myers, FL: 1.77 times the national average (760 jobs)
The non-metropolitan areas with the highest location indices are:
- Connecticut: 2.26 times the national average (110 jobs)
- Western Montana: 1.79 times the national average (220 jobs)
- Southwest Colorado: 1.71 times the national average (270 jobs)
- Central New Hampshire: 1.63 times the national average (230 jobs)
- Southwest Montana: 1.61 times the national average (360 jobs)
Why are there so many physical therapy specialties in these places? Consider each state and its population. For example, states such as Florida and Maine have the highest number of people over the age of 65.3 Physical therapy and rehabilitation are also required for older patients, as they are at increased risk for mobility-related injuries.1
Where can you earn the most as a physical therapist in the United States?
For many people, it is not just where they can find job postings, but where they can find well-paying professional development opportunities. While there is some overlap with the list above (hello, California), there are other places where PT average salaries are significantly higher.
Here are the top five states with the highest median income:
- Nevada: $104,2102
- California: $103,510
- Connecticut: $101,180
- Delaware: $100,490
- New Jersey: $99,530
Here are the top paying metropolitan locations:
- San Jose, CA – Sunnyvale – Santa Clara: $123,190
- San Francisco, CA – Oakland – Hayward: $118,370
- Midland, Texas: $116,880
- Napa, California: $114,540
- Carson City, Nevada: $114,470
- Santa Rosa, California: $114,150
- Santa Maria, California – Santa Barbara: $110,910
- Salinas, California: $110,860
- Sacramento, CA – Roseville – Arden – Arcade: $109,810
- Yuba City, CA: $109,650
Finally, if you’re interested in living outside of the metropolitan area, the highest average annual salaries are:
- Eastern New Mexico: $106,050
- Central Louisiana: $105,290
- Alaska: $105,190
- Connecticut: $103,620
- West Tennessee: $103,360
If you’re interested in the highest paying physical therapy roles, learn more about the highest paying physical therapy specialties and find out which career paths are the most financially promising.
Include cost of living in true salary figures
Pretty cut and dried, right? Time to pack up and head to California.
not so soon Looking at salaries alone does not reveal your true wealth potential in any particular location. The cost of living varies greatly by city and state. It also depends on whether you are in an urban, suburban, or rural area. Your location affects:
- Monthly housing and property costs
- Prices of food, clothing and household items
- Utility (Rate, Type, Usage)
- All levels of tax amounts, including sales, property, and state income
Let’s compare the two locations above.
sunnyvale, california – Can you go wrong with a name like Sunnyvale? The city is beautifully located in the Southern San Francisco Bay Area. As a PT in the Sunnyvale area, you will work with Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and enjoy the highest average salary.
- Average Annual Income: $123,190
- Cost of living: 180.5% higher than the national averageFour
- Median home price: $1,894,600
midland, texas – Located between Dallas and El Paso, Midland is made up of college students, faculty, and oil and gas workers. This small city in the West Texas highlands is near the southeast corner of New Mexico.
- Average Annual Income: $116,880
- Cost of living: 8.3% lower than the national average8
- Median home price: $261,500
If you choose Sunnyvale, how far will your $6,310 a year extra cost go? According to PayScale’s cost of living calculator, just making $48,332 a year in Midland is comparable to what you could buy with an annual income of $123,190 in Sunnyvale. I understand this.9 Conversely, you would have to earn $297,905 a year to find the equivalent lifestyle in Sunnyvale.
Where do physical therapists work based on type of practice?
“Where can physical therapists work?” Consider both location and work environment. Some of his possible PT work settings include:6
- Outpatient Physical and Occupational Therapy Offices and Clinics
- Outpatient or specialty care (cardiovascular, pulmonary, etc.) offices and clinics
- Inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, hospital facilities, emergency rooms
- Advanced Nursing and Residential Care Facilities
- home medical care
- professional sports organization
- Corporate environment
Other physical therapy professionals can work in the following areas:
- Clinical research at universities and medical institutions
- Entrepreneurial research and development, including the use of artificial intelligence at PT
- Sports Media Injury Analysis
- education and training
What type of practice environment is the most expensive?
Here are the highest incomes with the following average annual salaries:
- Outpatient Treatment Center: $111,410Ten
- Home Health Care Service: $105,510
- Childcare Service: $102,050
- Local government (excluding schools and hospitals): $101,290
- Nursing home: $100,760
Take the next step towards a career in physical therapy
St. Augustine’s University of Health Sciences (USAHS) prepares you for clinical practice, research, leadership, and policy-making with a Distinguished Physical Therapist (DPT) degree. USAHS has his five campuses in Florida, California and Texas. These destination cities offer access to coastal beauty, big-city excitement, art and cultural inspiration, or all of the above. Join a highly motivated group of peers who will study under the guidance of expert faculty at the largest PT school in the United States. *
Choose from a residential program (mixed lecture course and face-to-face weekday labs) or Flex format (online courses and face-to-face weekend labs).
Get answers to your questions about physical therapy, including how many schools there are for physical therapists and where they can work.
Ready to find out more? Check out our program options or request more information on how you can further your passion for physical therapy.
*Based on total DPT degrees awarded. Integrated higher education data system (IPEDS). Data are obtained by IPEDS through correlative surveys conducted annually by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
sauce:
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “physical therapist” Occupational Outlook Handbook, Last Revised 2021,
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “29-1123 Physiotherapist” Occupational Employment and Wages, Last Amended May 2021,
- Census Bureau “Which US state has the oldest population?” Resource Library, last updated December 2021,
- best place, “Sunnyvale, California”
- best place, “Midland, Texas”
- payscale, “Cost of Living Calculator”
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “29-1123 Physiotherapist” Occupational Employment and Wages, Last Amended May 2021,