How Much Does a Physical Therapist Make in 2014?

Generally, you can count on a profession in physical therapy to make you a very good income considering the average national salary is $82,180 per year (or $39.51 an hour), according to the latest PT salary statistics reported by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Like any other profession, there can be substantial differences in salary based upon experience. How much you earn is also reliant upon the following factors: your geographic location, the facility where you’re employed, your employment status (i.e. salaried, per diem, travel PT) and whether you’re a general PT or specialist.

Initially, the 1st physical therapy job you have will most likely earn you a salary somewhere between $55,000 and $65,000 based largely on your location. However, it’s important to take note that there is much room for earning potential growth which you can look forward to as a PT.

What’s The Earning Potential of a Physical Therapist?

By gaining more experience plus continuing your physical therapy education, you’ll be earning more and it may be possible to double your salary after a few years into your career as a PT. With a mix of work experience, great location, and a busy practice environment, peak salaries can be upwards of $100,000 per year, with travel PT’s earning over $100K in many cases.

The best way to figure out what you can look forward to making is to speak with recent graduates and physical therapists where you live. You can also check out the infographic on this page which lists physical therapist (and PT assistant) salaries for each state, including figures for those working in travel therapy.

Physical Therapy Job Outlook for 2012 and Beyond

The academic prerequisites for this profession are challenging, involving a minimum of 4 years of rigorous scholastic education and clinical experience to obtain a Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT) degree - which is highly recommended over going the Master’s in Physical Therapy (MPT) track. Therefore normally, you’ll be asking yourself if there’s going to be an employment opportunity awaiting you upon graduation. Fortunately, the guaranteed answer is yes. This is among the best careers in the last 10 years or so. Learn more about how to become a Physical Therapist.

Outlook for this profession is outstanding - 41% employment growth from 2012 to 2022. Furthermore, PTs experience among the smallest unemployment numbers of any profession. The need for physical therapy is significant and is anticipated to continuously increase in the foreseeable future.

What warrants such a high demand for physical therapists?

Currently, there are a number of explanations. A big reason is the quickly increasing population age 50 and older. The course of growing older carries with it more occurrences of persistent and incapacitating health issues. With age, even the fittest men and women become more susceptible to unanticipated health conditions and restricted movement or abilities. As many of those born in the 1950’s and before become more elderly, they experience the increased likelihood of consequences related to myocardial infarctions, strokes, brittle bones and worn joints.

People part of the Baby Boomer generation (those born in the 1950’s) have a tendency to be energetic individuals, set out to live a healthy lifestyle as long as achievable. If you go into any fitness center you’ll see that a sizable percentage of members are in their 50’s and 60’s. Paradoxically, this desire for keeping youthful and energetic is a major reason why the demand for sports medicine physical therapists will constantly grow. As exercise and involvement in sports rises, so do strained physiques and sports-related trauma.

On the opposite side of the age range, increasingly more babies will necessitate therapy. Technological innovation is enabling many infants to be given birth to who wouldn’t have stayed alive previously. However, this turns into a higher amount of children born with birth defects, a number of serious. Similarly, as technology preserves more people, survivors of serious mishaps and debilitating issues will require physical therapy rehabilitation. In the corporate setting, more physical therapists are being hired to protect against occupational injuries, as opposed to treating them. Decrease in work productivity as a result of disease and personal injuries sets both the employer and employee back a lot more than the cost of implementing programs to make workers healthy and fit. Medical facilities employ physical therapists to ensure the staff is carrying out their tasks safely and to endorse general health by creating exercise plans.

Infographic: How Much Does a Physical Therapist Make?

The following infographic shows how Physical Therapist salary varies by a number of factors, including experience, specialty area, gender and geographic region in the United States.