Healthcare Support Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Above-baseline growth SOC 31-2021

Physical Therapist Assistants

Projected +22% employment change leads this card; pay sits next to Massage Therapists, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, Phlebotomists, Occupational Therapy Aides.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Physical Therapist Assistants: Massage Therapists ($58K) , Home Health and Personal Care Aides ($36K) , Phlebotomists ($45K) , Occupational Therapy Aides ($39K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Physical Therapist Assistants publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 31-2021 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Instruct, motivate, safeguard, and assist patients as they practice exercises or functional activities
  2. 2. Document patient information, such as notes on their progress
  3. 3. Observe patients during treatments to compile and evaluate data on their responses and progress and provide results to physical therapist…
  4. 4. Instruct patients in proper body mechanics and in ways to improve functional mobility, such as aquatic exercise
  5. 5. Secure patients into or onto therapy equipment
  6. 6. Confer with physical therapy staff or others to discuss and evaluate patient information for planning, modifying, or coordinating treatment
  7. 7. Administer active or passive manual therapeutic exercises, therapeutic massage, aquatic physical therapy, or heat, light, sound, or elect…
  8. 8. Transport patients to and from treatment areas, lifting and transferring them according to positioning requirements
  9. 9. Clean work area and check and store equipment after treatment
  10. 10. Communicate with or instruct caregivers or family members on patient therapeutic activities or treatment plans
  11. 11. Measure patients' range-of-joint motion, body parts, or vital signs to determine effects of treatments or for patient evaluations
  12. 12. Train patients in the use of orthopedic braces, prostheses, or supportive devices

Physical Therapist Assistants: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 31-2021 - lead skill Active Listening at 4.0 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 4.0
  2. 2. Speaking 3.8
  3. 3. Monitoring 3.8
  4. 4. Social Perceptiveness 3.8
  5. 5. Reading Comprehension 3.3
  6. 6. Writing 3.3
  7. 7. Critical Thinking 3.3
  8. 8. Active Learning 3.3

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.5
  2. 2. Therapy and Counseling 4.2
  3. 3. English Language 4.2
  4. 4. Education and Training 3.9
  5. 5. Psychology 3.6
  6. 6. Medicine and Dentistry 3.5
Projected employment change 2024-2034
↑ +22%
much faster than average (3.1%)
National median $68,380/yr
$68K
National median
19,800
Annual openings
112,430
Estimated US jobs
Massage Therapists
Highest-pay peer · $58K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Associate's degree

Top Paying States for Physical Therapist Assistants

1. Massachusetts $79,460
2. Virginia $73,760
3. Nevada $75,520
4. Delaware $74,610
5. California $83,110
6. Texas $78,000
7. Alaska $77,640
8. Maryland $77,670
9. Connecticut $75,880
10. New Jersey $78,440

Other Healthcare Support Occupations titles

  1. 1. Phlebotomists $45,230
  2. 2. Home Health and Personal Care Aides $35,800
  3. 3. Occupational Therapy Aides $39,160
  4. 4. Massage Therapists $58,450
  5. 5. Psychiatric Aides $44,910
  6. 6. Medical Equipment Preparers $47,700

BLS projects +22% employment change for Physical Therapist Assistants (2024-2034), much faster than average vs the all-occupations baseline of 3.1%. Published median pay is $68,380.

BLS assigns Associate's degree as typical entry education. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal employer rules. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Massachusetts at $79,460. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Massage Therapists at $58,450. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Physical Therapist Assistants pay-rank #2 in Healthcare Support Occupations

Among 17 detailed Healthcare Support Occupations with a published OEWS median, Physical Therapist Assistants is pay-rank #2, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 31-2021 · national median $68,380 · upper third of Healthcare Support Occupations (#2/17). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Physical Therapist Assistants salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 31-2021

Massachusetts · top state for Physical Therapist Assistants

$79K published median

Virginia · #2 state pay

$74K · behind Massachusetts

Massage Therapists

Highest-pay peer vs Physical Therapist Assistants · $58K

Home Health and Personal Care Aides

Lower-pay peer beside Physical Therapist Assistants · $36K

Compare Physical Therapist Assistants

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Physical Therapist Assistants with another occupation →

Growth and outlook next reads

Fastest-Growing Rankings

National projection leaders

Highest-Paying Careers

Where growth meets pay

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Healthcare Support Occupations titles sit near Physical Therapist Assistants at the top of the pay table? ▼
Physical Therapist Assistants is pay-rank #2 of 17 detailed Healthcare Support Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Occupational Therapy Assistants ($72K), Massage Therapists ($58K), Healthcare Support Workers, All Other ($48K), Dental Assistants ($48K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do physical therapist assistants do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Physical Therapist Assistants. Leading ones include: Instruct, motivate, safeguard, and assist patients as they practice exercises or functional activities; Document patient information, such as notes on their progress; Observe patients during treatments to compile and evaluate data on their responses and progress and provide results to physical therapist…; Instruct patients in proper body mechanics and in ways to improve functional mobility, such as aquatic exercise. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for physical therapist assistants? ▼
For SOC 31-2021, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.0), Speaking (3.8), Monitoring (3.8), Social Perceptiveness (3.8). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, Therapy and Counseling, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Physical Therapist Assistants? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $68,380 as the national median for Physical Therapist Assistants. The published 10th-90th range is $47,750 to $89,510. Beside Massage Therapists ($58,450), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
How fast is Physical Therapist Assistants projected to grow? ▼
BLS Employment Projections put Physical Therapist Assistants at +22% change for 2024-2034, with about 19,800 annual openings. Versus the all-occupations baseline (3.1%): much faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Physical Therapist Assistants? ▼
BLS assigns Associate's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Physical Therapist Assistants. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Physical Therapist Assistants? ▼
Massachusetts ($79,460), Virginia ($73,760), Nevada ($75,520) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Physical Therapist Assistants card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 31-2021. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Physical Therapist Assistants. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics