Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 29-1125

Recreational Therapists

The published band from $40,990 to $100,420 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Surgeons, All Other.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Recreational Therapists: Surgeons, All Other ($414K) , Physicians, All Other ($266K) , Dermatologists ($329K) , Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons ($352K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Recreational Therapists publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 29-1125 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Instruct patient in activities and techniques, such as sports, dance, music, art, or relaxation techniques, designed to meet their specif…
  2. 2. Conduct therapy sessions to improve patients' mental and physical well-being
  3. 3. Plan, organize, direct, and participate in treatment programs and activities to facilitate patients' rehabilitation, help them integrate…
  4. 4. Observe, analyze, and record patients' participation, reactions, and progress during treatment sessions, modifying treatment programs as…
  5. 5. Develop treatment plan to meet needs of patient, based on needs assessment, patient interests, and objectives of therapy
  6. 6. Obtain information from medical records, medical staff, family members and the patients, themselves, to assess patients' capabilities, ne…
  7. 7. Confer with members of treatment team to plan and evaluate therapy programs
  8. 8. Counsel and encourage patients to develop leisure activities
  9. 9. Encourage clients with special needs and circumstances to acquire new skills and get involved in health-promoting leisure activities, suc…
  10. 10. Prepare and submit reports and charts to treatment team to reflect patients' reactions and evidence of progress or regression
  11. 11. Develop discharge plans for patients

Recreational Therapists: O*NET ranks Service Orientation first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 29-1125 - lead skill Service Orientation at 4.1 ; lead knowledge Psychology. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Service Orientation 4.1
  2. 2. Active Listening 4.0
  3. 3. Speaking 4.0
  4. 4. Social Perceptiveness 4.0
  5. 5. Coordination 4.0
  6. 6. Reading Comprehension 3.9
  7. 7. Writing 3.9
  8. 8. Critical Thinking 3.9

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Psychology 4.5
  2. 2. Therapy and Counseling 4.5
  3. 3. Customer and Personal Service 4.4
  4. 4. Education and Training 4.2
  5. 5. English Language 4.1
  6. 6. Sociology and Anthropology 3.5
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$40,990 to $100,420
median $61,960 · ~2.4× spread
$62K
National median
↑ +3%
Growth 2024-2034
1,300
Annual openings
14,930
Estimated US jobs
Surgeons, All Other
Highest-pay peer · $414K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Bachelor's degree

Top Paying States for Recreational Therapists

1. Washington $77,860
2. Minnesota $76,360
3. Oregon $66,530
4. New Hampshire $82,280
5. Nevada $78,730
6. District of Columbia $95,640
7. California $98,170
8. New York $65,520
9. Colorado $66,580
10. Hawaii $64,500

Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations titles

  1. 1. Dermatologists $328,730
  2. 2. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons $352,220
  3. 3. Surgeons, All Other $414,010
  4. 4. Physicians, Pathologists $312,400
  5. 5. Obstetricians and Gynecologists $292,910
  6. 6. Physicians, All Other $265,930

The OEWS band for Recreational Therapists runs from $40,990 (10th) to $100,420 (90th), about 2.4× wide, with median $61,960. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +3% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 1,300 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. 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: Washington at $77,860. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Surgeons, All Other at $414,010. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Recreational Therapists pay-rank #60 in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations

On the Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations median table (71 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Recreational Therapists lands at #60, in the lower third. That rank is a table position, not a statement about individual workers.

Other lower-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.

The 10th-to-90th percentile spread for Recreational Therapists is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Recreational Therapists salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 29-1125

Washington · top state for Recreational Therapists

$78K published median

Minnesota · #2 state pay

$76K · behind Washington

Surgeons, All Other

Highest-pay peer vs Recreational Therapists · $414K

Physicians, All Other

Lower-pay peer beside Recreational Therapists · $266K

Compare Recreational Therapists

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Recreational Therapists with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Recreational Therapists land on the Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations median table? ▼
Recreational Therapists is pay-rank #60 of 71 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Athletic Trainers ($63K), Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians ($63K), Paramedics ($61K), Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses ($64K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What do recreational therapists do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Recreational Therapists. Leading ones include: Instruct patient in activities and techniques, such as sports, dance, music, art, or relaxation techniques, designed to meet their specif…; Conduct therapy sessions to improve patients' mental and physical well-being; Plan, organize, direct, and participate in treatment programs and activities to facilitate patients' rehabilitation, help them integrate…; Observe, analyze, and record patients' participation, reactions, and progress during treatment sessions, modifying treatment programs as…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for recreational therapists? ▼
For SOC 29-1125, O*NET importance scores lead with Service Orientation (4.1), Active Listening (4.0), Speaking (4.0), Social Perceptiveness (4.0). Knowledge areas emphasize Psychology, Therapy and Counseling, Customer and Personal Service. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Recreational Therapists? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $40,990 and the 90th at $100,420 for Recreational Therapists (2.4× spread). The national median is $61,960. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Recreational Therapists? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Recreational Therapists is +3%. Projected annual openings: about 1,300. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Recreational Therapists? ▼
BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Recreational Therapists. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Recreational Therapists? ▼
Washington ($77,860), Minnesota ($76,360), Oregon ($66,530) 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 Recreational Therapists card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 29-1125. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Recreational Therapists. 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