truewise Honest US education data

Physical and Occupational Therapy

Health Professions · federal classification: Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions

Physical and Occupational Therapy graduates with a bachelor's typically earned about $52,154, measured a few years after finishing (median across US programs, College Scorecard).
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Median earnings by degree level

Earnings range across schools, by degree levelEach row is a degree level: the bar is the middle half of schools' program medians (25th to 75th percentile) and the dot is the overall median. Certificate median $49,433, $45,042 to $59,277; Associate's median $48,719, $41,686 to $50,199; Bachelor's median $52,154, $45,222 to $66,985; Master's median $71,262, $65,494 to $76,924; Doctoral median $82,644, $80,022 to $85,935; First prof median $81,075, $78,243 to $85,001.$42k$64k$86kCertificate$49,433Associate's$48,719Bachelor's$52,154Master's$71,262Doctoral$82,644First prof$81,075
Earnings range across schools, by degree levelEach row is a degree level: the bar is the middle half of schools' program medians (25th to 75th percentile) and the dot is the overall median. Certificate median $49,433, $45,042 to $59,277; Associate's median $48,719, $41,686 to $50,199; Bachelor's median $52,154, $45,222 to $66,985; Master's median $71,262, $65,494 to $76,924; Doctoral median $82,644, $80,022 to $85,935; First prof median $81,075, $78,243 to $85,001.$42k$64k$86kCertificate$49,433Associate's$48,719Bachelor's$52,154Master's$71,262Doctoral$82,644First prof$81,075
DegreeMedian earningsTypical rangeSchoolsClear the bar
Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma$49,433$45,042 to $59,277683%
Associate's Degree$48,719$41,686 to $50,1991392%
Bachelor's Degree$52,154$45,222 to $66,9858891%
Master's Degree$71,262$65,494 to $76,924222100%
Doctoral Degree$82,644$80,022 to $85,935184100%
First Professional Degree$81,075$78,243 to $85,00165100%

"Clear the bar" is the share of programs whose graduates out-earn a typical high-school graduate (the federal earnings-premium test). Typical range is the 25th to 75th percentile of program medians.

Job outlook

Projected employment growth +12% (2025 to 2035), about 74,100 openings a year across the occupations this field commonly leads to.

OccupationMedian payGrowthOpenings/yr
Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary$107,310+17.9%24,900
Physical Therapists$102,760+11.9%13,400
Occupational Therapists$100,330+14.8%10,000
Engineers, All Other$122,930+3.7%8,800
Rehabilitation Counselors$46,850+2.2%8,200
Therapists, All Other$77,930+12.6%3,600

Occupation pay and outlook: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS wages, Employment Projections). A field maps to several occupations, and the same occupations serve many majors, so these are the jobs this major commonly leads to, not positions reserved for its graduates; the openings should not be added up across majors.

Where this is studied

The 8 colleges where the most students complete a physical and occupational therapy program, of 538 that report one. Ordered by number of completions only: this is where people study it, not a judgement about where to.

Earnings source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (release 2026-06-10), median earnings of graduates measured up to four years after completing. Figures describe past graduates and are never a promise. Method: methodology. Report an error.