Occupational Therapist Salary: Pay by State (2027)

How Much Do Occupational Therapists Make?

The figure normally quoted for an occupation is its median, which is the midpoint of a distribution rather than an offer. Both published tails are below.

Annual Wages, U.S.

BLS OEWS · May 2025

$71,690 $131,950

10th pct: $71,690
25th pct: $82,510
Median: $100,330
75th pct: $116,670
90th pct: $131,950

162,450 people were employed in this occupation nationally, and the median hourly wage was $48.24.

What the Spread Actually Tells You

Half of occupational therapists earn more than $100,330 and half earn less. The bottom tenth are under $71,690 and the top tenth clear $131,950, so the published range is about $60,260 wide. Put another way, the top tenth earn about 1.8x what the bottom tenth do. That is a relatively tight spread, so the median is a reasonable planning figure for this occupation.

The middle half of the workforce sits between $82,510 and $116,670. If you want one number to plan against, that band is more honest than the median alone, because it shows where most people actually land rather than where the exact midpoint falls.

BLS counts 162,450 people employed in this occupation nationally. Size matters when you read wage data: a high median in a small occupation can mean fewer openings and less room to negotiate, not a better market.

Occupational Therapist Salary by State

51 states have published data; the 10 highest-paying are shown, and you can pick any other state below. 20 of them pay above the national median. States are absent when BLS withheld the estimate because the sample was too small.

State	10th pct	Median	90th pct	Employed
California	$85,550	$124,510	$158,560	13,810
Oregon	$78,500	$112,310	$131,340	1,170
Nevada	$85,720	$110,520	$139,260	1,080
District of Columbia	$81,760	$109,170	$129,810	540
Washington	$83,110	$107,670	$135,290	3,340
Maryland	$76,650	$106,980	$132,300	2,390
Colorado	$81,390	$106,720	$157,820	3,390
Arkansas	$65,160	$106,360	$144,250	2,160
Texas	$76,350	$106,140	$135,200	13,400
Oklahoma	$68,530	$104,300	$134,420	1,180

A blank cell means BLS suppressed that value for this occupation in that state.

Highest and Lowest Paying States for Occupational Therapists

Employment sits beside each median deliberately. A high median resting on a few dozen jobs describes a thin local market rather than a strong one.

Highest median

California $124,510 13,810 jobs
Oregon $112,310 1,170 jobs
Nevada $110,520 1,080 jobs
District of Columbia $109,170 540 jobs
Washington $107,670 3,340 jobs

Lowest median

North Dakota $83,200 570 jobs
New Hampshire $83,900 1,240 jobs
Maine $84,310 1,120 jobs
South Dakota $85,050 490 jobs
Wyoming $86,170 350 jobs

Degrees That Lead to This Job

Kinesiology programs in the best-paid states:

How Occupational Therapist Pay Compares

Among the 8 occupations a kinesiology degree leads to, this one ranks 2 on median pay. The next step up is physical therapists at $102,760. Below it sits physical therapist assistants at $68,380.

Read that ranking with the education in mind. This job needs its own professional degree, so the figure is not what a kinesiology graduate earns on graduating. It is what someone earns after the second degree, and the years and tuition in between belong in the comparison. The career profile sets out the full route.

The full comparison across all 8 occupations, split by whether the degree reaches them directly, is on the salaries overview.

What Moves Occupational Therapist Pay Up

BLS publishes wages, not the reasons behind them, so treat this as context rather than data. Three things separate the $131,950 end of this distribution from the $71,690 end.

Geography, and it is the one you can verify. California pays a median of $124,510 against $100,330, and the table above shows the whole range.
Setting. Within any of these occupations, hospital and home-health roles generally pay above school, community and commercial settings, and the gap is often larger than the difference between states.
Specialization. Within this occupation, the sub-fields with the fewest qualified practitioners command the most.

Occupational Therapist Salary FAQ

How much does an occupational therapist make?

The median is $100,330 a year (BLS, May 2025). The bottom tenth earn under $71,690 and the top tenth clear $131,950. That works out at about $48.24 an hour at the median.

What is the highest paying state for occupational therapists?

California, at a median of $124,510. That is $24,180 above the national median. 20 of the 51 states with published data pay above the national figure.

Do occupational therapists earn more with experience?

The published distribution suggests so, though BLS reports percentiles rather than years of service. The 25th percentile is $82,510 and the 75th is $116,670, a gap of $34,160 across the middle half of the workforce. Setting and region account for much of that alongside experience.

Is an occupational therapist salary good compared to other kinesiology careers?

It ranks 2 of the 8 occupations this site covers. The highest is physical therapists at $102,760, though that route requires its own professional degree.

What education do you need to be an occupational therapist?

86% of O*NET respondents named master's degree. This job requires its own professional degree, so a kinesiology bachelor's is preparation for admission rather than a route into the work.

Are these figures adjusted for cost of living?

No. Every number here is a published BLS figure for a stated area. Adjusting by a regional price index would produce values BLS never published and that you could not check against the source, so we report the survey as released.

Why is my state missing from the table?

BLS suppresses estimates where the surveyed sample is too small to publish reliably. This occupation has published medians for 51 states, so the rest were withheld rather than being zero.

Source

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
O*NET OnLine, 29-1122.00, education requirements