Kinesiology Degree Programs

Salary · SOC 31-2021

Physical Therapist Assistant Salary

Physical Therapist Assistants earn a median of $68,380 a year, according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025. Here is the full distribution, every state BLS publishes, and how that physical therapist assistant salary compares with the other careers a kinesiology degree leads to.

Taylor Rupe, Founder & Editor

Edited by Taylor Rupe B.A. Psychology (UW-Seattle), B.S. Computer Science (Oregon State)

A therapist steadying a patient through a seated exercise during a rehabilitation session in a clinic
Photograph by Funkcinės Terapijos Centras on Pexels

How Much Do Physical Therapist Assistants 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

$47,750 $89,510
10th pct
$47,750
25th pct
$59,820
Median
$68,380
75th pct
$78,680
90th pct
$89,510

112,430 people were employed in this occupation nationally, and the median hourly wage was $32.88.

What the spread actually tells you

Half of physical therapist assistants earn more than $68,380 and half earn less. The bottom tenth are under $47,750 and the top tenth clear $89,510, so the published range is about $41,760 wide. Put another way, the top tenth earn about 1.9x 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 $59,820 and $78,680. 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 112,430 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.

Physical Therapist Assistant Salary by State

All 51 states with published data, alphabetically. 17 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
Alabama $49,340 $61,430 $79,060 2,700
Alaska $65,640 $77,640 $87,850 110
Arizona $36,160 $64,650 $79,570 2,010
Arkansas $31,540 $64,520 $85,280 1,620
California $59,500 $83,110 $102,800 9,400
Colorado $48,580 $64,810 $89,550 1,350
Connecticut $62,070 $75,880 $82,870 980
Delaware $51,750 $74,610 $83,510 340
District of Columbia $45,750 $63,400 $82,250 40
Florida $58,650 $72,530 $81,080 9,870
Georgia $43,400 $72,800 $89,600 2,620
Hawaii $49,920 $67,510 $74,770 250
Idaho $37,780 $61,020 $75,050 560
Illinois $41,600 $65,240 $81,890 4,890
Indiana $46,410 $65,280 $80,060 2,830
Iowa $45,760 $61,030 $74,950 1,060
Kansas $52,520 $64,500 $79,550 1,300
Kentucky $27,870 $61,480 $79,500 2,580
Louisiana $24,360 $65,370 $81,520 1,670
Maine $53,440 $66,250 $80,530 410
Maryland $39,260 $77,670 $91,570 1,430
Massachusetts $62,030 $79,460 $88,280 2,640
Michigan $35,700 $61,670 $78,600 4,520
Minnesota $58,010 $66,770 $77,420 1,230
Mississippi $51,720 $61,770 $78,830 1,150
Missouri $50,460 $63,770 $79,000 2,490
Montana $52,310 $62,650 $77,990 250
Nebraska $48,100 $61,370 $77,690 980
Nevada $49,140 $75,520 $87,930 560
New Hampshire $59,540 $71,440 $80,940 500
New Jersey $62,620 $78,440 $90,090 1,810
New Mexico $30,470 $62,280 $85,040 700
New York $46,350 $64,100 $81,000 3,620
North Carolina $56,100 $67,540 $80,850 3,280
North Dakota $30,480 $63,520 $77,600 120
Ohio $51,280 $63,820 $84,130 7,040
Oklahoma $24,960 $59,480 $79,860 2,380
Oregon $56,620 $73,180 $89,480 890
Pennsylvania $49,610 $62,580 $78,010 4,270
Rhode Island $58,380 $68,640 $76,990 420
South Carolina $47,510 $70,500 $88,070 1,870
South Dakota $40,120 $49,310 $63,930 300
Tennessee $48,010 $62,500 $80,800 3,390
Texas $43,900 $78,000 $99,640 10,510
Utah $34,190 $61,980 $84,000 970
Vermont $60,580 $71,600 $83,250 100
Virginia $54,170 $73,760 $93,600 3,370
Washington $36,610 $66,450 $93,140 2,150
West Virginia $45,510 $60,430 $79,160 980
Wisconsin $51,960 $64,080 $77,440 1,650
Wyoming $48,180 $63,550 $79,320 240

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

Highest and Lowest Paying States for Physical Therapist Assistants

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 $83,110 9,400 jobs
  • Massachusetts $79,460 2,640 jobs
  • New Jersey $78,440 1,810 jobs
  • Texas $78,000 10,510 jobs
  • Maryland $77,670 1,430 jobs

Lowest median

  • South Dakota $49,310 300 jobs
  • Oklahoma $59,480 2,380 jobs
  • West Virginia $60,430 980 jobs
  • Idaho $61,020 560 jobs
  • Iowa $61,030 1,060 jobs

How Physical Therapist Assistant Pay Compares

Among the 8 occupations a kinesiology degree leads to, this one ranks 3 on median pay. The next step up is occupational therapists at $100,330. Below it sits athletic trainers at $62,520.

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 Physical Therapist Assistant Pay Up

BLS publishes wages, not the reasons behind them, so treat this as context rather than data. Three things separate the $89,510 end of this distribution from the $47,750 end.

  • Geography, and it is the one you can verify. California pays a median of $83,110 against $68,380, 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.

Physical Therapist Assistant Salary FAQ

How much does a physical therapist assistant make?
The median is $68,380 a year (BLS, May 2025). The bottom tenth earn under $47,750 and the top tenth clear $89,510. That works out at about $32.88 an hour at the median.
What is the highest paying state for physical therapist assistants?
California, at a median of $83,110. That is $14,730 above the national median. 17 of the 51 states with published data pay above the national figure.
Do physical therapist assistants earn more with experience?
The published distribution suggests so, though BLS reports percentiles rather than years of service. The 25th percentile is $59,820 and the 75th is $78,680, a gap of $18,860 across the middle half of the workforce. Setting and region account for much of that alongside experience.
Is a physical therapist assistant salary good compared to other kinesiology careers?
It ranks 3 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 a physical therapist assistant?
84% of O*NET respondents named associate'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