Recreational Therapist Salary: Pay by State (2027)

How Much Do Recreational 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

$40,990 $100,420

10th pct: $40,990
25th pct: $50,240
Median: $61,960
75th pct: $79,930
90th pct: $100,420

14,930 people were employed in this occupation nationally, and the median hourly wage was $29.79.

What the Spread Actually Tells You

Half of recreational therapists earn more than $61,960 and half earn less. The bottom tenth are under $40,990 and the top tenth clear $100,420, so the published range is about $59,430 wide. Put another way, the top tenth earn about 2.4x 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 $50,240 and $79,930. 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 14,930 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.

Recreational Therapist Salary by State

48 states have published data; the 10 highest-paying are shown, and you can pick any other state below. 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
California	$60,940	$98,170	$115,370	1,920
District of Columbia	$50,840	$95,640	$118,340	50
New Hampshire	$53,060	$82,280	$98,310	70
Nevada	$46,380	$78,730	$98,630	400
Washington	$61,070	$77,860	$108,200	240
Minnesota	$55,210	$76,360	$97,570	250
Colorado	$44,530	$66,580	$88,120	200
Oregon	$51,210	$66,530	$83,780	250
New York	$49,940	$65,520	$91,370	1,230
Hawaii	$45,920	$64,500	$95,040	40

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

Highest and Lowest Paying States for Recreational 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 $98,170 1,920 jobs
District of Columbia $95,640 50 jobs
New Hampshire $82,280 70 jobs
Nevada $78,730 400 jobs
Washington $77,860 240 jobs

Lowest median

Mississippi $39,560 140 jobs
Kansas $40,010 710 jobs
Arkansas $42,670 70 jobs
South Dakota $46,850 40 jobs
South Carolina $48,880 190 jobs

Degrees That Lead to This Job

Kinesiology programs in the best-paid states:

How Recreational Therapist Pay Compares

Among the 8 occupations a kinesiology degree leads to, this one ranks 5 on median pay. The next step up is athletic trainers at $62,520. Below it sits exercise physiologists at $59,460.

This is one of the jobs a kinesiology degree reaches directly, so the median here is a figure you can weigh against tuition without adding a second degree to the calculation. The career profile has the education spread and the credentials employers ask for.

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

What Moves Recreational Therapist Pay Up

BLS publishes wages, not the reasons behind them, so treat this as context rather than data. Three things separate the $100,420 end of this distribution from the $40,990 end.

Geography, and it is the one you can verify. California pays a median of $98,170 against $61,960, 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.

Recreational Therapist Salary FAQ

How much does a recreational therapist make?

The median is $61,960 a year (BLS, May 2025). The bottom tenth earn under $40,990 and the top tenth clear $100,420. That works out at about $29.79 an hour at the median.

What is the highest paying state for recreational therapists?

California, at a median of $98,170. That is $36,210 above the national median. 17 of the 48 states with published data pay above the national figure.

Do recreational therapists earn more with experience?

The published distribution suggests so, though BLS reports percentiles rather than years of service. The 25th percentile is $50,240 and the 75th is $79,930, a gap of $29,690 across the middle half of the workforce. Setting and region account for much of that alongside experience.

Is a recreational therapist salary good compared to other kinesiology careers?

It ranks 5 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 recreational therapist?

92% of O*NET respondents named bachelor's degree. A kinesiology degree can lead to this job directly.

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 48 states, so the rest were withheld rather than being zero.

Source

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
O*NET OnLine, 29-1125.00, education requirements