Physical Therapists
Assess, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitative programs that improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, and improve or correct disabling conditions resulting from disease or injury.
Also called: Acute Care PT (Acute Care Physical Therapist) · Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) · Home Care Physical Therapist (Home Care PT) · Inpatient Physical Therapist (Inpatient PT) · Outpatient Physical Therapist (Outpatient PT) · Pediatric Physical Therapist (Pediatric PT)
Median pay (national)
$101,020
$74,420–$132,500 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
248,630
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
+10.9%
~13,200 openings/yr
Typical entry
Doctoral or professional degree
What the numbers say
Refit analysis ·Pay for physical therapists shows a relatively narrow range: the top 10% earn $132,500 versus $74,420 at the bottom 10% — 1.8x. The median of $101,020 leaves roughly 31% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change +10.9% from 2024 to 2034 — much faster than the 3% average for all occupations. Even so, BLS projects about 13,200 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 52 states with released data, California pays the most for this role (median $123,300, +22% vs the national median), while Puerto Rico sits lowest at $48,960 — a 152% spread for the same job title.
Refit analysis ·O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking as the highest-importance skills here — so a resume aimed at this role should lead with evidence of those, not a generic skills list.
Tailor your resume to Physical Therapists
Honest tailoring
See how your resume lines up with Physical Therapists
Refit re-angles your real experience toward this role using the skills above — and never invents skills you don't have. A no-fabrication gate checks every change before you see it.
Free. No account needed to see your first re-fit.
Top skills employers ask for
Ranked by O*NET importance for this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Monitoring
- Active Learning
- Learning Strategies
- Science
- Mathematics
What they actually do
Core O*NET tasks for this role.
- Plan, prepare, or carry out individually designed programs of physical treatment to maintain, improve, or restore physical functioning, alleviate pain, or prevent physical dysfunction in patients.
- Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention.
- Confer with the patient, medical practitioners, or appropriate others to plan, implement, or assess the intervention program.
- Administer manual exercises, massage, or traction to help relieve pain, increase patient strength, or decrease or prevent deformity or crippling.
- Obtain patients' informed consent to proposed interventions.
- Test and measure patient's strength, motor development and function, sensory perception, functional capacity, or respiratory or circulatory efficiency and record data.
- Direct, supervise, assess, and communicate with supportive personnel.
- Review physician's referral and patient's medical records to help determine diagnosis and physical therapy treatment required.
- Identify and document goals, anticipated progress, and plans for reevaluation.
- Provide information to the patient about the proposed intervention, its material risks and expected benefits, and any reasonable alternatives.
Tools & technology
- eClinicalWorks EHR software
- MEDITECH software
- Advantage Software Physical Therapy Advantage
- Biometrics video game software
- Cedaron Dexter Evaluation & Impairment Rating
- Clinicient Insight
- Exercise routine creation software
- Hands On Technology TheraWriter.PT
- Medical condition coding software
- Medical procedure coding software
- MediGraph
- Patient charting software
- Prognosis Innovation Healthcare ChartAccess
- Recordkeeping software
- Rehab Documentation Company ReDoc Suite
- SpectraSoft AppointmentsCS
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service
- Therapy and Counseling
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Psychology
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Biology
- Administration and Management