What are the best states to be a physical therapist? While working as a PT is one of the most fulfilling and highest-paying allied healthcare careers, there may be some states that are more desirable to practice than others. This rehabilitative professional career is an outstanding choice for those who love being fit, are excited by medical knowledge, and are looking for high job satisfaction.
Even more, the physical therapy profession has an outstanding work/life balance, plus PTs can work in various settings, such as nursing care facilities, ski resorts, beach areas, or metropolitan areas. Or they can work as traveling PTs.
The PT specialty is always in high demand. But where in the United States are the highest average salaries? And what about job growth, cost of living, and quality of life? All of these are important factors when deciding where to live and grow your practice.
What Do Physical Therapists Do?
Physical therapists treat movement issues, improving the quality of life for their patients through education, exercise, and hands-on care. They work with patients of all ages, from infants to the elderly. Their patients might suffer from injuries, disabilities, or other health conditions, or they might just want to lead healthier lives.
Physical therapists have a profound impact on the lives of their patients, helping many regain their independence, deal with pain, or achieve fitness and movement goals.
The History of Physical Therapy
Physical therapy has a long history, with roots as far back as ancient Greece. Hippocrates first advocated using manual therapy techniques, hydrotherapy, and massage for his patients in 435 BCE.
The discipline began to take its modern shape starting in the late 1800s in Europe as a way to treat bone disorders. Like other modern medical treatments, physical therapy rapidly advanced from there, spurred by events such as polio outbreaks and two world wars.
Some milestones include:
- The formation of what is today’s American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) in 1924
- The primary use of traction, massage, and exercise through the 1940s
- Manipulative therapies for joints and spine beginning in the 1950s
- The move to outpatient care clinics starting in the late 1950s
What Physical Therapists Treat Today
Today physical therapists are an essential component of the healing process, treating medical conditions such as:
- Back and neck pain
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Headaches
- Joint replacement
- Muscular dystrophy
- Osteoporosis
- Range of motion issues
- Respiratory issues
- Sports injuries
That’s a limited list that could go on and on. The range of conditions PTs treat is vast, offering many options for specialization.
Some areas of specialization physical therapists pursue include:
Geriatric physical therapy
These specialists help the elderly address the mobility and movement issues that come with age. Some conditions include osteoporosis, arthritis, and some cancers.
Hand physical therapy
Centering on the entire upper arm and the hand, when people have injured themselves or have arthritis, exercises help them regain their range of motion.
Neurological physical therapy
These PTs help patients regain function after experiencing neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s, strokes, and spine or brain injuries.
Occupational physical therapy
This therapy treats those impacted by work-related activities, often manual labor impacts from improper lifting or poor posture. Occupational physical therapy focuses heavily on core and upper-body strength.
Pediatric physical therapy
This therapy helps patients at the opposite end from geriatric care. Genetic conditions, severe injuries, head trauma, or congenital disabilities could result in mobility issues for infants or toddlers.
Rehabilitative physical therapy
A major surgery could dramatically impact mobility and movement, requiring rehabilitative physical therapy.
The Average Physical Therapist Salary
According to U.S. News & World Report’s Best Jobs of 2023, physical therapy ranks third among the 2023 top healthcare jobs in the U.S. On top of having some of the highest projected job growth numbers (PT jobs are expected to grow by 17% between 2021 and 2031, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS]), physical therapy turns out to be one of the more lucrative healthcare professions in the country as well, with a high average annual salary. As of May 2022, the annual mean physical therapy salary (meaning the average of a sample of salaries) was $97,960.
PT salaries do vary by state and types of settings (urban versus rural areas, for example). Weighing location matters because an average income in a less-expensive location might result in more significant take-home pay. A PT in San Francisco, California, for example, might earn far beyond the average PT salary, but the higher cost of living and significantly higher state income taxes in California would eat into those earnings.
Where you live can play a big role in how your career shapes up. To help you determine where you have the best chances for both professional and personal satisfaction, we’ve identified four key factors that contribute to states’ being considered the “best” (or “worst”) to work in as a PT:
- Salary
- Affordability/Cost of Living
- Job Demand
- Quality of Life
The Best & Worst States for Physical Therapists
For each metric, we pulled the latest data from the BLS and U.S. News & World Report. Then we identified which states ranked the highest and lowest for PTs along all four categories.
The Best & Worst States for Physical Therapists: Salary
To dig into the earning potential of PTs — and how salaries vary by state — we looked at data from the BLS’s Occupational Employment Statistics (OES). Below are the five highest paying states for physical therapy and the five lowest paying ones.
The 5 Highest-Paying States for Physical Therapists
| Rank | State | Annual Mean Salary for Physical Therapists | Hourly Mean Wage for Physical Therapists |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $114,230 | $54.92 |
| 2 | Nevada | $105,880 | $50.90 |
| 3 | New Jersey | $105,430 | $50.69 |
| 4 | Alaska | $104,470 | $50.23 |
| 5 | Connecticut | $103,920 | $49.96 |
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Montana
- North Dakota
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Vermont
The Best & Worst States for Physical Therapists: Affordability/Cost of Living
Cost of living is a really important factor to consider when determining your earning potential. To help you get a more accurate picture, we’ve turned to U.S. News' 2023 affordability rankings to find out which states are considered the most (and least) affordable.
To determine how affordable each state was, U.S. News gave it scores on two metrics: cost of living and housing affordability. Based on those scores, each state then received an overall ranking on a scale of 1 to 50, with 1 being the most affordable and 50 being the least.
The 5 Most Affordable States for Physical Therapists
| Rank | State | Cost of Living Score | Housing Affordability Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Alabama | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | Arkansas | 4 | 3 |
| 4 | Kentucky | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | West Virginia | 9 | 2 |
The 5 Least Affordable States for Physical Therapists
| Rank | State | Cost of Living Score | Housing Affordability Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | Washington | 46 | 44 |
| 47 | New York | 48 | 47 |
| 48 | New Jersey | 47 | 48 |
| 49 | Hawaii | 50 | 49 |
| 50 | California | 49 | 50 |
The Best & Worst States for Physical Therapists: Job Demand
When determining whether a state is the "best" or "worst" to work in as a PT, one key factor to consider is not only how much demand there currently is for your particular skill set but also how much demand there will be in the future. (You can think about this in terms of job security.)
To assess current employment levels, we looked at the most recent BLS’s OES statistics (May 2022). Next, we turned to job demand projection data from Projection Central to show you the five states that are predicted to have the most physical therapy jobs between 2020 and 2030, and the five that are predicted to have the least. We’ve also provided the job growth percentages for the states as well.
The 5 States With the Highest Employment Levels for Physical Therapists (May 2022)
| Rank | State | Employment Numbers | Employment per thousand jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 24,100 | 1.37 |
| 2 | Texas | 16,280 | 1.25 |
| 3 | New York | 15,300 | 1.68 |
| 4 | Florida | 14,970 | 1.63 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 11,670 | 2.01 |
The 5 States With the Highest Projected Demand for Physical Therapists (2020-2030)
| Rank | State | Projected Number of PT Job Openings per Year | Job Growth Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 1,550 | 19% |
| 2 | Texas | 1,150 | 28% |
| 3 | New York | 1,370 | 28% |
| 4 | Florida | 1,040 | 25% |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 770 | 20% |
The Best & Worst States for Physical Therapists: Quality of Life
Everyone defines “quality of life” a little differently, so to establish a standard unit of measurement, we turned to U.S. News’ 2022 best states rankings — specifically its "Overall Best States" list. First, analysts ranked each state for the following eight metrics:
- Healthcare
- Education
- Economy
- Infrastructure
- Opportunity
- Fiscal Stability
- Crime & Corrections
- Natural Environment
Then the analysts used those sub-rankings to provide each state with an overall ranking. (You can read more about their methodology here.) Below, we've provided you with the rankings for the top five and bottom five, along with their rankings for each metric.
The 5 Best States for Physical Therapists' Quality of Life
| Rank | State | Healthcare Score | Education Score | Economy Score | Infrastructure Score | Opportunity Score | Fiscal Stability Score | Crime & Corrections Score | Natural Environment Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 1 | 15 | 46 |
| 2 | Washington | 11 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 31 | 4 | 19 | 4 |
| 3 | Idaho | 14 | 22 | 2 | 10 | 19 | 2 | 9 | 23 |
| 4 | Nebraska | 23 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 16 | 11 | 26 | 12 |
| 5 | Minnesota | 15 | 21 | 15 | 1 | 9 | 21 | 20 | 7 |
The 5 Worst States for Physical Therapists' Quality of Life
| Rank | State | Healthcare Score | Education Score | Economy Score | Infrastructure Score | Opportunity Score | Fiscal Stability Score | Crime & Corrections Score | Natural Environment Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | West Virginia | 50 | 47 | 47 | 50 | 18 | 32 | 18 | 41 |
| 47 | New Mexico | 38 | 50 | 44 | 44 | 41 | 15 | 47 | 32 |
| 48 | Mississippi | 49 | 41 | 49 | 47 | 36 | 40 | 34 | 16 |
| 49 | Alaska | 37 | 49 | 46 | 45 | 33 | 33 | 48 | 44 |
| 50 | Louisiana | 45 | 46 | 50 | 49 | 48 | 38 | 50 | 49 |
Physical Therapy As a Career
While the potential earnings for a physical therapist are fabulous, this career comes with many other perks. The ability to find a job anywhere, excellent work/life balance, ongoing career growth, and opportunities for specialization and continuous learning make this one of the most desirable careers.
But how do you decide where to live and practice? You might want to start with the Quality of Life chart, and then look at salary and affordability options in those states.
Either way, physical therapists get to know they make a difference in their patients' lives and see the results as they work with them. Whether they work with toddlers, GenZ, or Boomers, PTs improve lives across generations- no matter which state they're in.
Want to expand your physical therapy career? Learn more about how to start your own Physical Therapy practice.
Image courtesy of iStock.com/vitapix