Occupation Therapist Schools, Salaries, and Job Data

Job Numbers and Growth

Data from 2008 shows about 99,000 jobs for occupation therapists in the US. This job is ranked very low for unemployment. On the order of 1% of employees could not find work in 2008.

Area Job Conditions

Haverhill (Massachusetts), Wichita Falls (Texas), and San Angelo (Texas) can boast the most employees for their size. Huntsville (Alabama), Davenport (Iowa), and Bakersfield (California) have the fewest per capita.

The highest salaries for occupation therapists are found in Terre Haute (Indiana), Naples (Florida), and Valdosta (Georgia), and the lowest-paying areas are in Phoenix (Arizona), Wichita Falls (Texas), and San Angelo (Texas).

Training and Education

Many employers require that job applicants for this career have a master's degree. The percentage of occupation therapists with a bachelor's degree or better is 90%. Approximately 9% of workers went to college, but did not have to get a four year degree. Recommended schools are shown in the column to the right; request information from them to help you decide which if any could help you with this career.

Part-Time Work and Self-Employment

About 30% of people in this field work less than full time. Self-employment is the path of choice for 9% of workers.

Occupation Therapists: An Introductory Video

Occupation Therapists Around the Country

In the list below, each metro area is rated for the relative popularity of occupation therapists compared to other locations (that is, jobs per population). Single or double up or down arrows indicate the relative popularity in that location. Within each state listing, metro areas are sorted by the actual number of jobs for occupation therapists.

Alabama

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Birmingham	$66,000	430
Mobile	$56,000	100
Montgomery	$77,000	60
Gadsden	$76,000	50
Huntsville	$72,000	50
Tuscaloosa	$62,000	30

Alaska

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Anchorage	$70,000	100

Arizona

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Phoenix	$50,000	980
Prescott	$71,000	110
Flagstaff	$70,000	40

Arkansas

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Little Rock	$68,000	370
Fayetteville	$61,000	70
Fort Smith	$72,000	60

California

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Santa Ana	$79,000	970
San Diego	$76,000	810
Oakland	$82,000	570
Sacramento	$82,000	510
Riverside	$78,000	430
San Jose	$81,000	420
San Francisco	$93,000	380
Oxnard	$84,000	230
Fresno	$81,000	170
Santa Rosa	$67,000	100
Modesto	$63,000	80
Salinas	$79,000	80
Stockton	$79,000	80
Chico	$85,000	70
Vallejo	$78,000	50
Bakersfield	$77,000	50
Santa Barbara	$79,000	50
Santa Cruz	$60,000	30

Colorado

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Denver	$65,000	1,010
Colorado Springs	$68,000	200
Boulder	$62,000	180
Fort Collins	$62,000	150
Greeley	$58,000	80
Grand Junction	$62,000	40
Pueblo	$63,000	40

Connecticut

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Hartford	$79,000	600
Bridgeport	$75,000	490
New Haven	$73,000	290
Norwich	$67,000	90
Waterbury	$81,000	80
Danbury	$72,000	50

Delaware

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Wilmington	$63,000	260

District of Columbia

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Washington	$77,000	910

Florida

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Tampa	$80,000	760
Miami	$71,000	750
Fort Lauderdale	$75,000	470
Jacksonville	$69,000	380
West Palm Beach	$74,000	310
Sarasota	$64,000	250
Gainesville	$55,000	150
Palm Bay	$55,000	140
Port St Lucie	$81,000	110
Tallahassee	$62,000	110
Deltona	$69,000	90
Cape Coral	$70,000	90
Naples	$96,000	80
Pensacola	$67,000	60
Lakeland	$75,000	50
Sebastian	$78,000	50
Ocala	$72,000	40
Punta Gorda	$77,000	40

Georgia

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Atlanta	$71,000	980
Augusta	$65,000	180
Valdosta	$89,000	70
Savannah	$67,000	60
Macon	$68,000	60
Rome	$64,000	40
Columbus	$64,000	40
Athens	$65,000	40

Hawaii

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Honolulu	$66,000	190

Idaho

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Boise	$61,000	210

Illinois

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Chicago	$75,000	2,840
Peoria	$72,000	100
Rockford	$72,000	90
Champaign	$76,000	70
Springfield	$61,000	30
Bloomington	$62,000	30

Indiana

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Indianapolis	$70,000	950
Gary	$82,000	210
Evansville	$61,000	190
Fort Wayne	$63,000	190
South Bend	$62,000	90
Bloomington	$61,000	60
Elkhart	$76,000	50
Terre Haute	$92,000	40
Anderson	$61,000	30
Kokomo	$73,000	30

Iowa

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Des Moines	$59,000	200
Cedar Rapids	$55,000	80
Waterloo	$57,000	50
Iowa City	$63,000	40
Davenport	$60,000	40

Kansas

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Wichita	$67,000	210
Topeka	$65,000	80

Kentucky

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Louisville	$71,000	340
Lexington	$63,000	100
Elizabethtown	$68,000	30
Owensboro	$63,000	30

Louisiana

Location	Median Pay	Workers
New Orleans	$77,000	290
Baton Rouge	$70,000	270
Shreveport	$73,000	210
Lafayette	$73,000	60
Alexandria	$65,000	60
Monroe	$68,000	40
Lake Charles	$75,000	30

Maine

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Portland	$57,000	190
Lewiston	$57,000	40

Maryland

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Baltimore	$78,000	1,320
Bethesda	$80,000	290
Salisbury	$72,000	70
Cumberland	$72,000	60
Hagerstown	$76,000	40

Massachusetts

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Boston	$68,000	1,870
Springfield	$63,000	340
Worcester	$71,000	290
Framingham	$56,000	240
Haverhill	$64,000	230
Barnstable Town	$73,000	140
Lowell	$63,000	120
Brockton	$61,000	90
Lawrence	$62,000	70
New Bedford	$73,000	60
Taunton	$68,000	50

Michigan

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Warren	$72,000	1,230
Detroit	$67,000	760
Grand Rapids	$62,000	380
Ann Arbor	$63,000	220
Flint	$55,000	170
Lansing	$62,000	130
Saginaw	$63,000	120
Kalamazoo	$64,000	110
Battle Creek	$65,000	80
Holland	$67,000	60
Muskegon	$63,000	50
Bay City	$53,000	40
Niles	$60,000	40

Minnesota

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Minneapolis	$61,000	1,340
Rochester	$64,000	120
Duluth	$58,000	120
St Cloud	$59,000	100

Mississippi

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Jackson	$68,000	240
Pascagoula	$67,000	80
Gulfport	$72,000	70
Hattiesburg	$58,000	50

Missouri

Location	Median Pay	Workers
St Louis	$60,000	1,250
Kansas City	$63,000	850
Joplin	$55,000	100
Springfield	$69,000	90
Columbia	$61,000	80

Montana

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Missoula	$61,000	50
Billings	$58,000	40

Nebraska

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Omaha	$58,000	340
Lincoln	$68,000	110

Nevada

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Las Vegas	$87,000	430
Reno	$62,000	160

New Hampshire

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Nashua	$56,000	140
Manchester	$58,000	120
Rochester	$66,000	50
Portsmouth	$66,000	40

New Jersey

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Edison	$81,000	850
Newark	$81,000	580
Camden	$78,000	440
Trenton	$76,000	250
Atlantic City	$78,000	80

New Mexico

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Albuquerque	$54,000	230
Las Cruces	$65,000	60

New York

Location	Median Pay	Workers
New York	$72,000	3,860
Nassau	$70,000	1,000
Buffalo	$52,000	800
Albany	$61,000	520
Rochester	$61,000	460
Syracuse	$64,000	270
Utica	$60,000	180
Poughkeepsie	$74,000	180
Binghamton	$68,000	130
Kingston	$70,000	50
Elmira	$57,000	40

North Carolina

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Charlotte	$71,000	520
Durham	$65,000	330
Raleigh	$61,000	320
Winston Salem	$63,000	220
Asheville	$69,000	170
Wilmington	$52,000	170
Greensboro	$78,000	150
Hickory	$63,000	100
Fayetteville	$67,000	90
Greenville	$67,000	60
Rocky Mount	$77,000	50

North Dakota

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Fargo	$59,000	100
Bismarck	$50,000	50

Ohio

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Cincinnati	$70,000	1,020
Cleveland	$77,000	810
Columbus	$67,000	650
Dayton	$75,000	300
Toledo	$82,000	290
Youngstown	$69,000	200
Akron	$69,000	160
Canton	$83,000	150
Lima	$67,000	40
Mansfield	$69,000	40

Oklahoma

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Oklahoma City	$65,000	380
Tulsa	$59,000	220

Oregon

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Portland	$63,000	670
Salem	$64,000	60
Bend	$63,000	60
Eugene	$72,000	50
Medford	$64,000	40

Pennsylvania

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Philadelphia	$69,000	1,980
Pittsburgh	$58,000	1,210
Scranton	$57,000	460
Reading	$80,000	190
York	$65,000	190
Harrisburg	$70,000	190
Lancaster	$64,000	160
Erie	$58,000	70
Altoona	$52,000	70
Williamsport	$58,000	40
Lebanon	$67,000	40

Rhode Island

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Providence	$69,000	540

South Carolina

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Columbia	$75,000	220
Charleston	$59,000	190
Greenville	$65,000	100
Florence	$67,000	80
Spartanburg	$61,000	70

South Dakota

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Sioux Falls	$57,000	110
Rapid City	$57,000	50

Tennessee

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Memphis	$78,000	330
Nashville	$69,000	300
Knoxville	$66,000	150
Chattanooga	$67,000	150
Kingsport	$74,000	70
Jackson	$63,000	60
Johnson City	$64,000	40

Texas

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Dallas	$71,000	1,700
Houston	$68,000	1,270
San Antonio	$73,000	740
Fort Worth	$72,000	640
Austin	$56,000	530
El Paso	$85,000	210
Mcallen	$75,000	180
Lubbock	$53,000	130
Wichita Falls	$37,000	110
Abilene		110
Corpus Christi	$50,000	100
Brownsville	$66,000	100
Tyler	$73,000	80
Texarkana	$73,000	80
Laredo	$84,000	70
San Angelo	$32,000	70
Waco	$68,000	50
Amarillo	$63,000	50
Beaumont	$72,000	50
Victoria	$61,000	50
Sherman	$80,000	40
Odessa	$74,000	30
Longview	$61,000	30
Killeen	$69,000	30

Utah

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Salt Lake City	$64,000	170
Ogden	$58,000	80
Provo	$65,000	50

Vermont

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Burlington	$59,000	50

Virginia

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Virginia Beach	$72,000	420
Richmond	$66,000	400
Roanoke	$74,000	140
Charlottesville	$67,000	130
Lynchburg	$72,000	80
Winchester	$72,000	60

Washington

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Seattle	$68,000	810
Tacoma	$64,000	270
Spokane	$63,000	200
Bremerton	$68,000	70
Olympia	$66,000	50
Kennewick	$71,000	40
Mount Vernon	$65,000	30
Yakima	$74,000	30

West Virginia

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Charleston	$64,000	70
Weirton	$69,000	60
Huntington	$71,000	60
Morgantown	$66,000	40
Wheeling	$62,000	30

Wisconsin

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Milwaukee	$59,000	1,050
Madison	$61,000	270
Green Bay	$60,000	170
La Crosse	$59,000	90
Oshkosh	$62,000	90
Appleton	$64,000	70
Sheboygan	$65,000	60
Racine	$54,000	60
Eau Claire	$63,000	60
Janesville	$62,000	50
Wausau	$58,000	30
Fond	$60,000	30

Wyoming

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Casper	$63,000	40
Cheyenne	$66,000	30

Our occupation therapist career and school information is provided by CTI Career Search.