Physical therapists play an important role in helping patients to enjoy a healthy lifestyle while reclaiming their activities of daily living that have been impaired by pain and injuries. Therapists generally evaluate new patients to determine pain levels and injuries. From this examination, they identify problems, arrive at diagnoses and thereafter plan treatment programs for patients based on each patients individual needs. Physical therapists monitor the patients progress throughout the entire treatment process. For these and other duties, physical therapists are highly regarded and paid competitive salaries in California.

Bureau of Labor Statistics California Physical Therapy Wages

The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that physical therapists in California have the highest level of jobs in the field with an average mean median income of $84,600. However, in the metropolitan area of Madera, California, where there are less physical therapist jobs, physical therapists are earning $108,320 annually as of May 2011.

Physical Therapy Job Growth

The Bureau of Labor statistics predicts that employment for physical therapists will increase by 30 percent through the year 2018. The elderly population drives  growth and demand for physical therapy due to debilitating conditions that they are prone to, which are being successfully treated by physical therapists. Opportunities will call for licensed physical therapists in acute hospitals, skilled nursing and orthopedic clinics, where the elderly are often treated for old-age chronic conditions. You will find more job opportunities wherever there is a large elderly population. Job prospects will be plentiful in rural areas where high salaries await you. Competition for physical therapy jobs in rural areas will be less since most physical therapists tend to compete for work in large cities and suburban towns.

Physical Therapy Education Programs

Students contemplating to pursue physical therapy as a career at the undergraduate level should concentrate on completing full college science courses that include biology and anatomy, physiology and biomechanics. You will be required to complete a full syllabus of science courses for your undergraduate degree. Pursue a Master’s Degree thereafter and even a Doctoral Degree in physical therapy in order to fulfill your overall goals of becoming a well-qualified physical therapist in a field that will reward you with high salaries.

Physical Therapy Licensing

You must be licensed to practice as a physical therapist. Once you have completed your accredited physical therapy education program, you must pass the National Physical Therapy Examination and meet specific state requirements. Continuing education is a determining factor in many states in order for you to maintain your license.

Texas belongs to the top 10 states that offer the highest salary throughout America. In 2009, physical therapists in Texas were one of the highest paid physical therapy practitioners in the country. In addition, two of the highest paying metropolitan in the country in 2009 were in Texas which are the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission and El Paso metropolitan areas.  In fact, not only Physical therapists, but all health care providers in Texas receive the highest in the country.

Average Income

The average annual salary of physical therapists in Texas is about $88,000. The mean hourly rate is about $40. Physical therapists work on an average of 40 hours a week or up to 2,080 hours a year, excluding overtime.

Median Income

The median salary of physical therapists in Texas is about $39 an hour or $78,000 annually. The median salary represents the income of more than half of the physical therapists in the state.

Income Range

The salary range of Texas physical therapist is from $25 to $59 per hour or $52,000 to $122,000 per year. The difference in the salary depends on the health facility and location in Texas.

State Ranking

In 2009, Texas was the seventh state offering the highest salary for Physical therapists. In 2010, Texas moved up to the 3rd spot behind Alaska and New Jersey. The national average salary of physical therapists is $36 per hour or $76,000 per year. This means that Physical Therapists in Texas have 10% higher salaries than the national average.

The following table summarizes the average salary of Physical Therapists per category.

The variations in the salary depend largely on the qualifications and requirements of the job. Those who occupy higher positions such as managers receive higher salaries. The average annual salary also largely depends on the location, company, experience and industry.

Physical Therapists should consider working in Texas to enjoy the benefit of a higher salary than other parts of America.

According to statistics, about 53% of population in Hawaii aged 30 years old and above are physically active. In contrast, about 60% of adolescent does not meet the physical activity requirements. Because of this, the preset set-up of Hawaii do not include a high percentage of people needing rehabilitative care, but would significantly increase in 10 to 20 years time when the teens now would enter adulthood. There is a long-term implication of needing physical therapists in the future. It is projected that the salary of physical therapists would also increase in the next two decades because of increase in demand for the professionals in the long run.

Average Income

The average annual salary of physical therapists in Hawaii is about $56,900. The mean hourly rate is about $27. Physical therapists work on an average of 40 hours a week or up to 2,080 hours a year, excluding overtime.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics presents the average salaries across Hawaii including:

Kailua: $60,000

Honolulu: $54,000

Hilo: $50,000

Median Income

The median salary of physical therapists in Hawaii is about $25 an hour or $50,000 annually. The median salary represents the income of more than half of the physical therapists in the state.

Income Range

The salary range of Hawaii physical therapist is from $22 to $33 per hour or $45,700 to $68,100 per year. The difference in the salary depends on the health facility and location in Hawaii.

State Ranking

Hawaii does not belong to the top ten highest paying states or the top ten lowest paying states in the United States for physical therapist. The national average salary of physical therapists is $36 per hour or $76,000 per year. This means that salary of Physical therapists in Hawaii is 20% lower than the national average.

The following table summarizes the average salary of Physical Therapists per category.

Just because Hawaii is not part of the top ten highest paying states does not mean that the state doesn’t pay well.

Florida belongs to the top 10 states that offer the highest salary throughout America. In 2009, physical therapists in Florida were one of the highest paid physical therapy practitioners in the country. There is a high demand for physical therapists in Florida. This is for the reason that in Florida, there is a high percentage of the elderly population, who need physical therapists to aid the population from debilitating conditions.

Average Income

The average annual salary of physical therapists in Florida is about $81,000. The mean hourly rate is about $39. This is way higher than the average income in 2009, which is $49,000. Physical therapists work on an average of 40 hours a week or up to 2,080 hours a year, excluding overtime. Starting physical therapists with less than four years of experience have an average of $17 per hour.

Median Income

The median salary of physical therapists in Florida is about $38 an hour or $71,000 annually. The median salary represents the income of more than half of the physical therapists in the state.

Income Range

The salary range of Florida physical therapist is from $25 to $42 per hour or $52,000 to $87,000 per year. The difference in the salary depends on the health facility and location in Florida.

State Ranking

In 2010, Florida is the 8^th highest paying state for physical therapists. The national average salary of physical therapists is $36 per hour or $76,000 per year. This means that Physical Therapists in Florida have 6% higher salaries than the national average.

The following table summarizes the average salary of Physical Therapists per category.

The average annual salary of physical therapists in Florida largely depends on the location, company, experience and industry. Physical therapists with more than ten years of experience usually receive the highest salary in the state. The drastic increase in the average annual income of physical therapists in Florida from $49,000 to $81,000 will prove that Florida can land to the top five highest paying states.

Average Income

The average annual salary of physical therapists in New York is about $99,000.  In New York City, the average income can reach up to $116,000 annually. The mean hourly rate is about $55. Physical therapists work on an average of 40 hours a week or up to 2,080 hours a year, excluding overtime.

Median Income

The median salary of physical therapists in New York is about $37 an hour or $77,000 annually. The median salary represents the income of more than half of the physical therapists in the state.

Income Range

The salary range of New York physical therapist is from $25 to $59 per hour or $52,000 to $122,000 per year. The difference in the salary depends on the health facility and location in New York.

State Ranking

The state ranking reveals that New York City belongs to the top two highest paying cities in the country. The national average salary of physical therapists is $36 per hour or $76,000 per year. This means the average salary of Physical Therapists in New York City is 50% higher than the national average while the average of the salary in New York in general is 30% higher than the national average.

The following table summarizes the average salary of Physical Therapists per category.

The variations in the salary depend largely on the qualifications and requirements of the job. Some physical therapists take advanced certifications in prosthetics, wound care, manual therapy, orthopedics or pediatrics which increases the salary significantly.  Those who occupy higher positions such as managers receive higher salaries. The average annual salary also largely depends on the job setting with hospital based physical therapists having the highest salary.

Average Income

The average annual salary of physical therapists in Alaska is about $92,700. The mean hourly rate is about $44.5. Physical therapists work on an average of 40 hours a week or up to 2,080 hours a year, excluding overtime. The average income rose suddenly from $42,600 in 2009 to the present figures of $92,700.

Median Income

The median salary of physical therapists in Alaska is about $42 an hour or $87,000 annually. The median salary represents the income of more than half of the physical therapists in the state.

Income Range

The salary range of Alaska physical therapist is from $24 to $64 per hour or $51,180 to $134,220 per year. A new physical therapy graduate may earn $20 per hour as a therapy assistant.

State Ranking

Alaska is the number one highest paying state for physical therapists in the most recent statistics. The national average salary of physical therapists is $36 per hour or $76,000 per year. This means that Physical Therapists in Alaska have 20% higher salaries than the national average.

The following table summarizes the average salary of Physical Therapists per category.

Alaska has one of the least numbers of migrant workers. Physical therapists often prefer other areas such as New York, Texas and California. Physical therapist should consider working in Alaska because it pays physical therapist the highest in the entire country plus it has lower cost of living than the other cities.

The next step is earning a graduate degree. This will be a master’s or doctoral degree from an accredited program in physical therapy from an APTA approved school. This master’s program will take up to two and a half years, and doctoral degrees generally take three years. Once completed, students will be required to attend a residency program. This is where students must work at least 1500 hours of clinical physical therapy practice, which has to be completed within 9 to 36 months. Under a residency, students will meet and examine patients under supervised control os a licensed therapist.

Once completed with the residency, applicants must obtain a license to practice. Each state has their own guidelines, and all students (in every state) must pass the National Physical Therapy Examination, to demonstrate they hold the knowledge and expertise required to treat patients.

For those considering the career choice, and wondering how to become a physical therapist? it is a long process. Therefore, making sure you are up to the task, are willing to put in the hard work, go to school for such a long period of time, and willing to prepare for the exam upon completing a residency program, then choosing to become a physical therapist might be the right career path for you to consider going down.

The sheer number of patients is often going to dictate a physical therapist salary. A physical therapist may get a bonus if several patients talk about the quality of the work that the physical therapist is involved with. The patients who work with the therapist may recommend to supervisors that their physical therapist get a raise. A person who takes the time to be involved with careful patient screenings may end up getting a higher salary because the patient screenings and the diagnosis of an issue can be just as important as the physical therapy techniques that are used. A relocation bonus may be in order if a physical therapist ends up moving to another hospital to stay with a company that has been loyal to them. The relocation bonus is something that can increase your overall salary in 2011.

A physical therapist should also look for a job that allows for life insurance and a 401k plan. In modern times, it can be very important for a person to work for a company that has a 401k plan so a physical therapist can save for their retirement years. A physical therapist may have their salary cut to fifty three thousand dollars per year in an area of the country that was once prosperous but now is going through some economically difficult times. The job of a physical therapy is very important within many hospitals so it does not make sense to cut the salary of a physical therapist.

Note* All the physical therapist salary by state below can be different.

But the role of occupational therapy isn’t to help us deal with unemployment, rather it strives on treating certain psychiatric and physical conditions with a number of different activities that will eventually help is to achieve our maximum potential, in terms of independence and level of function. However, this is still a very broad definition of occupational therapy, in fact, a number of different definitions have been made official by an assortment of associations and people because of the nature of this treatment.

Another very common definition for occupational therapy is a method to help people become confident and competent enough to deal with all sorts of everyday problems and scenarios, as well as enabling people to reach their goals and improving their overall wellbeing.Every person has a number of different roles to play, occupations to meet, activities to carry out and interactions to make on a daily basis, but not everyone is able to do all of these efficiently or effectively.Occupational therapy teaches them how to tackle all of these different situations and come out at the end with a positive mindset.There is no more room for not functioning properly and occupational therapy ensures that individuals always end up doing what they are supposed to.

Occupational therapy tries to increase the level of satisfaction and the overall happiness in life by developing all sorts of skills.These skills will no longer allow the person to aim for only normal level in all aspects of life.Through occupational therapy, the person will only strive for the top and the things that are most important to him or her.Occupational therapists are able to do this identifying the most important things to an individual and analyzing the skill set that person possesses and the skill set that person will need.Once the answer to these situations is formed, the therapist can help them accordingly.Goals are set right away and a plan is designed on how to live their daily life, giving emphasis on everything from self-care, leisure to productivity.

With occupational therapy there will be no more time wasting, instead, people will follow a program that is designed to make the most of their time.It is a way to maximize efficiency, but keeping yourself from overworking yourself.If you struggle in meeting your day-to-day tasks and prefer to settle on normality, maybe occupational therapy might do the trick for you.