Physical Therapist Salary in the US: 2023 Hourly Wages, Settings & Benefits

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2023), physical therapists earn:

Metric	Value
Median Annual Wage	$97,720
Median Hourly Wage	$47.00
10th Percentile	$67,910 ($32.65/hr)
90th Percentile	$128,830 ($61.94/hr)

Salary by Setting (Median Annual)

• Home Health Care Services: $105,000
• Nursing Care Facilities: $101,000
• Hospitals (State/Local/Private): $99,000
• Offices of PT/OT/Speech: $91,000
• Physician Offices: $88,000

Benefits & Advancement

• Health insurance, retirement (401k/403b match), CEU allowance ($1,000–3,000/yr), licensure renewal reimbursement.
• Specialty certification (OCS, NCS, SCS, etc.) → higher pay, niche roles.
• DPT → PhD/EdD → academia/research.
• Ownership/partnership in private practice → equity + profit sharing.

Geographic Variation

Highest mean wages: NV ($108k), CA ($106k), AK ($103k), NJ ($101k), CT ($100k). Adjusted for cost of living, rankings shift.

Physical therapy remains a top-ranked profession for job satisfaction, autonomy, and work-life balance.