Average Salary

• As part of its national employment survey carried out in May 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics synthesized wage data from over 180,000 physical therapists. It concluded that the annual pay for the profession averaged $77,990, which translates into $37.50 an hour, $1,500 per week and $6,499 a month. Those practitioners within the top 10 percent of earners took home an average of more than $107,920, while their contemporaries in the corresponding bottom bracket received less than $53,620 on average per year.
  
  

Salary by Industry

• Physical therapists work across a variety of sectors within the health-care system. The bureau's survey showed that the largest numbers are employed within the offices of health practitioners other than physicians, such as a physical therapy practice. The average salary within this area was $76,860. Positions within the offices of physicians paid a comparable rate, averaging $78,080, as did those within general medical and surgical hospitals -- $76,880. Rates within individual and family services were $81,970, similar to those within nursing care facilities -- $81,010 -- but less than the average wage received by a practitioner working within home health-care services -- $86,590.
  
  

Salary by Location

• A SalaryExpert.com survey of physiotherapist wages in some large U.S. metropolises revealed that pay rates were highest In Orlando, Florida and Dallas, averaging $83,085 and $81,349, respectively, at time of publication. Houston and Los Angeles were listed at similar levels, $79,021 and $77,868, respectively, while Phoenix was among the least lucrative locations, with an average salary of $64,411. The bureau's statistics put Alaska as the most lucrative state for a physical therapist to work in, averaging $92,720 per annum. New Jersey and Texas completed the top three with similar pay rates -- $87,270 and $86,390, respectively -- while Vermont was reported at just $67,430. Differences in pay levels may be due to the age demographics of certain regions, with elderly people often requiring more therapeutic services.
  
  

Prospects

• At 30 percent, the bureau's projections for growth in employment opportunities for physical therapists over the decade from 2008 to 2018 far exceed those for the entire country. Across all professions, growth is not expected to be more than 13 percent. An expanding, aging population will spur demand from rehabilitative and therapeutic procedures, as will changes in regulation that allow third-party payers to reimburse policy holders for such treatments. Salary levels for the role should, therefore, remain very competitive.