Insights / Therapy pay versus the U.S. median / California
Therapy pay in California
California's three therapy medians are clustered. The physical-therapist upper quarter is the one that pulls away.
The draft said therapy in California pays about the occupational-therapist median and stopped there.
Occupational therapists lead the medians at $124,510, against $100,330 nationally, 1.24 times the country, with 13,810 employed. Physical therapists are $124,190, against $102,760 nationally, with 26,580 employed. The medians are almost the same dollar. The benches are not.
The upper quarters separate. Occupational therapists reach a 75th percentile of $136,380. Physical therapists reach $141,260. Speech-language pathologists have a median of $118,970 and a 75th percentile of $135,070, against $97,870 nationally. One shared midpoint covers the middle and misses the PT upper quarter.
Ranked table
| Rank | Occupation | State median | 75th percentile | U.S. median | State vs U.S. | State employment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Occupational Therapists | $124,510 | $136,380 | $100,330 | 1.24 | 13,810 |
| 2 | Physical Therapists | $124,190 | $141,260 | $102,760 | 1.21 | 26,580 |
| 3 | Speech-Language Pathologists | $118,970 | $135,070 | $97,870 | 1.22 | 16,930 |
Takeaways
- Speech-language pathologists number 16,930 and are 1.22 times the national median.
- Physical therapists are 1.21 times their national median. Occupational therapists are the 1.24 comparison.
- California is 1 of 51 on the physical-therapist sort, even though occupational therapists post the higher median.
- A candidate who already works in the state is comparing your band with these upper quarters, not with the national median.
For recruiters
- Write the physical-therapist upper quarter into the experienced req. The median will not get you there.
- Do not use the occupational-therapist median as a nickname for all three licenses.
FAQ
- Are these posted wages or open jobs?
- No. The table is a government survey or a designation file.
- What should a recruiter do first?
- Follow the recruiter note on this page.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Related hiring pages
Methodology
Occupations are the fixed set named in the series, kept only when both the California median and the U.S. median are published. A 75th percentile or an employment count that is unpublished stays blank in the table. The article is omitted when fewer than 3 occupations qualify. OEWS May 2025. A comparison of 1.00 matches the U.S. median. Sorted by the Physical Therapists state median when that occupation qualifies, otherwise by the highest median in the table. California is 1 of 51. A row links to the California metro page with the highest public market difficulty score for that occupation when one is published, and otherwise to the occupation page on the hiring grid. An unpublished percentile or employment count is shown as unpublished rather than replaced with a zero. The wages are annual OEWS figures. They are not job listings and they are not an employer's current offer. Read the comparison beside the dollar figures: a high state wage can still sit under the national median for that occupation, and a lower state wage can still sit above it. Rounded figures in the prose: $124,510 is stated as about $124.5K. $100,330 is stated as about $100.3K. a comparison of 1.24 is stated as 24 percent. $136,380 is stated as about $136.4K. $118,970 is stated as about $119.0K. a comparison of 1.22 is stated as 22 percent. $97,870 is stated as about $97.9K.
Sources
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