How Much Do Physical Therapist Assistants Make? PTA Pay Calculator

Physical therapist assistants earned a median of $68,380 a year in May 2025, $32.88 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' count of 112,430 PTAs. The middle half earned between $28.76 and $37.83 an hour and the top tenth over $43.04. Weekend and evening shifts at extended-hours clinics don't change these straight-time figures.

Physical therapist assistants: pay at every level

This is the BLS line for physical therapist assistants (SOC 31-2021) on employers' payrolls. Physical therapist aides, who don't treat patients and earn far less, are a separate line, as are the physical therapists PTAs work under. Take-home assumes a single filer with 2026 federal tax and FICA and no state tax.

Physical therapist assistant pay by state

California pays PTAs the most, $39.96 an hour, then Massachusetts ($38.20) and New Jersey ($37.71). Texas, which employs the most PTAs (10,510), pays $37.50, well above the national median, while South Dakota ($23.71) is lowest. Florida, with 9,870, pays $34.87.

Which employers pay physical therapist assistants most

Home health care pays PTAs the most, $80,050, then skilled nursing facilities ($77,440). Hospitals pay $67,620, therapy offices — 44% of PTA jobs — $63,080, and physicians' offices $62,970 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook).

A physical therapist assistant's schedule

Most physical therapist assistants work full time, although part-time work is common, and some work nights and weekends because many clinics keep extended hours. Therapy offices employ 44% of PTAs, hospitals 20%, home health 12%, skilled nursing facilities 10% and physicians' offices 6%. Lifting and moving patients makes back injuries a risk (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook).

Overtime for physical therapist assistants

PTAs generally aren't exempt learned professionals: the exemption looks for knowledge customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction (DOL Fact Sheet #17D), and PTAs enter with an associate's degree, so they're owed time and a half after 40 hours in a workweek. Hospitals and nursing facilities can instead use the 8-and-80 system by prior agreement: overtime after 8 hours in a day and 80 in a 14-day period (DOL Fact Sheet #54).

What part-time hours pay physical therapist assistants

Many PTAs work part time or take extra weekend hours at a second clinic. The table converts the BLS median and 75th percentile PTA hourly wages into a year's pay at 20 to 40 hours a week over 52 weeks, before any overtime or 8-and-80 premium.

Training, licenses and pay

All states require PTAs to have an associate's degree from an accredited program, typically about 2 years of anatomy, physiology and kinesiology plus supervised clinical work, and to be licensed or certified, which usually means passing a qualifying exam; some states add a law exam, a background check or a minimum age of 18, and continuing education. Physical therapist aides, by contrast, need only a high school diploma and on-the-job training (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook).

Related tools and guides

More ways to work with your physical therapist assistant pay:

• Weekend income calculator
• Overtime pay calculator
• Take-home pay calculator (2026 federal tax)
• Debt payoff calculator (student loans)
• Hourly pay by job: all the BLS pay calculators