Throughout the past year, ADVANCE for Physical Therapists and PTAs has been busy conducting an online Salary Survey of our subscribers. We are proud to reveal the results in this issue.

There were 5,107 respondents who listed physical therapy as their profession. This total number of respondents included both PTs and PTAs.

When combining these two job titles under the overall heading of physical therapy professionals, the most common salary range was actually the highest, "More than $75,001," which included 13.5 percent of respondents. However, the lowest salary range option, "Less than $30,000," also registered a high percentage (11.7 percent). Other common salary ranges included $55,001 to $60,000 (12.5 percent), $50,001-$55,000 (11.6 percent) and $45,001-$50,000 (11.3 percent). There were at least 219 respondents for all 11 salary range options, with the least common range being $30,001-$35,000 (4.3 percent).

When the physical therapy professional population was broken down by nine geographical regions, some interesting statistics became clear. West South Central was the most lucrative region for PT professionals (average salary: $55,729) by a slim margin over the East South Central region ($55,560).

Substantially behind these two regions were the third and fourth most lucrative, Pacific, with an average salary of $53,394 for PT professionals, and Middle Atlantic at $53,261. The fifth-most lucrative region was Mountain/Southwest ($51,090), while the final four were West North Central ($50,583), South Atlantic ($50,247), East North Central ($49,423) and New England at $47,648.

PTs by Region

Of the more than 5,000 survey respondents who selected physical therapy as their profession, approximately 4,400 indicated they were physical therapists, as opposed to PTAs. Among that population, the most common salary range was also the highest option, "More than $75,001," including 15.9 percent of respondents. Other high-ranking ranges were $55,001-$60,000, (13.7 percent of respondents), $50,0001-$55,000 (12.2 percent), $45,001-$50,000 (11.5 percent) and $60,0001-$65,000 (10.4 percent). There were at least 44 respondents for all 13 salary range options, with 6.2 percent of respondents representing the lowest category, "Less than $20,000." The category registering the fewest respondents was $20,001-$25,000, which included just one percent of PTs who filled out the survey.

Within the entire physical therapist population, the highest average salary was registered by the East South Central Region at $60,128. Right behind it were the West South Central region ($58,700) and the Middle Atlantic ($56,809). Representing the statistical middle were the Pacific ($56,438), South Atlantic ($54,989) and East North Central regions ($54,106). The lowest three regions in terms of average salary were Mountain/Southwest ($53,582), West North Central ($52,889) and New England ($52,832).

PTAs by Region

Slightly fewer than 800 of the PT professionals responding to the survey indicated they were PTAs. As a group, the most common salary range among the PTA population was actually the lowest option in the survey, "Less than $20,000," with 16.6 percent. Other common ranges included $35,001-$40,000 (16.3 percent), $30,001-$35,000 (15.3 percent) and $40,001-$45,000 (14.7 percent). There were, however, at least a handful of respondents in the highest ranges as well, with 1.1 percent indicating they fell in the $65,001-$70,000 category, 0.4 percent picking the $70,001-$75,000 option, and 0.8 percent selecting the "More than $75,001" category.

Regionally, there was much disparity among PTAs in average salary. The most lucrative region was West South Central, where the average PTA made $38,952 per year. Other high totals included East South Central ($37,500) and Pacific ($34,891). The middle regions included Mountain/Southwest ($33,350), South Atlantic ($32,179) and West North Central ($31,764). Bringing up the rear, meanwhile, were Middle Atlantic ($29,870), New England ($29,581) and East North Central ($27,316).

Regional Conclusions

Taken as a whole, these statistics offer an intriguing look at the regional physical therapy salary situation in the United States. For example, the East South Central and West South Central regions proved to be the two most lucrative for physical therapy professionals as a whole, physical therapists as a specific group, and physical therapist assistants as a specific group. East South Central actually averaged about $1,400 more per year than West South Central for physical therapists, but West South Central's even greater salary advantage in the PTA category gave that region a slight edge for physical therapy professionals as a whole.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the New England region proved to be consistently less lucrative than other regions in all three categories. Ranking at the bottom for PT professionals as a whole ($47,648), it was also the lowest-ranking region for PTs ($52,832) and second-lowest for PTAs ($29,581).

The East North Central region, on the other hand, demonstrated the greatest disparity in terms of its ranking for PTs compared to PTAs. Ranking in the middle of the pack for physical therapists with an average salary of $54,106, it was last by a margin of more than $2,000 in the PTA category with an average of $27,316. The Middle Atlantic region also offered a significant PT/PTA ranking disparity, placing third in the physical therapist category ($56,809) but just seventh in the physical therapist assistant category ($29,870).

Disparity existed from the opposite perspective as well. For example, PTAs in the Mountain/Southwest region (ranking fourth at $33,350) could expect to earn a decent buck compared to other parts of the country, whereas PTs in the Mountain/Southwest region were paid at a comparatively low rate (ranking seventh at $53,582).

The South Atlantic region, meanwhile, deserves credit for consistency. It ranked exactly in the middle, fifth out of nine regions, for both PTs ($54,989) and PTAs ($32,179). Statistics being a funny thing, however, the disparate numbers registered by other areas actually made South Atlantic rank seventh out of nine regions among PT professionals as a whole ($50,247).