subject: Occupational Therapist Salary Geographical Disparities [print this page] The occupational therapist salary range mainly depends in which setting he works, but also fluctuates on a state and area wide basis. Their work mainly consists of working with the patients in day to day activities helping them to regarin their normal performance Occupational Therapists are responsible for making daily programs for the patients and also evaluate them on daily or weekly basis
Occupational therapists work in settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, schools, daycare centers and also in certain establishments run by the government. As per the employment data of US Department of Labor there are more than 97,000 occupational therapists working in the country and drawing a salary. Nearly Half of them work in hospitals and health care establishments. Around 20,000 work in nursing facilities and health care at home, and the rest in schools.
Most of the Occupational therapist salaries are annual. However, some of the get paid hourly. If thats the case, then the average hourly salary is $35.98. According to this average, 10$ of the lowest working therpaists get around $21.70 per hour, and the elite 10% get approximately $45.28. After looking at the hourly wage scenario, lets have a quick look at the annual salary. Average annual salary for Occupation therapists comes out to around $70,000. Lower Annual Bracket of Occupational therapists would be getting $45,000 while the therapists in the top slot would be receiving more than $100,000 annually.
Now lets see how the areas affect the Occupational Therapist Salary. According to US Government Bureau of Labor Statistics there are five states which offer the highest salaries for these professionals. California, Nevada and New Jersey have an average salary of $80,000 whil Professional in Maryland and Texas offer just below $80,000.
While the averae annual salaries in these states are quite close, looking deeper into specific metropolitan areas increases the difference between the annual salaries. In California, the San Francisco, Redwood City and San Mateo areas have salaries of $94,580, whereas areas like Thousand Oaks, Oxnard and Ventura stand at about $89,080. In Texas, the El Paso area has the highest mean at $96,470, whereas Laredo in the same state has $90,130. In Nevada, Vegas and Paradise offer average annual salaries of $89k.
The density of occupational therapists around the country do not follow the same trend as the salaries. As per the survey, Massachusetts State has the highest number of occupational therapists followed by places like Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
In conclusion, it seems that the area has a bigger impact than other factors on the salaries earned by occupational therapists. After the area, it will be the kind of work place which affects the salary the most. According to statistics, the hospitals and health care establishments offer the best salaries whereas school institutions have the lowest salaries.
For therapists based in school, an average annual salary of $61k is considered to be adequate. This comes out to be an hourly rate of $29.61. This includes the primary and elementary schools. Here too, if you narrow down to certain specialty schools, the hourly rate increases to $36..20 or $75k per year. This sets at the same footing with therapists working in tertiary care centres.
