Occupational Therapist Salary Geographical Disparities

Salaries for Occupational Therapist range depends on the setting they work in and also on the state they are working in. 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. According to Department of Labor, there are nearly 100,000 therapists working in United States of America. The majority of them, amounting to about 46,000, 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. Based on this average, 10% of the lowest earning therapists earn about $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. The therapists who are drawing the lowest would be earning around $45,340, whereas these professionals in the top bracket would be earning upwards of $100,430 annually.

Now let’s see how the areas affect the Occupational Therapist Salary. Labor Statistics show that there are 5 states which offer the most attractive salaries for Occupational therapists. California, Nevada and New Jersey have an average salary of $80,000 whil Professional in Maryland and Texas offer just below $80,000.

The salaries are much more if we narrow down to certain metropolitan areas in these states. For instance, within California -- SF, Redwood City and San Mateo have annual payments around $95k whereas Thousand oaks and oxnard provide about $89k. Within Texas, El Paso has the highest mean with $96k whereas laredo gives $90,000. 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. According to the survet done by the Department of Labor, State of Massachusetts has the largest number of therapists. It is then followed by Maine, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

To conclude, it will be be correct to say that the working area/state has the biggest impact on the salaries received by therpaists. Within each area, the type of establishment will also affect the salary. According to statistics, the hospitals and health care establishments offer the best salaries whereas school institutions have the lowest salaries.

The occupational therapist salary ranges for those based in schools will draw an average pay of $61,590 per year, the hourly rate working out to about $29.61. This includes the primary and elementary schools. Even in the case of schools, narrowing to particular speciality schools, hourly rates goes up to $36..20 or $75k per year. This sets at the same footing with therapists working in tertiary care centres.