Salary for a Master's Degree in Occupational Therapy
- The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) conducted an online salary study of occupational therapists employed in 2009, publishing the data in 2010. This survey, which received 9,910 responses, reported that therapists with a master's degree had a median salary of $60,000 per year.
- The AOTA reports showed that pay for occupational therapists increases gradually over the span of a career. The AOTA combined therapists with masters and doctoral degrees in reporting pay by experience. However, according to the AOTA, an entry-level practitioner with a master's does not usually earn less than one with a doctorate. Occupational therapists with zero to one year of experience had a median salary of $52,000, while those with 4.1 to six years of experience received median pay of $60,000. Those with between 14.1 and 20 years in the profession had a median salary of $69,000. Therapists with more than 25 years on the job earned a median income of $73,226, according to the 2010 report.
- More than 26 percent of occupational therapists worked in hospitals, according to the AOTA 2010 report. Another 21.6 percent worked in schools, and nearly 20 percent worked in skilled nursing facilities or long-term care. The median salary for therapists regardless of degree came to $64,480 in general hospitals. Those in long-term or skilled nursing facilities had a median income of $70,000, while therapists in schools earned less, a median of $58,201 per year.
- Salary.com reports current salaries of occupational therapists by percentile, combining data on therapists at all degree levels. The May 2011 median or 50th percentile wage for occupational therapists comes to $72,931. Therapists at the 10th percentile earn $61,972, and those at the 25th percentile earn $67,195 per year. Occupational therapists at the 75th percentile earn $79,335, while those at the 90th percentile take home $85,165.
- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, certain states have higher-than-average pay for occupational therapists. The BLS combined therapists at all degree levels in its 2009 survey of 97,840 therapists nationwide. In this study, therapists in California received an average annual pay of $82,610, the highest in the nation. Nevada came second, at $81,310 per year, and New Jersey was third, at $80,030. Occupational therapists in Maryland and Texas also averaged more than $78,000 per year.
- The BLS projects 26 percent growth in jobs for occupational therapists in the decade from 2008 to 2018. The number of jobs for those treating the elderly will increase as the population ages and improved medical care allows patients with serious health problems to live longer. Other growing specialties will be driver rehabilitation and consulting in ergonomics.