Occupational therapy is a large and expanding U.S. health profession, with measurable differences in employment setting, wages, geography, and studied outcomes. The statistics below distinguish observed workforce data from forecasts and summarize selected randomized-trial evidence rather than population-wide therapy use.
Key Occupational Therapy Statistics
Here are the most broadly useful occupational therapy statistics across workforce, pay, geography, and outcomes:
- In 2025, the United States had about 169,600 occupational-therapist jobs.
- BLS forecasts 194,800 U.S. occupational-therapist jobs in 2035.
- From 2025 to 2035, occupational-therapist employment is projected to grow 15% in the United States.
- BLS projects about 10,000 occupational-therapist openings per year on average from 2025 through 2035.
- In May 2025, the U.S. median occupational-therapist wage was $100,330 per year.
- In May 2025, the lowest-paid 10% of U.S. occupational therapists earned less than $71,690 annually.
- In May 2025, the highest-paid 10% of U.S. occupational therapists earned more than $131,950 annually.
- In May 2023, 42,840 occupational therapists worked in U.S. offices of other health practitioners.
- In May 2023, 31,930 occupational therapists worked in U.S. general medical and surgical hospitals.
- In May 2023, California had 12,470 occupational therapists, the largest state employment estimate listed here.
- In May 2023, Connecticut had 1.78 occupational-therapist jobs per 1,000 jobs among the listed state concentration estimates.
- A stroke review included nine randomized controlled trials with 1,258 participants.
- Across eight stroke trials, 961 participants had personal-activities-of-daily-living scores available, representing 80.6% of participants.
- In pooled stroke results, occupational therapy improved personal activities-of-daily-living performance with a standardized mean difference of 0.18.
- In pooled stroke results, occupational therapy reduced the odds of a poor personal-activities-of-daily-living outcome to 0.67.
- A 2023 hand, wrist, and forearm review identified 12 studies with 1,429 participants.
- In that review, pain decreased by 1.35 points on study pain scales with occupational therapy interventions.
- The hand, wrist, and forearm function analysis reported I²=69% heterogeneity, indicating meaningful variation between studies.
Contents
- Workforce size and occupational therapy trends
- Occupational therapist wages and pay distribution
- Employment by industry and care setting
- State workforce concentration
- Occupational therapy outcomes after stroke
- Hand, wrist, and forearm outcomes
Occupational Therapy Workforce Size and Trends
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated about 169,600 occupational-therapist jobs in 2025. Its 2035 projection is 194,800 jobs, a forecast rather than an observed count.
| Measure | U.S. figure | Period and definition |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational-therapist jobs | 169,600 | 2025 observed estimate |
| Projected jobs | 194,800 | 2035 forecast |
| Projected change | 15% | 2025–2035 forecast |
| Projected jobs added | 25,200 | 2025–2035 forecast |
| Average annual openings | 10,000 | 2025–2035 average; includes transfers and exits |
The projected 15% occupational-therapist growth exceeds the 9% forecast for healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners and the 3% forecast for all occupations over 2025–2035. The annual-opening figure includes positions created by workers transferring or leaving, not only net-new jobs.
Source: Occupational Therapists: Occupational Outlook Handbook. BLS workforce estimates describe occupational therapists, not the number of sessions or patients receiving therapy.
Occupational Therapist Wages and Pay Distribution Statistics
BLS reported a $100,330 median annual wage for U.S. occupational therapists in May 2025. The median means half earned more and half earned less; the OEWS wage data exclude self-employed workers.
| May 2025 wage point or industry | Annual wage | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Overall median | $100,330 | Half above and half below |
| Lowest-paid 10% threshold | Less than $71,690 | 10th-percentile threshold, not a minimum |
| Highest-paid 10% threshold | More than $131,950 | 90th-percentile threshold, not a maximum |
| Home healthcare services median | $106,300 | Industry-specific median |
| Skilled nursing facilities median | $105,850 | Industry-specific median |
| Hospitals median | $102,820 | State, local, and private hospitals |
| Therapy and audiology offices median | $97,940 | Industry-specific median |
| Educational services median | $87,300 | State, local, and private services |
An earlier BLS OEWS release reported a $46.54 mean hourly wage and $96,790 mean annual wage in May 2023. The annual figure uses the BLS year-round, full-time 2,080-hour convention where applicable, so the 2023 mean and 2025 median should not be treated as the same measure.
The May 2023 employment estimate had a 1.1% relative standard error, while the wage estimate had a 0.4% relative standard error. These are precision indicators, not population shares.
Source: Occupational Therapists: Occupational Outlook Handbook and Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: 29-1122 Occupational Therapists.
Occupational Therapy Employment by Industry and Care Setting
The May 2023 BLS industry estimates show occupational therapists working across outpatient offices, hospitals, schools, home health, and nursing facilities. These are employment counts by industry, not counts of patients or therapy visits.
| Industry or setting | Occupational therapists | Additional measure |
|---|---|---|
| Offices of other health practitioners | 42,840 | 3.75% of industry employment |
| General medical and surgical hospitals | 31,930 | 0.56% of industry employment |
| Elementary and secondary schools | 17,690 | Employment estimate |
| Home health care services | 11,740 | Employment estimate |
| Skilled nursing facilities | 9,950 | Employment estimate |
The industry share figures require careful interpretation: 3.75% and 0.56% describe occupational therapists as a share of employment within the named industries, not the share of all occupational therapists in those settings.
Selected May 2023 mean annual wages also varied by setting. Home health care services reported $110,460, nursing care facilities $101,740, and general medical and surgical hospitals $98,810.
The highest-paying listed industry was management of companies and enterprises, at $115,310 mean annual pay, but its listed employment count was only 380, so that mean is not representative of the occupation as a whole. Outpatient care centers reported $108,690, with listed employment of 1,660.
Source: Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: 29-1122 Occupational Therapists. Industry wage figures are means, while the separate 2025 industry figures above are medians.
Occupational Therapy Statistics by State and Workforce Concentration
State employment totals and concentration measures answer different questions. Employment counts indicate workforce scale, while jobs per 1,000 jobs and location quotient indicate occupational concentration relative to the broader labor market.
| State | Occupational therapists, May 2023 | Concentration measure |
|---|---|---|
| California | 12,470 | State employment estimate |
| Texas | 10,570 | State employment estimate |
| New York | 10,460 | State employment estimate |
| Florida | 8,100 | State employment estimate |
| Illinois | 7,270 | State employment estimate |
| Massachusetts | 5,280 | 1.45 jobs per 1,000 jobs |
| Indiana | 4,080 | Location quotient 1.35 |
Among the states listed in BLS’s highest-concentration table, Connecticut had 1.78 occupational-therapist jobs per 1,000 jobs and a location quotient of 1.87 in May 2023. A location quotient above 1 indicates higher occupational concentration than the national average.
Maine had 1.70 jobs per 1,000 jobs. These concentration figures are not a national ranking of every possible workforce measure; they are the listed state estimates for that BLS table.
The South Illinois nonmetropolitan area had 4.51 occupational-therapist jobs per 1,000 jobs and a 4.73 location quotient in May 2023, based on listed employment of 390. Northern New Mexico reported a $112,890 mean annual wage, based on listed employment of 60, making it a small-area mean rather than a broad national benchmark.
Source: Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: 29-1122 Occupational Therapists.
Occupational Therapy Outcomes After Stroke
A systematic review of occupational therapy for personal activities of daily living after stroke included nine randomized controlled trials and 1,258 participants. The trials varied in intervention and follow-up, so these results describe the selected evidence base rather than stroke prevalence or universal treatment effects.
| Outcome after stroke | Pooled result | Scope and limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Personal activities-of-daily-living performance | SMD 0.18; 95% CI 0.04–0.32 | Statistically significant, P=0.01 |
| Poor personal-activities-of-daily-living outcome | Odds ratio 0.67; 95% CI 0.51–0.87 | Review-defined composite; P=0.003 |
| Estimated poor outcomes spared | 11 per 100 treated; 95% CI 7–30 | Based on a 42% pooled control rate |
The review reported personal-activities-of-daily-living scores for 961 participants, or 80.6% of participants across eight trials. Instrumental-activities-of-daily-living scores were available for 847 participants, or 78.8% across six trials, showing that outcome availability differed across measures.
The pooled poor-outcome result combined death, deterioration, dependency, or institutional care as defined by the review. The estimate of 11 people spared per 100 treated is a review-derived estimate with wide uncertainty, not a guaranteed result for an individual patient.
Occupational Therapy Outcomes for Hand, Wrist, and Forearm Conditions
A 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis identified 12 studies with 1,429 adults with conservatively managed hand, wrist, or forearm conditions. The included conditions and interventions varied, and the review evidence was not a prevalence estimate.
| Outcome | Pooled result | Evidence limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Function | SMD -0.27; 95% CI -0.53 to -0.00 | Low certainty; I²=69% |
| Occupational performance | SMD 0.83; 95% CI 0.06–1.61 | Low certainty; I²=91% |
| Satisfaction with occupational performance | SMD 0.74; 95% CI 0.05–1.42 | Low certainty; I²=89% |
| Pain | Mean difference -1.35; 95% CI -1.86 to -0.84 | Moderate certainty; I²=0%; P<0.00001 |
The function, occupational-performance, and satisfaction analyses had substantial or very high heterogeneity, so their pooled averages may be less predictive for a particular setting. The pain analysis showed no observed statistical heterogeneity, but clinical populations and pain scales can still differ.
Effect sizes, confidence intervals, P values, and heterogeneity values are reported as presented in the review. Statistical significance does not by itself establish a clinically important change for every patient.