Physical therapy sits within the broader rehabilitation field, but the available statistics span both the profession and the health conditions that create demand for care. The figures below distinguish U.S. workforce estimates, global rehabilitation estimates, fall data, and claims-based low-back-pain findings by population, period and measurement type.
Key Physical Therapy Statistics
The most broadly useful figures include:
- In 2025, about 283,700 physical therapists held jobs in the United States.
- From 2025 to 2035, U.S. physical-therapist employment is projected to grow 12%.
- From 2025 to 2035, about 33,800 physical-therapist jobs are projected to be added in the United States.
- From 2025 to 2035, about 13,400 physical-therapist openings per year are projected in the United States.
- In May 2025, the U.S. median annual physical-therapist wage was $102,760.
- In May 2025, the U.S. median hourly physical-therapist wage was $49.40.
- In 2019, an estimated 2.4 billion people worldwide had conditions that could benefit from rehabilitation.
- From 1990 to 2019, estimated global rehabilitation need increased 63%.
- In 2020, 14 million U.S. adults aged 65 and older reported a fall during the previous year.
- In 2020, 27.6% of U.S. adults aged 65 and older reported a fall during the previous year.
- In 2021, 38,742 U.S. adults aged 65 and older died from unintentional falls.
- In 2023, the U.S. unintentional fall death rate for adults aged 65 and older was 69.9 per 100,000.
- In a U.S. low-back-pain claims cohort, 7.0% of patients used physical therapy within 18 months of primary-care consultation.
- In that cohort, early physical therapy was associated with an odds ratio of 0.34 for advanced imaging compared with delayed physical therapy.
- In the same cohort, early physical therapy was associated with $2,736.23 lower total low-back-pain medical costs per patient.
- In a 2009–2013 U.S. Northwest claims study of adults aged 18–64, seeing a physical therapist first was associated with an 89.4% lower probability of an opioid prescription.
- In a Military Health System low-back-pain cohort, 16.3% of patients used physical therapy.
Contents
- Key Physical Therapy Statistics
- Physical Therapy Workforce Statistics and Job Outlook
- Physical Therapist Pay and Staffing Data
- Global Rehabilitation Need and Physical Therapy Context
- Falls, Mobility and Rehabilitation-Related Risk Statistics
- Physical Therapy Utilization, Costs and Measured Outcomes
Physical Therapy Workforce Statistics and Job Outlook
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports about 283,700 physical-therapist jobs in 2025. This is an occupation estimate for the United States, not a worldwide count and not a count of patients receiving care. BLS, Physical Therapists: Occupational Outlook Handbook
BLS projects continued expansion through 2035:
- Employment is projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035.
- About 33,800 jobs are projected to be added over that period.
- About 13,400 openings per year are projected on average, including growth and replacement needs.
These are forecasts rather than observed outcomes. They describe expected U.S. labor-market demand, not guaranteed hiring or patient-volume growth. BLS, Physical Therapists: Occupational Outlook Handbook
The 2025 industry distribution shows that physical therapy is delivered across multiple settings:
| U.S. employment setting | Share of physical therapists | Period and definition |
|---|---|---|
| Offices of physical, occupational and speech therapists and audiologists | 36% | 2025; employed physical therapists |
| Hospitals | 26% | 2025; state, local and private hospitals combined |
| Home healthcare services | 11% | 2025; employed physical therapists |
| Nursing and residential care facilities | 6% | 2025; employed physical therapists |
| Self-employed workers | 4% | 2025; BLS work-environment share |
The listed major employers do not necessarily sum to 100%, because the source presents selected categories rather than every employment setting. BLS, Physical Therapists: Occupational Outlook Handbook
Physical Therapist Pay and Staffing Data
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook reports a $102,760 median annual wage and a $49.40 median hourly wage for U.S. physical therapists in May 2025. These are medians, so they describe the midpoint of the wage distribution rather than an average. BLS, Physical Therapists: Occupational Outlook Handbook
A separate BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release gives a detailed May 2023 distribution. It reported 240,820 physical-therapist jobs, excluding self-employed workers, and a $48.29 mean hourly wage and $100,440 mean annual wage. BLS, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: 29-1123 Physical Therapists
| May 2023 wage measure | U.S. dollars per hour | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $34.74 | OEWS percentile estimate |
| 25th percentile | $39.41 | OEWS percentile estimate |
| Median | $47.94 | 50th percentile |
| 75th percentile | $54.63 | OEWS percentile estimate |
| 90th percentile | $62.92 | OEWS percentile estimate |
The May 2023 figures are OEWS estimates and exclude self-employed workers. The annual estimate is based on year-round full-time hours where applicable, so it should not be treated as interchangeable with every other wage concept. BLS, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: 29-1123 Physical Therapists
Global Rehabilitation Need and Physical Therapy Context
Physical therapy is narrower than rehabilitation, so global rehabilitation estimates provide context rather than direct measures of physical-therapy use. WHO and IHME estimated that 2.4 billion people worldwide had health conditions that could benefit from rehabilitation in 2019, or close to one in three people globally. WHO, Global estimates of the need for rehabilitation
The modeled estimate rose from 1.48 billion people in 1990 to 2.41 billion in 2019, a 63% increase over the period. These are longitudinal estimates of rehabilitation need, not counts of people who received physical therapy. WHO, Global estimates of the need for rehabilitation
| Rehabilitation-need measure | Estimate | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| People needing rehabilitation in 1990 | 1.48 billion | Global population; modeled estimate |
| People needing rehabilitation in 2019 | 2.41 billion | Global population; modeled estimate |
| Years lived with disability associated with 2019 need | 310 million | Global population; health-system estimate |
WHO’s health-system document reports the 310 million years lived with disability figure and broader global context; it is not a physical-therapy treatment-volume measure. WHO, Strengthening rehabilitation in health systems
WHO also identifies 86 million people as needing rehabilitation because of stroke. The accessible WHO page does not state a measurement year, so no year is inferred from the page or its publication context. WHO, Ensuring access to rehabilitation for all
Falls, Mobility and Rehabilitation-Related Risk Statistics
Falls among older adults illustrate one area where mobility, balance and rehabilitation needs can intersect. CDC survey estimates found that 14 million U.S. adults aged 65 and older reported at least one fall in the previous year in 2020, equal to 27.6% of that population. CDC, Nonfatal and Fatal Falls Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years — United States, 2020–2021
The same 2020 age-adjusted survey estimate was 28.9% for older women and 26.1% for older men. State-level reporting ranged from 19.9% in Illinois to 38.0% in Alaska, so these are state comparisons rather than a national average. CDC, Nonfatal and Fatal Falls Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years — United States, 2020–2021
Fatal fall measures are different from self-reported fall prevalence:
- In 2021, there were 38,742 unintentional fall-related deaths among U.S. adults aged 65 and older, with an age-adjusted rate of 78.0 per 100,000.
- In 2021, the rate was 91.4 per 100,000 for older men and 68.3 per 100,000 for older women.
- Across states in 2021, older-adult fall death rates ranged from 30.7 per 100,000 in Alabama to 176.5 per 100,000 in Wisconsin.
- CDC estimated older-adult fall medical costs at approximately $50 billion per year in its 2020–2021 analysis.
These cost figures cover medical costs attributed to nonfatal and fatal falls, not the price of physical therapy alone. CDC, Nonfatal and Fatal Falls Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years — United States, 2020–2021
CDC’s 2023 data brief recorded 41,400 unintentional fall deaths among U.S. adults aged 65 and older and a rate of 69.9 per 100,000. The rate was 74.2 per 100,000 for older men, 66.3 per 100,000 for older women, and 339.5 per 100,000 for adults aged 85 and older. CDC, Unintentional Fall Deaths in Adults Age 65 and Older: United States, 2023
Physical Therapy Utilization, Costs and Measured Outcomes
Claims studies show how utilization and associated outcomes can vary by condition, population and definition. In one U.S. claims-based cohort of patients with a new primary-care low-back-pain diagnosis, 7.0% used physical therapy during the 18 months after consultation; early therapy meant starting within 14 days. PubMed, Primary care referral of patients with low back pain to physical therapy: impact on future health care utilization and costs
Compared with delayed physical therapy, early PT in that observational study was associated with the following 18-month outcomes:
| Outcome | Association for early PT | Study population and period |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced imaging | Odds ratio 0.34 | U.S. low-back-pain patients; 18 months |
| Additional physician visits | Odds ratio 0.26 | U.S. low-back-pain patients; 18 months |
| Surgery | Odds ratio 0.45 | U.S. low-back-pain patients; 18 months |
| Injections | Odds ratio 0.42 | U.S. low-back-pain patients; 18 months |
| Opioid medication use | Odds ratio 0.78 | U.S. low-back-pain patients; 18 months |
The study also associated early PT with $2,736.23 lower total low-back-pain medical costs per patient, with a 95% confidence interval of $1,810.67–$3,661.78 lower. These are observational associations, not randomized treatment effects. PubMed, Primary care referral of patients with low back pain to physical therapy: impact on future health care utilization and costs
A separate instrumental-variables analysis used 2009–2013 commercial claims for adults aged 18–64 with new low-back pain in the U.S. Northwest and followed outcomes for one year. Seeing a PT first was associated with an 89.4% lower probability of an opioid prescription, a 27.9% lower probability of advanced imaging, and a 14.7% lower probability of an emergency-department visit. PubMed, Physical Therapy as the First Point of Care to Treat Low Back Pain
The same study found a 19.3% higher probability of hospitalization for patients seeing a PT first. Because the result differs from several other utilization outcomes, and because the estimate is observational, these figures should not be read as a universal treatment effect. PubMed, Physical Therapy as the First Point of Care to Treat Low Back Pain
A Military Health System low-back-pain cohort offers another population-specific measure. 16.3% of patients used physical therapy, and among those receiving early PT, 24.0% received care adherent to recommendations for active treatment; the PT-utilizing group included 122,723 patients, while the early-adherent subgroup included 17,175 patients. PubMed, Implications of early and guideline adherent physical therapy for low back pain on utilization and costs
The Military Health System figures use study-specific definitions and a population that differs from civilian cohorts. The study periods are not stated on the accessible PubMed abstract, so they should not be inferred from the publication year.