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Median pay
$98,340
Median annual pay for Occupational Therapist.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2024
Strong projected growth and broad care settings, with graduate education and licensure as the main entry costs.
Strong projected growth and broad care settings, with graduate education and licensure as the main entry costs.
The measurable baseline is $98,340 median pay, 13.8% projected employment change from 2024 to 2034, and about 10,200 annual openings. Those figures establish the national baseline; the occupation-specific evidence on this page is what makes the decision more useful than a generic profile.
The national median-pay figure in the current ChooseField dataset is $98,340. The 2024 self-employed share is 2.2%, which matters because self-employment can make outcomes less uniform across workers. A national median is a benchmark, not a personal forecast: experience, geography, employer type, specialty, credentials, and hours can move actual compensation materially.
BLS data in the ChooseField corpus put 2024 employment at 160,000 and projected 2034 employment at 182,100. That corresponds to 13.8% projected growth over the decade. BLS projects about 10,200 openings per year, including growth and replacement demand. This distinction matters when people ask whether a field is oversaturated: growth measures whether the occupation itself is getting larger, while annual openings also reflect people retiring, changing occupations, or leaving roles that must be refilled.
BLS lists the typical entry education as Master's degree. Treat this entry path like an investment: compare the time and cost required to enter with the pay, annual openings, and alternatives available at a similar training level.
Strong projected growth. The headline figure is 13.8%. BLS projected employment growth from 2024 to 2034. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024–2034).
Occupational therapy offers strong projected growth but requires master's-level entry. The decision therefore turns on whether the role and settings justify graduate-school time and cost relative to adjacent healthcare careers.
This field is a stronger fit if the required education and licensure are acceptable and you value a labor market anchored in direct care or clinical services.
Before choosing Occupational Therapist, compare it with Physical Therapist, Registered Nurse, Physician Assistant. The purpose is not to find a universal winner; it is to see how pay, training time, annual openings, work setting, and field-specific risks change when you move to an adjacent option.
Strong projected growth and broad care settings, with graduate education and licensure as the main entry costs. The measurable baseline is $98,340 median pay, 13.8% projected 2024–34 employment change, about 10,200 annual openings, and a typical entry path of Master's degree.
The national median in the current ChooseField dataset is $98,340. Treat that as a benchmark rather than an expected starting salary; actual compensation varies by experience, location, employer, specialty, credentials, and hours.
Compare Occupational Therapist with Physical Therapist, Registered Nurse on pay, training time, openings, working conditions, and occupation-specific evidence rather than relying on one score.
Strong projected growth and broad care settings, with graduate education and licensure as the main entry costs. The measurable baseline is $98,340 median pay, 13.8% projected 2024–34 employment change, about 10,200 annual openings, and a typical entry path of Master's degree.
National pay and employment projections come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other sources are linked on their cards.