Occupational therapysalary analytics v2.0

Q: Does annualized salary equal take-home pay?

No. Annualization makes different pay units comparable but does not guarantee hours or include taxes, benefits, leave, travel, cancellations, or unpaid administrative work.

Compare current OT and COTA pay, understand the spread, and check how an offer compares with the market you choose.

How the calculations work

Choose the market you want to compare

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Role State Practice setting Employment type Work arrangement Clear all

Median advertised salary i

$93,600 Annualized midpoint for the market you selected

Middle 50% i

$77,500–$107,120 Half of salary-bearing postings fall inside this band

Official workforce benchmark: $100,330U.S. OT workforce medianCOTA workforce median: $72,300 · BLS OEWS May 2025View BLS source
Typical advertised endpoints: $83,200–$104,000Median low and high ends of posted ranges
Highest state median: California$114,400 advertised medianExplore jobs by state

Advertised salary distribution

How annualized pay is distributed across the current market

Salary by practice setting

Local figures appear only when at least 10 salary-bearing postings from 3 employers qualify

Neurology

$114,400108 postings · 41 employers

Mental health

$104,37436 postings · 10 employers

Pediatrics

$100,750109 postings · 29 employers

Early intervention

$100,50522 postings · 4 employers

Hand therapy

$100,10026 postings · 11 employers

Salary by state

States with the highest reliable advertised-pay medians

California
$114,400
Oregon
$109,200
Nevada
$107,110
Washington
$104,777
Delaware
$101,998

Explore jobs by state

Pay by role

Median annualized advertised pay

$101,450Occupational therapist

$72,800COTA

National workforce wage history

Published BLS OEWS median annual wages, 2021–2025

Occupational therapist17.2% since 2021COTA17.1% since 2021

Nominal U.S. workforce estimates—not inflation-adjusted, current job-posting pay, or a forecast. OEWS combines multiple survey panels, so use the direction as context rather than a precise annual time series.

Review BLS annual tables

Salary percentiles

See how advertised annual pay moves from lower to higher values

Percentile	Annualized salary
10th percentile	$66,560
25th percentile	$77,500
50th percentile	$93,600
75th percentile	$107,120
90th percentile	$124,800

Know what the offer is really worth

Compare the pay, time, extras, and costs that change the value of an offer.

Compared withBroad U.S. OT + COTA benchmarkAdd role, state, and setting for a closer match.

Pay and schedule

Offer amount Pay basis Expected total work hours / week Weeks worked / year Classification

First-year extras and costsOptional

Use amounts you can verify. Leave unknowns at $0.

Expected annual bonus Sign-on or relocation Employer-paid benefits / year Your work costs / year

Salary stays fixed; weeks and hours are used only to estimate value per work hour.

Comparable annual base pay —

Your annual salary, before extras, benefits, or work costs.

First-year cash—Base pay plus annual and one-time cash

Estimated first-year total value—Cash plus benefits, minus your work costs

These figures match because no extras, benefits, or work costs are entered. Add verified amounts to compare the whole offer.

Monthly base — Working-week base — Base / work hour — Total value / work hour —

10thMedian90th

Ready to compare

The result is an estimate, not take-home pay.

See the calculation

Comparable base pay: —
Expected annual bonus: —
One-time extras: —
Employer-paid benefits: —
Your work costs: —

What these occupational therapy salary numbers mean

Current advertised pay

The analytics use recently verified U.S. OT and COTA postings with a recognized hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or annual pay unit.

Like-for-like base pay

The calculator uses the schedule, paid time, and completion rate you enter. Bonuses, benefits, and costs stay separate from the market range.

Reliability safeguards

Narrow comparisons stay hidden until the available pay information is broad and diverse enough to support a useful summary.

The official BLS benchmark measures wages across the national workforce, while OT Bestie summarizes pay advertised in current postings. Review the 2025 wage data for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants.

Use the numbers with confidence

Annualized pay makes different job postings easier to compare. Your schedule, paid time, employment classification, and benefits still affect what an offer is worth to you.

Compare current OT jobs Browse current COTA jobs

What is the average occupational therapist salary?

BLS 2025 wage data show a $100,330 national median annual wage for occupational therapists. The analytics above answer a different question: what current job postings advertise after their pay is annualized.

How much do COTAs make?

BLS 2025 wage data show a $72,300 national median annual wage for occupational therapy assistants. Choose COTA in the role filter to compare that benchmark with current advertised COTA pay.

Why does advertised salary differ by state or setting?

Geography, employer mix, setting, schedule, employment type, demand, and pay transparency can all change the values shown for a market.

Does annualized salary equal take-home pay?

No. Annualization makes different pay units easier to compare. It does not guarantee hours or include taxes, health coverage, paid leave, retirement contributions, cancellations, travel, or unpaid administrative work.