Medical Skilled Trades
Physical Therapist Assistant
Physical therapist assistants help patients recover movement and manage pain, working under a physical therapist's plan of care. BLS projects employment to grow much faster than the average for all occupations.
1.Career snapshot
- Role
- Physical Therapist Assistant
- Pay (planning range)
- $50K–$80K+ Wealth Playbook guide, 2026
- Training time
- ~2 years
- Pathway
- Rehabilitation & Respiratory
- Demand
- Employment of physical therapist assistants is projected to grow 23 percent from 2025 to 2035 (BLS projections table); assistants and aides combined are projected to grow 17 percent, much faster than the average for all occupations.
- Patient contact
- High
- Occupation code
- SOC 31-2021 · O*NET 31-2021.00
- Schedule flexibility
2.What you'll do
Everyday work and where it happens
You guide patients through the exercises in their plan of care, keeping them safe and encouraging them. You use techniques such as stretching and massage, set patients up on therapy equipment, and show them how to use walkers and other devices. You watch how each patient responds, record progress notes, and report back to the physical therapist.
Typical duties
- Help patients do specific exercises as part of the plan of care
- Treat patients using techniques such as massage and stretching
- Use devices and equipment, such as walkers, to help patients
- Observe patients before, during and after therapy and report their status to the physical therapist
- Educate patients and family members about what to do after treatment
- Record patient information, including progress notes
- Where you could work
- Offices of physical, occupational and speech therapists, Hospitals, Home health care, Nursing care facilities, Offices of physicians
- Schedule
- Most PTAs work full time, although part-time work is common. Some work nights and weekends because many clinics have extended hours.
- Physical demands
- You are frequently on your feet and moving, and must often kneel, stoop, bend and stand for long periods. Lifting and moving patients makes back injuries a risk, so good technique matters.
- Patient contact
- High
3.How to get there
Education, training, exams and licensing
- Typical training
- Associate degree + license/certification
- Training time
- ~2 years
1.Finish high school or an equivalent
PTA programs include coursework in anatomy, physiology and kinesiology, so science classes help you prepare.
2.Earn an associate's degree from a CAPTE-accredited PTA program
Programs take about 2 years and cover anatomy, physiology and kinesiology plus supervised clinical work. FSBPT requires a degree from a CAPTE-accredited institution to sit the exam.
3.Pass the NPTE for PTAs
The National Physical Therapy Examination has a PTA version, run by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy. Your state board must approve you to take it.
4.Get your state license or certification
All states require PTAs to be licensed or certified. Some states add a law exam, a background check and a minimum age of 18. Continuing education keeps the license current; CPR or BLS certification is also common.
Exams and credentials
- National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE), PTA exam (Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy)
Licensing
All states require physical therapist assistants to be licensed or certified. Licensure typically requires graduating from an accredited PTA program and passing the NPTE for PTAs; some states also require an exam on state law, a criminal background check and a minimum age of 18. Requirements vary by state; check your state board.
Look up your state's license requirements (opens in a new tab)
4.What it costs
Tuition, fees, exams and financial aid
Costs vary by program.
NPTE (PTA) registration fee: $485.00 plus additional fees payable to Prometric for scheduling (fsbpt.org, read October 2026). State licensing fees are separate.
Grants, loans and work-study can help pay for an eligible program. Start with the FAFSA at studentaid.gov (opens in a new tab), and ask each program what its total cost includes.
5.What you can earn
Starting, median and experienced pay, and where the figures come from
Planning range
$50K–$80K+
Planning range from the Wealth Playbook medical careers guide, 2026
Local wage data isn't loaded yet, so this is a broad planning range, not a wage figure.
A planning range is broad and has no median: it is for planning, not a promise of pay. Starting, median and experienced wages will show here when BLS wage data is loaded.
For reference only (not this page's pay figure): BLS median, May 2025, national: $68,380 a year (source, opens in a new tab).
6.Jobs near you
Coming soon
We plan to show local openings here once a job-data source is connected. Until then, you can search current listings yourself.
7.Career ladder
Next certifications and roles
- Physical Therapist Assistant(this career)
- Physical Therapist(Needs a doctoral degree: physical therapists entering the occupation need a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree, per BLS.)
8.Your wealth path
From your first paycheck to owning and investing
Train
Certify
Get hired
Advance
Build wealth
Own / invest
Estimated take-home pay
Low end of the planning range: $50,000 a year
About $40,464 a year ($3,372 a month)
High end of the planning range: $80,000 a year
About $61,416 a year ($5,118 a month)
Estimate only. Assumptions: tax year 2026, single filer, the standard deduction, federal income tax, FICA at 7.65%, and a default state income tax rate of 5.00% (choose a state above to use its rate). No retirement contributions or other deductions. The Paycheck calculator uses the same engine.
9.Find training
Free U.S. Department of Labor resources. We don't list or rank schools.
Registered apprenticeships exist for some of these roles. For licensed careers, check that a program meets your state's licensing rules.
10.Compare careers
Save this career and put it beside others
Sources
- Pay: Planning range from the Wealth Playbook medical careers guide, 2026 (a planning range, not wage data).
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Physical Therapist Assistants and Aides (opens in a new tab)
- O*NET OnLine: 31-2021.00 Physical Therapist Assistants (opens in a new tab)
- FSBPT: National Exam (NPTE) (opens in a new tab)
- FSBPT: NPTE Eligibility Requirements (opens in a new tab)
- FSBPT: Exam Registration & Payment (opens in a new tab)
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Physical Therapists (opens in a new tab)