Healthcare Support · Holland code SRC

Physical Therapist Assistants

Assist physical therapists in providing physical therapy treatments and procedures. May, in accordance with state laws, assist in the development of treatment plans, carry out routine functions, document the progress of treatment, and modify specific treatments in accordance with patient status and within the scope of treatment plans established by a physical therapist. Generally requires formal training.

Also called: Certified Physical Therapist Assistant (CPTA), Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant (LPTA), Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA), Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA), Home Care Physical Therapy Assistant, Home Health Physical Therapist Assistant, Licensed Physical Therapy Assistant, Outpatient Physical Therapist Assistant.

O*NET 31-2021.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $68,380; Middle half earn $59,820 to $78,680. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree; 84% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 3 of 5; Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Instruct, motivate, safeguard, and assist patients as they practice exercises or functional activities.
Document patient information, such as notes on their progress.
Observe patients during treatments to compile and evaluate data on their responses and progress and provide results to physical therapist in person or through progress notes.
Instruct patients in proper body mechanics and in ways to improve functional mobility, such as aquatic exercise.
Secure patients into or onto therapy equipment.
Confer with physical therapy staff or others to discuss and evaluate patient information for planning, modifying, or coordinating treatment.
Administer active or passive manual therapeutic exercises, therapeutic massage, aquatic physical therapy, or heat, light, sound, or electrical modality treatments, such as ultrasound.
Transport patients to and from treatment areas, lifting and transferring them according to positioning requirements.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.0 / 5
Speaking3.8 / 5
Monitoring3.8 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.3 / 5
Writing3.3 / 5
Critical Thinking3.3 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service4.5 / 5
Therapy and Counseling4.2 / 5
English Language4.2 / 5
Education and Training3.9 / 5
Psychology3.6 / 5
Medicine and Dentistry3.5 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic58
Investigative44
Artistic9
Social90
Enterprising5
Conventional46

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

complementary therapist · DE Therapeut Komplementärmedizin/Therapeutin Komplementärmedizin · FR praticien de médecine alternative/praticienne de médecine alternative
acupuncturist · DE Akupunkteur/Akupunkteurin · FR acupuncteur/acupunctrice
occupational therapy assistant · DE Ergotherapieassistent/Ergotherapieassistentin · FR assistant ergothérapeute/assistante ergothérapeute
podiatry assistant · DE Podologieassistent/Podologieassistentin · FR assistant podologue/assistante podologue
massage therapist · DE Heilmasseur/Heilmasseurin · FR masseur kinésithérapeute/masseuse kinésithérapeute
physiotherapy assistant · DE Physiotherapieassistent/Physiotherapieassistentin · FR kinésithérapeute

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Occupational therapists (2222)56,000 employed
Podiatrists (2256)16,200 employed
Fitness and wellbeing instructors (3433)62,400 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.53. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (31-2021).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test