allied · SOC 29-1125
Recreational Therapists
National median $61,960 / yr · 14,930 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$61,960
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
WA
Score 72 · Washington
Top-paying metro
Stockton
$115,330 median
Top WageBench Score
76
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
Top 10 destinations
Same job. Wildly different outcomes by metro. Click any column to re-sort.
| Rank | Area | Annual Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $82,660 | $82,660 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 76 |
| #2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $102,420 | $96,275 | 6.0% | — | — | 76 |
| #3 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $101,670 | $95,570 | 6.0% | — | — | 75 |
| #4 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $98,530 | $92,618 | 6.0% | — | — | 73 |
| #5 | Washington | $77,860 | $77,860 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 72 |
| #6 | New Hampshire | $82,280 | $82,280 | 0.0% | 104 | ✓ | 72 |
| #7 | North Dakota | $58,370 | $57,203 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 71 |
| #8 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $91,790 | $86,283 | 6.0% | — | — | 71 |
| #9 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $98,120 | $92,233 | 6.0% | — | — | 71 |
| #10 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $91,740 | $86,236 | 6.0% | — | — | 70 |
National wage distribution
How pay spreads across the workforce — from the 10th percentile (entry / low-COL settings) to the 90th (highest-paying environments).
P10
$40,990
P25
$50,240
MEDIAN
$61,960
P75
$79,930
P90
$100,420
Hourly mean
$33
Hourly median
$30
Annual mean
$67,630
Total US jobs
14,930
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 142 scored areas total.
142 areas · page 1 of 6
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $82,660 | $82,660 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 76 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $102,420 | $96,275 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 76 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | CA | $101,670 | $95,570 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 75 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | CA | $98,530 | $92,618 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 73 |
| Washington | WA | $77,860 | $77,860 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 72 |
| New Hampshire | NH | $82,280 | $82,280 | 0.0% | 104 | ✓ | 20 | 72 |
| North Dakota | ND | $58,370 | $57,203 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | CA | $91,790 | $86,283 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 71 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | CA | $98,120 | $92,233 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 71 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | CA | $91,740 | $86,236 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 70 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | CO | $66,840 | $63,899 | 4.4% | — | ✓ | 22 | 70 |
| Colorado | CO | $66,580 | $63,650 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 22 | 70 |
| California | CA | $98,170 | $92,280 | 6.0% | 111 | — | 24 | 70 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $64,700 | $61,465 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| District of Columbia | DC | $95,640 | $89,423 | 6.5% | 110 | — | 22 | 70 |
| Ohio | OH | $60,770 | $58,947 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Nebraska | NE | $62,980 | $59,957 | 4.8% | 90 | ✓ | 20 | 70 |
| Missouri | MO | $58,620 | $55,982 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | MO | $62,810 | $59,984 | 4.5% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | OH | $63,740 | $61,828 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Texas | TX | $62,490 | $62,490 | 0.0% | 97 | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Columbus, OH | OH | $60,590 | $58,772 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | FL | $58,110 | $58,110 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | FL | $62,390 | $62,390 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Kentucky | KY | $59,240 | $56,870 | 4.0% | 90 | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
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Not published by BLS (3) — BLS suppresses wage estimates where employment is too low to disclose. These states likely still employ this occupation; there's just no public wage to rank: Alaska, Rhode Island, Wyoming.
Employer benchmark
Download the full national benchmark (PDF)
National percentile wages, 51-state ranking by WageBench Score, top-25 metros, and methodology footer — formatted for HR / compensation review.
WageBench Score blends pay, taxes, COL, demand, license access and livability into one 0-100 number.
How we calculate it →