support · SOC 31-2022
Physical Therapist Aides
National median $35,240 / yr · 48,150 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$35,240
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
ND
Score 73 · North Dakota
Top-paying metro
Abilene
$49,790 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 | $46,460 | $46,460 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 76 |
| #2 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $42,520 | $40,649 | 4.4% | — | ✓ | 73 |
| #3 | North Dakota | $37,680 | $36,926 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 73 |
| #4 | Colorado | $41,970 | $40,123 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 72 |
| #5 | Columbus, OH | $39,990 | $38,790 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 72 |
| #6 | Alaska | $55,760 | $55,760 | 0.0% | 102 | — | 71 |
| #7 | Ohio | $37,220 | $36,103 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 71 |
| #8 | Montana | $38,950 | $36,925 | 5.2% | 95 | ✓ | 71 |
| #9 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | $38,050 | $36,889 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 70 |
| #10 | Indiana | $35,100 | $34,029 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 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
$25,360
P25
$30,410
MEDIAN
$35,240
P75
$38,810
P90
$47,780
Hourly mean
$18
Hourly median
$17
Annual mean
$36,430
Total US jobs
48,150
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 279 scored areas total.
279 areas · page 1 of 12
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $46,460 | $46,460 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 76 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | CO | $42,520 | $40,649 | 4.4% | — | ✓ | 22 | 73 |
| North Dakota | ND | $37,680 | $36,926 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 73 |
| Colorado | CO | $41,970 | $40,123 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 22 | 72 |
| Columbus, OH | OH | $39,990 | $38,790 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 72 |
| Alaska | AK | $55,760 | $55,760 | 0.0% | 102 | — | 20 | 71 |
| Ohio | OH | $37,220 | $36,103 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| Montana | MT | $38,950 | $36,925 | 5.2% | 95 | ✓ | 22 | 71 |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | IN | $38,050 | $36,889 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Indiana | IN | $35,100 | $34,029 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| North Carolina | NC | $34,760 | $33,283 | 4.3% | 94 | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Washington | WA | $39,500 | $39,500 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Wisconsin | WI | $36,820 | $34,869 | 5.3% | 94 | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | FL | $35,780 | $35,780 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Kentucky | KY | $35,490 | $34,070 | 4.0% | 90 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC | NC | $35,370 | $33,867 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Jacksonville, FL | FL | $36,110 | $36,110 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| New Hampshire | NH | $40,460 | $40,460 | 0.0% | 104 | ✓ | 20 | 69 |
| Maine | ME | $39,660 | $37,360 | 5.8% | 97 | ✓ | 19 | 69 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | OH | $36,230 | $35,143 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| West Virginia | WV | $34,840 | $33,168 | 4.8% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| South Dakota | SD | $31,330 | $31,330 | 0.0% | 89 | ✓ | 22 | 69 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $35,180 | $33,421 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | WI | $38,810 | $36,753 | 5.3% | — | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Pennsylvania | PA | $35,520 | $34,430 | 3.1% | 98 | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
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Not published by BLS (1) — 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: Vermont.
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 →