Are starting salaries declining?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

runner618

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2013
Messages
43
Reaction score
11
Hi all-

I know the debt to income ratio is always a hot topic on this thread. I'm in my last year of PT school and have had a few job offers from networking and past clinicals. I know PT isn't a highly paid field, but I was a little shocked that the starting salaries were less than 70k (range of offers: 62-68k). The projected growth with experience didn't seem much either. These jobs were also in different parts of the country (Boston, DC, Michigan)..are we starting to see a decline in salary due to declining reimbursements? I'm finding that salaries being offered are 10-15k less than what I see an "entry level PT" should be paid.

Members don't see this ad.
 
Starting pay has always been around $60 - $65K. I need to update my survey to include the latest responses, but you can see that the numbers didn't really change much, if at all, from year to year.
Salary Survey (new grads)

If you go into home-health or travel PT, you'd make more. Or go to a rural/semi-rural area - it's supply and demand.
 
After some research, According to the bureau of labor statistics, the entry level salary has been $66k since 2008. I guess the correct answer to my question is that starting salaries have remained stagnant (for now), but cost of education has increased. I know of therapists with 5 years experience still not cracking 70k in both rural and urban places (hospital system)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Members don't see this ad :)
You also have to factor in saturation. I live in an area with 4 DPT programs, and several of my classmates accepted a 55K starting salary to stay in the area.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
HH Physical Therapist job - FTS Therapy Services - San Antonio, TX

This is fairly common in SA... Laredo makes even more from what I understand.

Typically if you are willing to the "less desirable" location it is likely to find both higher wages and lower cost of living. Another example is tacoma vs seattle WA...
In Tacoma to my understanding it was not at all uncommon to find a gig at 90K a year or so vs in Seattle they all start at 70K.

Best of luck with it!
 
While less desirable locations will certainly command higher pay, you got to take those ads ("Salary: $90,000.00 to $120,000.00 /year") with a grain of salt. I am in home-health, and companies often advertise a high rate of $xx/hr. What they don't say is that you only get paid for billable hrs, i.e., hrs when you are actually treating the patient. Drive time, cancellations, no-shows (or rather, not-at-home), documentation time, etc, are not paid. So the actual pay received will be less than $xx times 40 hrs/wk.
 
We were told our last week of school that starting salaries have stagnated for 10 years (they waited until the end to tell us this.....). I started in the 62-68 range but after a few years at now at 74ish. Make sure the place you go has room
For advancement as a clinician or growth to management. Both options are necessary. Also as I have said in other posts do NOT discount benefits. I make less than a lot of my friends in private practice (probably between 10-12k) but have less of a visits per day requirement and my benefits are ironclad (awesome medical, dental, pension....). A good benefits package can offset a lower salary and be worth it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
As Bluecase said, consider patient load and total benefits. Don't consider just the gross salary. A low salary with substantial benefits and flexibility might be a better option.

When I first researched PT around 2010, starting salaries were in the low 60's, and they appear to be in the mid 60's now, with some new grads starting in the mid-50's in saturated markets. The question is, are PT salaries keeping up with inflation? 65k today isn't 65k next year.

I've said it before, new grads should be flexible with location and setting. I can make $70k after tax in rural Texas, but probably not in Charlotte or Boston. Ironically, areas that pay better also have lower costs of living.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
The average is I believe still about 65k but I'm hearing offers 70+ being fairly normal.

Location and setting are important
 
its almost always supply and demand. everyone seems to want to work in the city or suburbs. Lots of options of things to do, other young people to do things with, date, etc . . . since lots of people want to be there, they don't have to pay as much to fill the positions. Likewise the "sports medicine" places. Of those people in the suburban or urban areas, the sports medicine clinic is sexier, the patients are healthier with fewer co-morbidities and are therefore "easier" to treat. those resume folders are full and if you make too many demands, they will just move on because filling the position i.e. replacing you, is easy.
Now if you want to work in rural Wyoming at a nursing home you can get paid a ton. you have to find a good intersection between what you want to do, salary and benefits, and location.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Starting pay has always been around $60 - $65K. I need to update my survey to include the latest responses, but you can see that the numbers didn't really change much, if at all, from year to year.
Salary Survey (new grads)

If you go into home-health or travel PT, you'd make more. Or go to a rural/semi-rural area - it's supply and demand.

Do you know how much more Home Health PTs earn on average? I have an interest in home health.
 
Do you know how much more Home Health PTs earn on average? I have an interest in home health.

It depends on the kind of HH company you're working for. If it's the HH unit of a hospital or healthcare system, you'll be paid salary. Expect 60-65K on average (for a new grad), unless you're in a high COL area such as Alaska or the Bay Area. You'll earn mileage on top of that, and most places will pay the current IRS rate of $0.535/mi. But the mileage only applies when you drive from patient to patient. IOW, commuting miles don't count.
If you're working for for-profit agencies, I have heard of $70/billable hr. That's when you are treating the patient. I am sure there are lots of variations, e.g., some agencies may pay a bit less per hour but do reimburse mileage, others will let you use a company car, etc. So it's really all over the map.

If you're a new grad, don't focus too much on the salary for now. An outfit where you feel comfortable and that allows you to make mistakes (believe me, you will make some), is much better than a back-stabbing place that pays a high salary.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
It depends on the kind of HH company you're working for. If it's the HH unit of a hospital or healthcare system, you'll be paid salary. Expect 60-65K on average (for a new grad), unless you're in a high COL area such as Alaska or the Bay Area. You'll earn mileage on top of that, and most places will pay the current IRS rate of $0.535/mi. But the mileage only applies when you drive from patient to patient. IOW, commuting miles don't count.
If you're working for for-profit agencies, I have heard of $70/billable hr. That's when you are treating the patient. I am sure there are lots of variations, e.g., some agencies may pay a bit less per hour but do reimburse mileage, others will let you use a company car, etc. So it's really all over the map.

If you're a new grad, don't focus too much on the salary for now. An outfit where you feel comfortable and that allows you to make mistakes (believe me, you will make some), is much better than a back-stabbing place that pays a high salary.

Thank you for your answer and advice. I'm nearing the end of my first year and profs keep mentioning settings we may like to work. At first I thought neuro, but then peds got really interesting, and HH seems like it might be good too. I just know that I want to avoid clinics that make PTs see several patients at once.
 
Thank you for your answer and advice. I'm nearing the end of my first year and profs keep mentioning settings we may like to work. At first I thought neuro, but then peds got really interesting, and HH seems like it might be good too. I just know that I want to avoid clinics that make PTs see several patients at once.

You will want to avoid chain companies then with orthopaedics and sports

Neuro has to be one on one. Hospital is one on one but is fast now and high stakes due to how unstable patients are. Peds is one on one but you need to rotate and secure a job off of it working underneath someone when out for a while. Sensorimotor system and neuro developmental delay are difficult and you are facilitating that child's progress for activity milestones. HH is one on one but also has some horror stories.

Inpatient rehab and skilled nursing facility are rather slow. Inpatient rehab is only like 5-8 patients per day 2x to help them get stronger, help cardiopulmonary system, rehab and develop gait patterns with prosthetics.

Hope this helps. It's pretty blunt but rather realistic.

Some people like high volume, some like low volume, some like middle.

Low volume is 5-8
Medium is 8-12
High is 12-16

Heavy business is 16+ and where the productivity is very high.

Around 20+ consistently is a mill and you do not want to work their as a therapist for your own ethics and professional self. That is approaching physician level volume and therapeutic treatment takes significantly more time than pharmacological management or fast outpatient procedures for effectiveness from a scientific perspective

I personally like medium to high but plan on progressing to high later after I've developed better pattern recognition. Find what makes you happy
 
Last edited:
Top