Career
Occupational therapists
Help people do the everyday things illness or injury made hard.
$100,330
Median pay
+14.8%
Job growth, 2025–35
10,000
Openings a year
Master's degree
Typical education
6 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
- Complete and maintain necessary records.
- Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.
- Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.
- Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on people & care, then ideas & analysis?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Service Orientation, Monitoring, Writing.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
6 years of education after high school (master's degree), for a median of $100,330 a year and 10,000 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Occupational Therapy/TherapistCIP 51.2306
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Occupational Therapy Assistants$72,300 · +21.5%
- Occupational Therapy Aides$39,160 · +3.6%
- Physical Therapists$102,760 · +11.9%
- Physical Therapist Assistants$68,380 · +23.0%
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.