Compared with the local labor market
Physical Therapist pay vs. the United States
Across all employers in the United States, the median wage for Physical Therapists — about 267,330 people — is $102,760. Department of Health and Human Services pays a median base salary of $94,317 for this role, 8% below that figure — about the 37th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Department of Health and Human Services sits in the local pay range
$77,140
$86,160
$102,760
$121,160
$135,140
Department of Health and Human Services median · $94,317
The bar is the range of annual wages for Physical Therapists across every employer in the United States, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Health and Human Services’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Health and Human Services is $94,567, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare departments
This role across U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense)
Physical Therapist is held in 2 U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense) departments. In Department of Health and Human Services, the median of $94,567 ranks #2 of 2.
Highest-paying departments for this role
Median total compensation for the Physical Therapist role in other U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense)departments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
Physical Therapist beyond U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense)
This role is reported in 17 jurisdictions. In U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense), the median of $116,124 ranks #8 of 17. See Physical Therapist across all of U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense) →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Physical Therapistroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.