Los Angeles County / Los Angeles General Medical Center / Recreation Therapist I

Job-title file

Recreation Therapist I

Assess client needs, develop service plans, and connect people with support resources.

7 employees hold this title in Los Angeles General Medical Center. Median total compensation for the role is $140,100, above the department median of $125,715.

Employees: 7
Total payroll: $884.7K
Role median: $140,100
Agency median: $125,715
Comparison: Above

Compared with the local labor market

Recreation Therapist I pay vs. the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area

Across all employers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area, the median wage for Recreational Therapists — about 380 people — is $91,740. Los Angeles General Medical Center pays a median base salary of $94,396 for this role, 3% above that figure — about the 57th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Los Angeles General Medical Center sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$62,290

$74,510

$91,740

$101,750

$112,050

Los Angeles General Medical Center median · $94,396

The bar is the range of annual wages for Recreational Therapists across every employer in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Los Angeles General Medical Center’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Recreational Therapists — about 14,930 people — is $61,960. Los Angeles General Medical Center’s median base salary is 52% above that national figure, about the 86th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$40,990

$50,240

$61,960

$79,930

$100,420

Los Angeles General Medical Center median · $94,396

Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA range relative to the national one.

Computed over the 9 of 10 people in this role paid at least $25,000 in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.

Median total compensation for this role at Los Angeles General Medical Center is $141,220, 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 Los Angeles County

Recreation Therapist I is held in 5 Los Angeles County departments. In Los Angeles General Medical Center, the median of $140,100 ranks #3 of 5.

Highest-paying departments for this role

Harbor-Ucla Medical Center

$150,119 · 2

Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center

$141,508 · 2

Mental Health

$119,143 · 1

Olive View-Ucla Medical Center

$33,694 · 5

Median total compensation for the Recreation Therapist I role in other Los Angeles Countydepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.

Compare jurisdictions

Recreation Therapist beyond Los Angeles County

This role is reported in 5 jurisdictions. In Los Angeles County, the median of $148,170 ranks #1 of 5. See Recreation Therapist across all of Los Angeles County →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

$121,434 · 9

$78,358 · 13

$62,828 · 29

$53,863 · 42

Median total compensation for comparable Recreation Therapist roles 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.

Record list