Los Angeles County / Mental Health / Recreation Therapist I
Job-title file
Assess client needs, develop service plans, and connect people with support resources.
1 employees hold this title in Mental Health. Median total compensation for the role is $119,143, below the department median of $137,568.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area, the median wage for Recreational Therapists — about 380 people — is $91,740. Mental Health pays a median base salary of $101,515 for this role, 11% above that figure — about the 74th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
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 Mental Health’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. Mental Health’s median base salary is 64% above that national figure, above the 90th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
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.
Median total compensation for this role at Mental Health is $152,326, 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
Recreation Therapist I is held in 5 Los Angeles County departments. In Mental Health, the median of $119,143 ranks #4 of 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
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 →
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
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Recreation Therapist I/Mental Health
Asia Williams works as a Recreation Therapist I for Mental Health. Asia earned $119,143 in 2025.