Tennessee / Mental Health / Recreation Therapist 3
Job-title file
Assess client needs, develop service plans, and connect people with support resources.
4 employees hold this title in Mental Health. Median total compensation for the role is $65,582, above the department median of $52,260.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in Tennessee, the median wage for Recreational Therapists — about 150 people — is $51,910. Mental Health pays a median base salary of $52,380 for this role, in line with that figure — about the 51st percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Recreational Therapists across every employer in Tennessee, 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 15% below that national figure, about the 30th 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 Tennessee range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Mental Health is $53,846, 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 3 is held in 3 Tennessee departments. In Mental Health, the median of $65,582 ranks #1 of 3.
Median total compensation for the Recreation Therapist 3 role in other Tennesseedepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 5 jurisdictions. In Tennessee, the median of $53,863 ranks #5 of 5. See Recreation Therapist across all of Tennessee →
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
Page 1
Recreation Therapist 3/Mental Health
Source-specific fields
Debra Jackson works as a Recreation Therapist 3 for Mental Health within Director Adjunctive Therapy. Their status is full-time. Debra earned $67,358 in 2026.
Recreation Therapist 3/Mental Health
Source-specific fields
Clifton Lockett holds the role of Recreation Therapist 3 at Mental Health within Recreational Therapy. Their status is full-time. In 2026, their total compensation was $66,995.
Recreation Therapist 3/Mental Health
Source-specific fields
John Gonzales works as a Recreation Therapist 3 for Mental Health within Director Adjunctive Therapy. Their status is full-time. John earned $64,170 in 2026.
Recreation Therapist 3/Mental Health
Source-specific fields
Chemelle Cauthen works as a Recreation Therapist 3 for Mental Health within Recreational Therapy. Their status is full-time. Chemelle earned $58,704 in 2026.