The Occupational Therapist Salary in 2017

The occupational therapist salary is the highest in the US where professionals earn $83,730 per year. Next in line are the UK, where professionals in this field earn £30,000 (US$68,752), Canada with C$66,000 (US$48,934), New Zealand with NZ$68,950 (US$48,840), and Australia with a yearly salary of AU$64,000 (US$47,718). The lowest salaries for occupational therapists are registered in India and South Africa, where professionals in this field earn Rs465,000 (US$7,191) and R220,000 (US$16,759), respectively.

How Much Does an Occupational Therapist Make per Year?

Being an occupational therapist can be one of the most satisfying jobs in the world. It’s not just about the money, although living on an occupational therapist salary can be very financially rewarding. Often confused with physical therapists, occupational therapists have many more responsibilities than just physical well-being.

Their salaries range from $55,000 to $120,000 a year, and their duties focus on helping people deal with their uncommon conditions. These conditions range from being in an accident to having autism or another debilitating affliction. So, it’s not uncommon for them to take more liking to the difference they make than to the occupational therapist salary.

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Factors that Influence the Occupational Therapist Salary

As is the case with most jobs that can take root in both the public and the private sector, the occupational therapist salary can vary wildly depending on a wide array of factors. From the job location to the level of experience, and even from one employer to another, people in this line of work can make hugely different amounts of money.

Of course, some much-needed negotiation skills can make the starting average occupational therapist salary much higher than usual. Chance can also be of great help, as a particularly rich private client will most often offer a higher pay grade than any high-end public employer ever would.

Geographic Area

The salary of an occupational therapist can be largely influenced by the geographical area where they are practicing. Pay grades vary wildly from rural to urban areas, from country to country, and even from city to city. So of course, an occupational therapist salary will always be higher in bigger, more expensive cities than in smaller, suburban communities.

Occupational Therapist Salary in the US

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an occupational therapist earns $83,730 per year in the US on average. A beginner in this field can start off at about $49,722 per year. A mid-career or experienced professional, however, can take home up to $95,387 per year. Profit sharing can account for about $1,800 of that yearly wage.

According to the BLS, the states with the highest salary for occupational therapists are as follows:

But, as you may already expect, the highest paying states are not the states offering the largest amount of jobs. The occupational therapist salary may be high enough in the above-mentioned states, but they don’t make it very easy to get a job there. Instead, if you want to have an easier time finding a job in the field, you could be interested in working in the following states:

Occupational Therapist Salary in Canada

According to PayScale, an occupational therapist working in Canada earns C$66,000 (US$48,934) on average. A beginner in this field will take home about C$40,725 (US$30,193), while an experienced professional can earn up to C$92,451 (US$68,545) per year. bonuses can account for up to C$5,000 (US$3,705) of this amount.

Occupational Therapist Salary in the UK

Jwebb.co.uk reports the starting occupational therapist salary (at Band 5) between £21,176 (US$27,254) and £27,625 (US$35,534) per year. Specialists in occupational therapy who fall into NHS’ Band 6 earn between £25,528 (US$32,855) and £34,189 (US$43,995) per year, hence the average salary for occupational therapists in the UK is about £30,000 (US$38,617) per year. Experienced professionals who fall into the Band 7 category can earn between £30,460 (US$39,196) and £40,157 (US$51,653). Those who stay in the field long enough to reach Band 8 can earn up to £53,432 (US$68,752) per year.

Occupational Therapist Salary in Australia

The national average for occupational therapists is AU$64,000, or US$47,718. The starting occupational therapist salary in Australia is AU$50,018 (US$37,308), while experienced professionals can earn up to AU$82,313 (US$61,396); bonuses can account for up to AU$12,000 (US$8,950) of this amount.

Occupational Therapist Salary in New Zealand

According to Careers.govt.nz, beginners working in this field in New Zealand earn between NZ$47,000 (US$33,276) and NZ$68,000 (US$48,167) per year, while professionals with more than 6 years of experience can earn anywhere between NZ$68,950 (US$48,840) and NZ$99,000 (US$70,131) per year.

Occupational Therapist Salary in India

The national average for occupational therapists working in India is Rs465,000, or US$7,191. While beginners in this field must settle for a starting salary of Rs231,502 (US$3,580), professionals with over 10-15 years of experience in this field take home up to Rs1,040,000 (US$16,084) each year.

Occupational Therapist Salary in South Africa

Occupational therapists working in South Africa earn R220,000 (US$16,759) per year on average. The starting salary of occupational therapists in this country is R121,972 (US$9,284), and experienced professionals can earn up to R476,724 (US$36,295). Bonuses, however, can account for anywhere between R1,030 (US$78) and R29,087 (US$2,215) of this amount.

Experience

Just like with every job out there, experience is a very important factor when it comes to how much you will get paid. And the longer you’ve been in the field, the higher your chances are of getting a higher salary. Although the occupational therapist doesn’t grow as much as for other professions over time, the job pays well from the start.

The average occupational therapist salary for a beginner is calculated at around $55,000 to $65,000 a year, and it can reach as high as $75,000 during the first five years. That is the highest growth recorded for the profession. During the following five years (now ten years into the career path), the average occupational therapist salary can reach $80,000, and if the employee remains in the field for the following couple dozen years, the salary can reach $85,000 – $90,000.

Overall, the biggest salary increase comes during the first five years of work experience, and even though raises are quite common during the following professional years, few actually manage to climb above the median salary of an occupational therapist.

Industry

As you might expect, the industry under which such an employee is enlisted also affects the pay levels and the occupational therapist average salary. And with the exception of nursing care facilities, the industries that generate the highest salaries are not the ones that are actually hiring.

Like you will be able to see in the tables below, the industries in which occupational therapists can get hire are quite varied, seeing as the requirements for obtaining a job in the field take quite a while to complete – you need to have a Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy.

The industries that are hiring largest number of occupational therapists are as follows:

Meanwhile, nursing care facilities are part of the only industry that is actually hiring and generating a high salary for an occupational therapist. You can see the highest paid industries in the table below:

Working Hours

In regards to the working hours, occupational therapists have very little about which to complain. It all depends on the industry in which they are hired. For example, if they are working in the field of scientific research, occupational therapists usually get dozens of overtime hours a week. This explains their above-average salary.

Meanwhile, such a therapist working for other health practitioners or in hospitals and other medical facilities rarely have to stay overtime, since they usually work in shifts. Basically, every employer decides whether they need their employees to work overtime and compensates them as such.

Bonuses and Benefit Packages

While the most benefits in regards to occupational therapy fall on the employers, since they are being helped overcome a difficult situation and live the rest of their lives without that burden upon their shoulders, the therapists themselves also tend to get a large number of benefits from helping others – as long as didn’t just get into the field for the money.

But if you’re not interested in the benefits to your personal development, things aren’t as bright from a financial point of view. Bonuses are usually only given either by private employers or as a sign-on bonus. These sign-on bonuses usually average at somewhere around $15,000.

Job Outlook

Aside from the high starting salary and the personal growth you can get as an occupational therapist, employees starting up in this profession have a lot to look forward to. Aside from the fact that they are very sought-after, they will become even more so, as projections estimate a 27% growth in hiring these health professionals by 2024.

However, if an occupational therapist plans to switch fields at some point during their career path, they have huge opportunities to do so. Working with the type of illnesses these people have to work with (amputees, Alzheimer’s patients, Down’s syndrome sufferers, etc.) can provide occupational therapists with job opportunities in many other different fields, such as psychology and medicine.

If you are interested in other healthcare jobs focusing on helping patients adapt to a normal life, you should also check out our article on the speech pathologist salary in English-speaking countries.

Conclusion

To recap, the occupational therapist salary and the vast amounts of personal growth are the biggest incentives to get a job in the field. Even if the salary of occupational therapists widely varies depending on the industry they choose, even the lowest are high enough to satisfy anyone, at least at entry level – as long as there’s no long-standing student loan involved.

Image source: Wikimedia