Physical Therapist Assistant Salary in Arizona 2026,
$64,650 Median | BLS Data by City

The published Arizona figure is $64,650 a year, or $31.08 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, with a band from $36,160 at the 10th percentile to $79,570 at the 90th. That is 5.5% below the national median of $68,380. The long gap between the 10th percentile and the $60,440 twenty-fifth reflects part-time and per-diem work rather than a genuine full-time entry rate.

Flagstaff leads at $73,710, then Prescott Valley-Prescott $68,330, Tucson $65,220, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler $64,720 and Lake Havasu City-Kingman $62,670. The northern Arizona premium is the notable feature — a PTA in Flagstaff is paid about 14% above the Phoenix figure, because the rural labour market is thin and the rehabilitation demand is not.

Yes. The Arizona Board of Physical Therapy issues the PTA licence, and it is a genuine licence rather than a registration: graduation from a CAPTE-accredited PTA programme, the National Physical Therapy Examination for PTAs, an Arizona practice-law component, and continuing competence for renewal. Arizona also participates in the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact, so a PTA already licensed in another member state can obtain compact privileges to practise here without a second full application.

Arizona applies a flat 2.5% income tax under SB 1827, at the same rate on the $60,440 twenty-fifth percentile as on the $79,570 ninetieth — there is no bracket step as a PTA moves up. That helps, because the nominal Arizona median of $64,650 is 5.5% under the national figure. Colorado, at $64,810, publishes almost exactly the same PTA median on this row, so the net comparison between the two comes down largely to tax treatment and cost of living.

For volume, yes. The occupation is projected to grow 22% nationally, Arizona's resident and seasonal populations both generate steady outpatient and post-acute rehabilitation demand, and the state pro-rates to roughly 350 openings a year. The caution is the ceiling: the Arizona band closes at $79,570, only about $3,000 above the 75th percentile, so the money runs out faster here than the demand does.

Because the two markets have different constraints. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler has a deep supply of PTAs, several training programmes feeding it and a large outpatient sector competing on volume, so wages clear near the state median at $64,720. Flagstaff has a small resident labour pool, high housing costs relative to its size, and hospital and rehabilitation demand that does not shrink to match — an employer there has to pay $73,710 to fill the post, and there is no reservoir of local candidates to bid it back down.

The $36,160 tenth percentile is not a starting salary for a licensed PTA and should not be read as one. A gap of nearly 70% up to the 25th percentile is the signature of a large part-time and per-diem population inside the annualised data — common in Arizona home health and outpatient clinics. A newly licensed full-time PTA in Phoenix or Tucson should reason from the $60,440 twenty-fifth percentile as the realistic floor.

Setting and travel, not seniority. Home health pays per visit and adds mileage across the Phoenix valley, which is why it sits toward the $76,620 seventy-fifth percentile; skilled nursing pays for productivity; hospital-based outpatient tends to pay in the middle with better benefits. Layered on top is Arizona's seasonality — the winter resident influx raises caseloads in the Phoenix, Tucson and Prescott markets, and per-diem rates during those months are materially above the annualised median.