Physical Therapist Assistant Salary in Florida 2026,
$72,530 Median | BLS Data by City

The published Florida figure is $72,530 a year, or $34.87 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, with a band from $58,650 at the 10th percentile to $81,080 at the 90th and quartiles at $63,120 and $75,420. That is 6.1% above the national median of $68,380, with no Florida income tax applying. The row is SOC 31-2021, an exact match to the occupation.

Naples-Marco Island at $76,690, then Sebring $73,410, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville $72,600, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach $72,530 and Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin $71,540. The two leading metros are among the oldest population markets in the country, and Miami publishes exactly the state median. In Florida this occupation follows the retirees rather than the cities.

Yes. Florida participates in the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact, so an assistant holding a compact-eligible licence in another member state can obtain a privilege to practise in Florida without a full application, and a Florida licensee can do the same in other member states. That is a meaningful practical advantage over the non-compact states, where a full application and processing period stand between arrival and the first working day.

Because the employers are standardised and the payers are administrative. The interquartile range runs only from $63,120 to $75,420, which reflects a sector dominated by outpatient chains, skilled nursing facilities and home health agencies that pay this role on established scales set against Medicare and insurance reimbursement rather than against a competitive local labour market. The practical implication is that changing employer within Florida will move a PTA's earnings less than it would in most states.

On balance yes, with clear eyes about the ceiling. A 6.1% premium over the national median, no state income tax, compact portability, and the highest clinical concentration in this unit at a 1.37 location quotient are all favourable. Against that, the band tops out at $81,080 and the compression means experience adds less than elsewhere. Anyone planning a long career should think early about whether the physical therapist doctorate is in the plan, because within the assistant role Florida offers stability rather than progression.

It creates volume rather than price. Florida's inward migration of older residents generates rehabilitation demand at a rate no other large state matches, and the state's 1.37 location quotient shows the sector has staffed up to meet it. But most of that demand is funded through Medicare and through the insurance products that follow it, and administratively set reimbursement does not bid up wages the way a competitive private market does. The result is exactly what the data shows: lots of jobs, a modest premium, and a compressed distribution. Naples-Marco Island at $76,690 and Sebring at $73,410 leading the metro table is the same fact in geographic form.

It makes the credential portable, which matters more in Florida than in most states because the workforce is mobile. An assistant licensed in another compact member state can obtain a privilege to work here without a full application, and — crucially in the other direction — a Florida licensee can take a travel or temporary assignment elsewhere without surrendering their position here. For an occupation whose Florida ceiling is $81,080, the ability to work seasonally or temporarily in a higher-paying compact state is a genuine option that a non-compact state's licensees do not have.

SOC 31-2021 is an exact match, so composition is not an issue, and 9,870 jobs is a reasonable sample. The limitation is that the published band's compression may understate the variation an individual actually experiences, because home health work in Florida frequently carries per-visit and productivity-linked pay that produces year-to-year variation the annual median smooths over. A PTA weighing a home health role against a clinic post should model visit volumes rather than comparing the offer to the $72,530 median directly.