Physical Therapist Salary in Los Angeles, CA 2026, $108,170 Median | BLS + Market Data
PT pay across the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro, where a dense outpatient clinic sector holds the median well below the California figure despite strong home health and hospital rates.
Updated July 2026 · BLS OEWS May 2025
Compiled by GlobalCybers Labor Market Research · Reviewed by Karen Osei, RN, BSN, Clinical Recruitment Lead · See methodology & sources →
Los Angeles Median
$108,170
$52.01/hr BLS
P75
$134,160
$64.50/hr
Sector Peak
$160,070
Metro P90
BLS Workers
9,750
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA
vs CA Median
−$16,020
−12.9% below CA
Direct Answer
How much do physical therapists make in Los Angeles, CA in 2026?
Los Angeles physical therapists earn a BLS MSA median of $108,170/yr ($52.01/hr), 5.3% above the US figure but 12.9% below the California statewide median — the widest metro-below-state gap for any occupation in this dataset. The band runs $85,580 to $160,070. The cause is structural: Los Angeles has an exceptionally dense outpatient orthopaedic clinic sector, and outpatient work reimburses well below home health and hospital settings. → Full physical therapist career guide, career path, PTBC licence, and Los Angeles job placement →
Key takeaways
Los Angeles physical therapists earn a BLS MSA median of $108,170/yr ($52.01/hr) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 29-1123, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim MSA), with a metro P10–P90 range of $85,580 to $160,070.
LA physical therapists earn 12.9% below the California statewide median, the widest such gap in this dataset, because outpatient clinic work dominates local employment.
Home health and travel contracts still reach $160,070 at the top of the published band, so setting choice is worth more here than anywhere.
California's income tax applies from the bottom of the band, narrowing the metro's 5.3% advantage over the national figure.
Los Angeles Physical Therapist Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025
Los Angeles Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do Los Angeles physical therapists earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended metro wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute this MSA's own published percentile range across the tiers Los Angeles employers actually hire at.
Level
MSA Median (BLS percentile-aligned)
New-graduate DPT, first year
$85,580
Licensed physical therapist, outpatient
$108,170
Board-certified clinical specialist
$134,160
Home health or travel contract therapist
$160,070
Level medians are aligned to this metro's own published BLS OEWS May 2025 percentiles for SOC 29-1123; BLS does not publish a wage by credential level. GlobalCybers holds no verified placement sample for Los Angeles physical therapists, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1123, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA MSA. No verified placement data: GlobalCybers has no placement sample for Los Angeles physical therapists, so every figure on this page is a published BLS estimate and no verified median is claimed. MSA sample size: an OEWS metro cell is drawn from a much smaller establishment sample than the statewide cell, so metro medians carry wider uncertainty and move more between releases. Where BLS suppresses or top-codes the metro wage for this occupation, this page reports the national figure and says so rather than asserting a Los Angeles median. Employer names mentioned on this page (e.g. in sector or FAQ copy) are illustrative examples of who hires in each market, not a claim of partnership. Full statewide methodology → · Full site methodology & data sources →
Full Data
How much do physical therapists make in Los Angeles CA in 2026?
Metric
Value
Source
BLS MSA Median (Annual)
$108,170
BLS OEWS May 2025
BLS Median Hourly
$52.01/hr
BLS OEWS May 2025
P10 (Bottom 10%)
$85,580/yr · $41.14/hr
BLS OEWS
P25
$97,850/yr · $47.04/hr
BLS OEWS
P75
$134,160/yr · $64.50/hr
BLS OEWS
P90 (Top 10%)
$160,070/yr · $76.96/hr
BLS OEWS
vs California Median
−$16,020 (−12.9%)
vs $124,190 CA
vs National Median
+$5,410 (+5.3%)
vs $102,760 US
California State Income Tax
9.3%
California Tax Code
Licensing Authority
PTBC (Physical Therapy Board of California, Department of Consumer Affairs)
State board
Reading this page's sources:BLS OEWS is the official published wage, sampled 1–2 years back. Market intelligence rows are directional signals from recruiter conversations and industry sources, not independently verified — treat them as a range, not a benchmark.
Los Angeles Sectors
Which Los Angeles sector pays physical therapists the most?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for physical therapists across the whole Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro and does not break it out by industry. The sectors below are ranked in the order Los Angeles employers actually pay, with each row anchored to this metro's own published percentile ladder (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1123).
Sector
MSA Median
Notes
Home health and travel contracts
$160,070
Per-visit home health and travel assignments across the metro sit at the $160,070 top of the published band, typically without benefits.
Skilled nursing and inpatient rehabilitation
$134,160
Skilled nursing facilities and inpatient rehab units sit around the $134,160 P75, with higher productivity expectations than outpatient work.
Hospital and integrated system rehabilitation
$108,170
The typical LA physical therapist in a hospital or integrated system rehabilitation department sits at the $108,170 metro median.
Outpatient orthopaedic and sports clinics
$97,850
The metro's very dense outpatient orthopaedic and sports clinic sector clusters near the $97,850 P25, and it employs a large share of local therapists.
Real Take-Home
What is the actual take-home pay for a Los Angeles physical therapist?
Real Los Angeles scenarios, line by line. California's progressive income tax applies across the whole PT band, and at the $108,170 metro median a Los Angeles therapist is in the middle brackets. For therapists weighing an outpatient clinic salary against per-visit home health work, the tax treatment of contractor income — and the self-employment tax on it — is a material part of the comparison.
Estimates only. Pre-tax deductions (401k, health premium) reduce taxable income further. Consult a tax professional.
Los Angeles Physical Therapist Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
How much do physical therapists make in Los Angeles?
Los Angeles physical therapists earn a BLS MSA median of $108,170/yr, or $52.01/hr, with a published metro range of $85,580 to $160,070. That is 5.3% above the national figure but well below the California statewide median. Setting is the dominant variable: home health tops the band, outpatient orthopaedics anchors the bottom.
Do physical therapists earn more in Los Angeles than elsewhere in California?
No — Los Angeles sits 12.9% below the California statewide median, the widest gap of its kind in this dataset. The metro's exceptionally dense outpatient orthopaedic clinic sector employs a large share of local therapists at rates near the bottom of the band, which drags the median down even though top-end LA rates are strong.
Which PT setting pays the most in Los Angeles?
Home health and travel contracts, reaching the $160,070 top of the published band, followed by skilled nursing and inpatient rehabilitation around $134,160. Outpatient orthopaedic and sports clinics sit near the $97,850 lower quartile — a spread of about 64% within the same licence.
What licence do Los Angeles physical therapists need?
A California physical therapist licence from the Physical Therapy Board of California within the Department of Consumer Affairs. You need a DPT from a CAPTE-accredited programme, the National Physical Therapy Examination, a California law examination and continuing competency at renewal.
Should an LA physical therapist take home health work?
It is the clearest route from the metro median to the top of the band, but per-visit home health usually carries no benefits and variable caseload volume, and contractor arrangements bring self-employment tax. Comparing a $108,170 salaried post with home health work needs a total-package comparison rather than a headline one.
Why the country's second-largest metro pays PTs below its state
Los Angeles has an unusually dense concentration of outpatient orthopaedic and sports clinics, a setting that reimburses at rates well under home health or inpatient care. Because that setting employs a large proportion of local therapists, it pulls the metro median down 12.9% below the California figure — even though the metro's home health and hospital rates are competitive with anywhere in the state.
What this figure does not capture
Productivity bonuses in outpatient clinics and per-visit incentives in home health are excluded, as are the benefits differences that make a salaried $108,170 role and a $160,070 contract role less far apart than they look. The estimate also spans a metro from central Los Angeles to Anaheim with different clinic densities at each end.
The reimbursement mechanic
Physical therapy pay follows the payer, not the labour market. When outpatient reimbursement per visit is squeezed, clinic salaries follow regardless of how expensive the metro is to live in — which is exactly the LA situation. That is why a therapist here who wants to move meaningfully up the band changes setting rather than employer, and why the gap between the metro's lower quartile and its top is so wide.
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Outlook & openings: Physical therapist employment is projected to grow 10.9% nationally over 2024–2034; pro-rated by the Los Angeles metro's share of national employment that is roughly 480 openings a year, derived from the national EP total rather than an LA-specific projection. (2024–2034 · national BLS EP 2024–34, pro-rated to the metro)
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