AOTA, as part of its mission, monitors and evaluates trends in the marketplace for occupational therapists (OTs) and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) to assess workforce and compensation trends and to provide members with up-to-date information about salary and benefits. AOTA represents 213,000 occupational therapy practitioners and students nationwide.
AOTA received 13,052 responses for the latest survey (our largest response ever), which provides detailed information across practice areas, along with information on students and new graduates.
Buy a copy of the 100-page 2015 AOTA Salary and Workforce Survey Full Report (discounted price for AOTA members). The full report can help you benchmark yourself and understand how current trends may affect your professional plan.
Over the next few months, members will be able to view more detailed results and insights from the survey in a series of articles that will be available here.
Takeaways from the Salary Survey:
Compare Your OT or OTA Salary and Benefits to Your Peers 
Prepare to negotiate by comparing the salary and benefits of other occupational therapy practitioners based on your region, years’ experience, and work setting.
Do Occupational Therapy Practitioners Get Paid a Salary or by the Hour? 
More than ever, OTs and OTAs are less likely to be paid a salary. Find out the typical work week for OTs and OTAs, how many are paid salary, hourly, or by service, and how much they make.
Work Setting Trends for Occupational Therapy: How to Choose a Setting Find out how OT practitioners spend their time in different work settings, where settings are located, and explore work setting trends.
Should I get a second job? Want to work a few extra hours at a part time job? Find out how many of your colleagues work second jobs and see how much you might make.
Why & How Often Do OT Practitioners Leave Jobs? Our survey describes why practitioners leave and change jobs and has information about the settings with most (and least) job mobility.
What does the future of OT look like? Find out what current OT students plan to do in their careers, take a look at unemployment trends, and find out if student perceptions of OT match the reality of the job market.
How to Be Confident & Earn What You Deserve: Q&A With Yasmin Davidds OT is a female-dominated profession, but our survey found that male practitioners make 14.7% more than women. Get tips on confidence, salary negotiation, and awareness of verbal and nonverbal behaviors from Yasmin Davidds.
Five Facts About OT & OTA Salaries [Infographic] Get some quick facts about salaries in the occupational therapy field and share the infographic.
Download the Executive Summary & Get More Information:
AOTA members can download the free 2015 Salary & Workforce Executive Summary* (pdf, 2 mb ), which has salary and annual compensation information for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants broken down by practice area as well as demographic and benefits information. Download the high resolution version of the Executive Summary--free for AOTA members* (pdf, 12 mb ).
*The executive summary was updated on 9/16/15.
OT Practice Articles:
Surveying the Profession: The 2015 AOTA Salary & Workforce Survey : June 29, 2015 issue.
How Employers Hire and What Practitioners Can Do to Obtain Optimum Compensation : September 28, 2015 issue.
Contact workforcesurvey@aota.org for questions and comments.