Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between athletic trainers and physical therapist assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a physical therapist assistant has an average salary of $53,035, which is higher than the $47,028 average annual salary of an athletic trainer.
The top three skills for an athletic trainer include patients, rehabilitation and CPR. The most important skills for a physical therapist assistant are patients, rehabilitation, and home health.
| Athletic Trainer | Physical Therapist Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $47,028 | $53,035 |
| Hourly rate | $22.61 | $25.50 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 24% |
| Number of jobs | 56,812 | 80,018 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Associate Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 40 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
An athletic trainer is a healthcare professional who works with physicians to improve a patient's quality of life. Their profession encompasses the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of chronic medical conditions involving disabilities, functional limitations, and impairments. As an athletic trainer, you will typically do various tasks, including recognizing and evaluating injuries, providing emergency care or first aid, and developing and implementing rehabilitation programs. You are also responsible for planning and implementing programs to help prevent sports injuries among athletes.
A physical therapist assistant's role is to provide treatments that will help a patient improve physical movements while under a physical therapist's supervision. Their responsibilities revolve around regularly observing a patient's reaction and progress to the treatment, operating various machines such as treadmills and trainers, and giving instructions to families on how to take care of the patient while at home. Furthermore, they must coordinate with a physical therapist to meet all of the patient's needs and give the best treatment possible.
Athletic trainers and physical therapist assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Athletic Trainer | Physical Therapist Assistant | |
| Average salary | $47,028 | $53,035 |
| Salary range | Between $35,000 And $61,000 | Between $40,000 And $70,000 |
| Highest paying City | Greenwich, CT | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Ethical Culture Fieldston School | Children's Hospital Colorado |
| Best paying industry | - | Professional |
There are a few differences between an athletic trainer and a physical therapist assistant in terms of educational background:
| Athletic Trainer | Physical Therapist Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Associate Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Athletic Training | Physical Therapy |
| Most common college | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between athletic trainers' and physical therapist assistants' demographics:
| Athletic Trainer | Physical Therapist Assistant | |
| Average age | 40 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 53.1% Female, 46.9% | Male, 33.7% Female, 66.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 8.3% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% | Black or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 13.0% Asian, 8.6% White, 66.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 7% |