How to hire a physical therapist

How to hire a physical therapist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step physical therapist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a physical therapist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new physical therapist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a physical therapist do?

Post a physical therapist job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a physical therapist, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect physical therapist also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list shows salaries for various types of physical therapists.

   Type of Physical Therapist	Description	Hourly rate
   Physical Therapist	Physical therapists, sometimes called PTs, help injured or ill people improve their movement and manage their pain. These therapists are often an important part of the rehabilitation, treatment, and prevention of patients with chronic conditions, illnesses, or injuries.	$26-45
   Rehabilitation Technician	A rehabilitation technician is responsible for assisting therapists and other medical personnel on supporting the patients in their daily activities and physical therapy sessions. Rehabilitation technicians provide high-quality care services for the patients by administering medications, accompanying them on medical appointments, and ensuring the cleanliness and orderliness of all equipment and facilities to prevent hazards within the premises... Show more	$11-17
   Certified Athletic Trainer	A certified athletic trainer is a health and medical expert who specializes in providing health care assistance to athletes. They typically devise strategies to prevent injuries during training sessions and other activities, develop health care plans, and provide immediate care or first aid when injuries occur... Show more	$17-29

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Rehabilitation
   • Home Health
   • Quality Care
   • Physical Therapy
   • Treatment Programs
   • SNF
   • Physical Therapy Treatment
   • Restore Function
   • Direct Patient Care
   • Occupational Therapy
   • Discharge Planning
   • Compassion
   • Physical Therapy Assistants

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Conduct in-services and train colleagues in effective techniques for safely managing the CVA patient.
   • Achieve high level of patients satisfaction due to sound clinical management, quality of care and compassion.
   • Perform physical therapy evaluation and treatment of orthopedic patients and supervise PTAs.
   • Progress patients' functional mobility during treatment sessions by modifying task, intensity, and adaptive equipment utilize.
   • Motivate patients to participate in treatment sessions by educating them on the benefits of early mobility following cardiac and thoracic surgery.
   • Experience include IFSP and IEP writing and implementation

   More physical therapist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your physical therapist job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A physical therapist salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a physical therapist in West Virginia may be lower than in California, and an entry-level physical therapist usually earns less than a senior-level physical therapist. Additionally, a physical therapist with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average physical therapist salary

   $73,070yearly

   $35.13 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level physical therapist salary

   $56,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average physical therapist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$109,793	$53
   2	Washington	$88,886	$43
   3	Nevada	$85,363	$41
   4	Massachusetts	$79,814	$38
   5	New Jersey	$78,894	$38
   6	Oregon	$78,788	$38
   7	District of Columbia	$78,216	$38
   8	Minnesota	$77,664	$37
   9	Arizona	$77,440	$37
   10	Delaware	$76,981	$37
   11	Maryland	$76,787	$37
   12	Virginia	$75,642	$36
   13	Illinois	$75,246	$36
   14	Mississippi	$75,185	$36
   15	New Mexico	$74,431	$36
   16	New York	$74,394	$36
   17	Texas	$73,105	$35
   18	Colorado	$72,659	$35
   19	Michigan	$71,681	$34
   20	Pennsylvania	$71,347	$34

   Average physical therapist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Parkway	$98,561	$47.39
   2	The Angelus	$97,280	$46.77
   3	The Evergreens	$93,986	$45.19	11
   4	The Osborn	$93,936	$45.16	3
   5	Scripps Health	$92,217	$44.34	17
   6	Ohio's Hospice of Dayton	$90,860	$43.68
   7	Huntington Hospital	$89,764	$43.16	2
   8	Dignity Health	$89,402	$42.98	134
   9	Mayo Clinic	$89,006	$42.79	42
   10	Kisco Senior Living	$88,974	$42.78
   11	Sun-Mar	$88,324	$42.46
   12	Consonus Healthcare	$87,219	$41.93
   13	Alameda Health System	$86,973	$41.81	15
   14	Home Health & Hospice Care	$86,907	$41.78	6
   15	Renewal Rehab	$86,622	$41.65
   16	Healthcare Therapy Services	$86,621	$41.64	44
   17	Therapy Resources Management	$86,476	$41.58	246
   18	Hebrew SeniorLife	$86,349	$41.51	7
   19	Highland General Hospital	$86,319	$41.50
   20	Reliant Rehabilitation	$86,307	$41.49	5

4. Writing a physical therapist job description

   A physical therapist job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a physical therapist job description:

   Physical therapist job description example

   Under the direct supervision of the Manager, Rehabilitation Services, the Occupational Therapist is responsible for the evaluation of patients and administration of treatments within the standards of the AOTA. Provides services to improve patient's ability to perform tasks in living and working environments utilizing treatments to develop, recover, or maintain the daily living and work skills of their patients.
   
   Performs timely and thorough evaluations to determine appropriate problems, goals, and treatment plans.
   
   Effectively administers skilled treatments based on departmental policies and procedures to a varied patient population.
   
   Adapts techniques and instructions as necessary to progress care, plan for discharge and provide patient/family education.
   Maintains effective open communication with co-workers, physicians, and patients. Communicates patient care activities effectively, including maintaining precise, informative, current, legible records of all patients being treated. Schedules and coordinates patient care activities effectively. Delegates and supervises the patient care of COTAs and support staff. Achieves personal and professional development through participation in continuing education, in-services and orientation. Organizes work assignments and time without compromising quality patient care, to achieve maximum productivity and efficiency. Assists in the development and monitoring of performance improvement initiatives. Completes mandatory education and training in order to maintain organization and department specific competencies and requirements. Maintains applicable certification/licensure. Maintains required CPR certification (BLS). Follows hos pital/system and departmental policies and procedures with attention to attendance and punctuality, confidentiality, dress code and display of ID badge, and safety. Other duties as assigned
   Education: Bachelor's, Master's or Doctorate Degree in Occupational Therapy.
   Certifications: Current license to practice as an Occupational Therapist in the State of Ohio. Maintains current CPR certification.
   Complexity of Work: Maintains competencies specific to patient population served.
   Work Experience:
   
   Physical Requirements:
   
   Personal Protective Equipment: Follows standard precautions using personal protective equipment as required

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right physical therapist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with physical therapists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit physical therapists who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your physical therapist job on Zippia to find and attract quality physical therapist candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit physical therapists, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new physical therapist

   Once you've found the physical therapist candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new physical therapist. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a physical therapist?