Sports physical therapist vs therapist

The differences between sports physical therapists and therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sports physical therapist has an average salary of $67,105, which is higher than the $55,943 average annual salary of a therapist.

The top three skills for a sports physical therapist include physical therapy, patient care and rehabilitation. The most important skills for a therapist are social work, patients, and group therapy sessions.

Sports physical therapist vs therapist overview

	Sports Physical Therapist	Therapist
Yearly salary	$67,105	$55,943
Hourly rate	$32.26	$26.90
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	70,367	159,770
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	-	-

Sports physical therapist vs therapist salary

Sports physical therapists and therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sports Physical Therapist	Therapist
Average salary	$67,105	$55,943
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $107,000	Between $39,000 And $80,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Childhelp
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between sports physical therapist and therapist education

There are a few differences between a sports physical therapist and a therapist in terms of educational background:

	Sports Physical Therapist	Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Physical Therapy	Psychology
Most common college	Northwestern University	California State University - Long Beach

Sports physical therapist vs therapist demographics

Here are the differences between sports physical therapists' and therapists' demographics:

	Sports Physical Therapist	Therapist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 42.5% Female, 57.5%	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 7.4% Asian, 12.4% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between sports physical therapist and therapist duties and responsibilities

Sports physical therapist example responsibilities.

Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Administer therapeutic hot packs, cold packs and personally handle various electrical stimulation treatments; ultrasound, electrical stimulation.
Employ at an out-patient orthopedic clinic with primary goal for patient return to work, ADL, or sports/recreation activities.

Therapist example responsibilities.

Manage ventilator and BiPAP's and create or update care plans per patient needs.
Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Provide on-call crisis intervention as well as standard treatment, rehabilitation and support services with some interventions requiring specialize therapy services.
Develop and implement an effective curriculum of DBT inform group and art therapy classes specifically tailor for chemically dependent patients.
Provide trauma-inform individual psychotherapy, TREM group treatment protocol, and EMDR.
Utilize current brain base therapeutic techniques to teach clients adaptive skills to utilize in daily lives.

Sports physical therapist vs therapist skills

Common sports physical therapist skills

Physical Therapy, 43%
Patient Care, 27%
Rehabilitation, 26%
Injury Prevention, 1%
PTA, 1%
Primary Care, 1%

Common therapist skills

Social Work, 23%
Patients, 12%
Group Therapy Sessions, 8%
Crisis Intervention, 7%
Mental Health, 4%
Patient Care, 3%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Sports Physical Therapist
Sports Physical Therapist vs Therapist

Updated January 8, 2025

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