How to hire a staff physical therapist

How to hire a staff physical therapist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step staff 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 staff physical therapist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new staff physical therapist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the staff physical therapist you need to hire. Certain staff physical therapist roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   A staff physical therapist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, staff physical therapists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list presents staff physical therapist salaries for various positions.

   Type of Staff Physical Therapist	Description	Hourly rate
   Staff 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
   In Home Therapist	An in-home therapist provides case management, counseling, resource system development, support system development, and crisis intervention services for family members and children. They provide goal-oriented and structured therapy on referral issues for families that help recover from neglect, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, or physical abuse... Show more	$19-31
   Therapist	A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients... Show more	$18-38

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Rehabilitation
   • Occupational Therapy
   • Physical Therapy Assistants
   • Direct Patient Care
   • Acute Care
   • Physical Therapy
   • Discharge Planning
   • Treatment Programs
   • Home Health
   • Traction
   • Restore Function
   • Sports Medicine
   • Gait Training

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Achieve high level of patients satisfaction due to sound clinical management, quality of care and compassion.
   • Provide inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services for adult and geriatric patients and establish appropriate individual treatment plans for optimal patient care.
   • Perform physical therapy evaluations and treatments in sub-acute and long-term setting with patients of various neurological, med-surgical, orthopedic diagnoses.
   • Provide direct outpatient orthopedic/sports medicine rehabilitation services
   • Facilitate open communication with members of interdisciplinary rehabilitation team.
   • Facilitate open communication with members of interdisciplinary rehabilitation team.

   More staff physical therapist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your staff physical therapist job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A staff 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 staff physical therapist in Montana may be lower than in California, and an entry-level staff physical therapist usually earns less than a senior-level staff physical therapist. Additionally, a staff 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 staff physical therapist salary

   $73,174yearly

   $35.18 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level staff physical therapist salary

   $56,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 30, 2026

   Average staff physical therapist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$109,242	$53
   2	Connecticut	$83,165	$40
   3	Oregon	$82,898	$40
   4	New Jersey	$80,533	$39
   5	Illinois	$79,313	$38
   6	Massachusetts	$78,502	$38
   7	New York	$76,693	$37
   8	Virginia	$75,517	$36
   9	Maryland	$71,985	$35
   10	Texas	$71,883	$35
   11	Maine	$70,477	$34
   12	Michigan	$70,147	$34
   13	Ohio	$68,511	$33
   14	Florida	$67,336	$32

   Average staff physical therapist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Parkway	$98,401	$47.31	3
   2	Healthcare Therapy Services	$86,881	$41.77	18
   3	Concentra	$83,231	$40.01	214
   4	Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital	$82,261	$39.55	3
   5	West Tennessee Healthcare	$82,112	$39.48
   6	Kindred at Home	$82,112	$39.48	11
   7	Lowell General Hospital	$82,047	$39.45
   8	New York University	$82,043	$39.44	2
   9	Northwell Health	$81,910	$39.38	252
   10	Nova Medical Centers	$80,737	$38.82	1
   11	Nicklaus Children's Hospital	$80,688	$38.79	2
   12	Hospital for Special Surgery	$80,468	$38.69	16
   13	Memorial Healthcare System	$79,927	$38.43	1
   14	Broward Health	$79,580	$38.26	7
   15	Comanche County Memorial Hospital	$79,562	$38.25
   16	University Medical Center of Southern Nevada	$79,408	$38.18
   17	Henry Ford Health System	$79,114	$38.04
   18	Southeastern Lifestyle Fitness Center Lumberton	$78,749	$37.86	13
   19	Alliance Physical Therapy Partners	$78,618	$37.80	61
   20	Hamilton Health Care System	$78,552	$37.77	19

4. Writing a staff physical therapist job description

   A job description for a staff physical therapist role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a staff physical therapist job description:

   Staff physical therapist job description example

   PROACTIVE PHYSICAL THERAPY CENTERS is a 100% PT-owned, growing company with state of-the-art outpatient clinics. If you seek to be part of a close-knit group of individuals who truly love going to work every day, you belong at ProActive!

   Responsibilities:

   • Complete and comprehensive evaluation of patients in an outpatient setting
   • Establishment of comprehensive Plan of Care to address identified deficits and restore prior level of function
   • Collaborate and communicate with Clinic Director and Team members to ensure continuity of care
   • Assess patients regularly for appropriate progression and/or modification of POC
   • Promote a positive work environment and contribute to our team approach
   • Timely, thorough and accurate documentation of patient care provided in our EMR system
   • Actively demonstrate adherence to ProActive's Core Values
   • Communicate effectively with patients and their family members to promote their active participation in therapy

   We offer the following employee benefits:

   • Extremely competitive salaries
   • Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance
   • 401K with a 5% match
   • Long Term Disability Insurance and Life Insurance at no cost to you
   • Continuing Education paid by ProActive as approved
   • Generous PTO and holiday time
   • Unmatched support staff, including technicians to assist in patient care
   • Opportunity to start new programs or to receive training for existing ones
   • MOST IMPORTANT: Work with an outstanding group of people that make patients better AND have fun doing it

   
   

   ProActive Physical Therapy Centers encourages you to join our energetic group of Physical Therapy Professionals and make our team even stronger. We value your passion and expertise! Go to www.MyProActivePT.com to read about ProActive Physical Therapy Centers.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right staff physical therapist for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting staff physical therapists requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   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 staff physical therapist

   Once you've selected the best staff physical therapist candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new staff 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 staff physical therapist?