Staff physical therapist vs lead therapist

The differences between staff physical therapists and lead therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a lead therapist has an average salary of $75,043, which is higher than the $73,174 average annual salary of a staff physical therapist.

The top three skills for a staff physical therapist include patients, rehabilitation and occupational therapy. The most important skills for a lead therapist are patients, social work, and crisis intervention.

Staff physical therapist vs lead therapist overview

	Staff Physical Therapist	Lead Therapist
Yearly salary	$73,174	$75,043
Hourly rate	$35.18	$36.08
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	148,908	96,115
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	-	-

Staff physical therapist vs lead therapist salary

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

	Staff Physical Therapist	Lead Therapist
Average salary	$73,174	$75,043
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $95,000	Between $45,000 And $124,000
Highest paying City	Sunnyvale, CA	San Jose, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Parkway	University of Maryland Medical System
Best paying industry	Health Care	Retail

Differences between staff physical therapist and lead therapist education

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

	Staff Physical Therapist	Lead Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Physical Therapy	Psychology
Most common college	Duke University	California State University - Long Beach

Staff physical therapist vs lead therapist demographics

Here are the differences between staff physical therapists' and lead therapists' demographics:

	Staff Physical Therapist	Lead Therapist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 37.2% Female, 62.8%	Male, 29.7% Female, 70.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 7.4% Asian, 11.4% White, 73.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between staff physical therapist and lead therapist duties and responsibilities

Staff physical therapist example 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.

Lead therapist example responsibilities.

Help manage meetings in IEP settings with school staff and other therapy providers.
Help am individuals with autism learn to communicate and manage undesire behavior.
Train line therapists on implementing treatment plans; using apply behavior analysis (ABA) techniques and procedures.
Provide in-home behavior treatment program employing apply behavior analysis techniques working with children diagnose with autism.
Collaborate with regular education teachers assign to ABA students.
Develop and organize individualize vision therapy programs for all patients and assist other therapist on their patient developmental programs.

Staff physical therapist vs lead therapist skills

Common staff physical therapist skills

Patients, 31%
Rehabilitation, 11%
Occupational Therapy, 10%
Physical Therapy Assistants, 6%
Direct Patient Care, 4%
Acute Care, 3%

Common lead therapist skills

Patients, 15%
Social Work, 13%
Crisis Intervention, 6%
Autism, 6%
ABA, 5%
Substance Abuse, 5%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Staff Physical Therapist
Staff Physical Therapist vs Lead Therapist

Updated January 8, 2025

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