Therapist vs physical therapist

The differences between therapists and physical therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a physical therapist has an average salary of $73,070, which is higher than the $55,943 average annual salary of a therapist.

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

Therapist vs physical therapist overview

	Therapist	Physical Therapist
Yearly salary	$55,943	$73,070
Hourly rate	$26.90	$35.13
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	159,770	86,697
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	-	-

What does a therapist do?

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. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.

What does a physical therapist do?

Physical therapists are health care professionals who diagnose and treat patients with health conditions and limited ability to move and perform daily activities. They help in restoring physical function and mobility and teach how to properly use therapeutic exercise techniques. They also help promote overall wellness and encourage healthier and more active lifestyles. They design a recovery plan unique for every patient, provide treatment and therapy to help improve and manage their condition. They provide care to all kinds of individuals, from newborns to people at the end of their life.

Therapist vs physical therapist salary

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

	Therapist	Physical Therapist
Average salary	$55,943	$73,070
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $80,000	Between $56,000 And $94,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Childhelp	Parkway
Best paying industry	Government	Professional

Differences between therapist and physical therapist education

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

	Therapist	Physical Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Psychology	Physical Therapy
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	Duke University

Therapist vs physical therapist demographics

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

	Therapist	Physical Therapist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%	Male, 36.3% Female, 63.7%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 7.5% Asian, 14.3% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between therapist and physical therapist duties and responsibilities

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.

Physical therapist example 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

Therapist vs physical therapist skills

Common therapist skills

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

Common physical therapist skills

Patients, 30%
Rehabilitation, 15%
Home Health, 13%
Quality Care, 5%
Physical Therapy, 3%
Treatment Programs, 3%

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Therapist vs Physical Therapist

Updated January 8, 2025

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