Occupational Therapists

Health Science In demand
Assess, plan, and organize rehabilitative programs that help build or restore vocational, homemaking, and daily living skills, as well as general independence, to persons with disabilities or developmental delays. Use therapeutic techniques, adapt the individual's environment, teach skills, and modify specific tasks that present barriers to the individual.

What an occupational therapist does

Become an occupational therapist

If you enjoy doing these activities, you might make a good occupational therapist

  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
  • Looking for ways to help people.
  • Teaching people how to do something.
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

Discover what you could earn in Washington

  • Typical hourly rate is $62 per hour with a typical salary of $95,300 per year.
  • Half of workers earn between $48 and $72 per hour.
  • Half of workers earn an annual salary between $38,100 and $106,200 per year.
  • 69% of individuals in this occupation have been employed in every quarter of the past year.

Part-time

  • The typical hourly rate for part-time workers is $68 per hour with a typical salary of $84,600 per year.
  • 78.3% of individuals in this occupation worked part-time during the past year.

Occupational Therapist job outlook

  • There are 3,426 workers in this occupation in Washington.
  • There are 338 openings per year in this occupation in Washington.

Multiple Jobs

  • 14% of individuals in this occupation worked for more than one employer.
  • 10% of individuals in this occupation held a position in another.

Growth rate by year

Education needed

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Programs to get you there

See all programs