Which state pays occupational therapy assistants the most?

Maryland has the highest median occupational therapy assistant pay in the United States at $82,010 (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is the sticker figure. After state income tax and cost of living, the pay that goes furthest is Arkansas at $87,505, then Texas ($83,971) and New Mexico ($80,863).

Where does occupational therapy assistant pay go furthest after cost of living?

Arkansas, Texas, and New Mexico. Real value starts from the BLS median occupational therapy assistant wage, subtracts modeled state income tax, then divides by the state cost of living (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024). Maryland ranks #8 of 50 on that measure despite paying the most on paper.

Which states pay occupational therapy assistants the least after cost of living?

Alaska ($52,296), District of Columbia ($57,799), New York ($60,624). A state can pay well and still land here: high local prices and state income tax both come out of the same wage.

What is the median occupational therapy assistant salary in the US?

$72,300 nationally, BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 31-2011). State medians run from $53,530 to $82,010 before any adjustment.

Do states with no income tax pay occupational therapy assistants more?

Not automatically. No-income-tax states (Texas, Florida, Washington, Tennessee, and others) keep more of the nominal wage as take-home, but cost of living still decides the real value. The table below separates the two effects so you can see which one is moving a state up or down.

Where occupational therapy assistants actually earn the most

Maryland pays occupational therapy assistants the most on paper, at $82,010. After state income tax and cost of living, Arkansas goes furthest at $87,505, and Maryland drops to #8 of 50.

Therapists

Physical therapy Occupational therapy Speech-language

Assistants

PTA COTA

After-tax pay adjusted for cost of living. Stacks state tax and local prices.

$52k$88k

Shading is scaled within occupational therapy assistants only. US median for occupational therapy assistants: $72,300.

Arkansas

#1 of 50 · Real value

BLS reported median: $78,940
State income tax: −$2,866
After-tax: $76,074
Cost of living (US = 100): 86.9
Real value: $87,505

Pay varies inside Arkansas too.

Compare 11 Arkansas metros Or see what you should be getting paid

These are state medians

Your local number depends on your experience and practice setting.

See what you should be getting paid

All 50 states, ranked

Median occupational therapy assistant pay by state, ranked by what it is worth after state income tax and cost of living. Vermont is absent: BLS suppresses the estimate there.

#	State	Nominal	Take-home	Real value	Reports
1	Arkansas	$78,940	$76,074	$87,505	4
2	Texas	$81,500	$81,500	$83,971	21
3	New Mexico	$77,020	$74,566	$80,863	1
4	Nevada	$79,510	$79,510	$79,527	1
5	Georgia	$75,920	$72,603	$75,398	1
6	South Carolina	$73,740	$70,473	$75,172	1
7	Delaware	$78,640	$74,791	$74,935	2
8	Maryland	$82,010	$78,478	$74,770	4
9	Montana	$72,800	$70,048	$74,011	2
10	Louisiana	$66,090	$64,494	$73,116	2
11	Oklahoma	$66,520	$64,072	$72,939	3
12	Washington	$77,590	$77,590	$72,505	3
13	Arizona	$73,490	$71,862	$71,378	4
14	North Carolina	$69,390	$67,130	$71,168	5
15	Pennsylvania	$71,590	$69,392	$71,119	6
16	Iowa	$64,140	$62,354	$71,050	2
17	California	$81,770	$78,395	$70,805	20
18	Virginia	$74,960	$71,464	$70,684	5
19	Colorado	$75,340	$72,733	$70,579	3
20	Missouri	$66,070	$63,902	$70,364	4
21	Kentucky	$65,230	$63,065	$69,948	1
22	Indiana	$66,660	$64,723	$69,349	0
23	Florida	$71,630	$71,630	$69,265	7
24	Kansas	$65,010	$62,182	$69,039	2
25	Mississippi	$61,650	$59,916	$68,906	3
26	Oregon	$76,850	$70,955	$68,648	1
27	North Dakota	$60,970	$60,970	$68,537	0
28	Tennessee	$62,420	$62,420	$67,944	2
29	Nebraska	$63,180	$61,185	$67,905	0
30	Wyoming	$62,750	$62,750	$67,698	0
31	Massachusetts	$75,040	$71,508	$67,615	3
32	Connecticut	$72,780	$69,527	$67,105	1
33	Alabama	$62,250	$59,403	$66,877	5
34	Ohio	$62,700	$61,758	$66,568	7
35	New Jersey	$74,960	$72,365	$66,508	3
36	Idaho	$65,330	$62,976	$65,947	1
37	West Virginia	$60,370	$58,389	$65,241	0
38	New Hampshire	$67,790	$67,790	$65,079	1
39	Utah	$66,080	$63,106	$63,832	1
40	South Dakota	$56,180	$56,180	$63,419	0
41	Rhode Island	$66,710	$64,825	$63,380	1
42	Michigan	$63,260	$60,822	$63,214	8
43	Maine	$64,270	$61,113	$62,971	0
44	Minnesota	$64,920	$62,029	$62,896	1
45	Hawaii	$72,710	$68,714	$62,495	0
46	Wisconsin	$59,960	$58,103	$61,749	4
47	Illinois	$64,120	$61,091	$61,117	7
48	New York	$68,530	$65,426	$60,624	9
49	District of Columbia	$66,390	$63,521	$57,799	0
50	Alaska	$53,530	$53,530	$52,296	1

Ranked by real value (take-home pay adjusted for cost of living). Nominal = BLS median annual wage. Reports counts what clinicians in that state have contributed to this project, across every setting and pay type.

What COTAs report, by state and setting

The ranking above uses federal wage data, which publishes one median per state covering every setting and experience level together. Below is what occupational therapy assistants reported themselves. Federal data has no state-by-setting figure for any state, because the samples get too small to publish, so these are the only numbers of their kind.

Where	Setting	Pay	Median	Middle half	Reports
California	Outpatient / private clinic	Salary	$68,000/yr	$52,000/yr – $80,000/yr	5
California	Skilled nursing (SNF)	Hourly	$42.00/hr	$40.00/hr – $43.00/hr	5

Shown where at least 5 clinicians reported. A row named as a metro rather than a state is one where most of that state's reports came from that metro, so the figure describes the metro. Never compare across pay types: an hourly rate and a salary are different numbers.

A median hides what decides an offer. Each report also carries years of experience, contract length, W2 or 1099, and for school jobs whether it is a district or an agency. Those individual reports are open to clinicians who have added their own.

Add your numbers and see the reports →

Anonymous and self-reported by clinicians using this tool. A convenience sample, not a probability sample. One report per clinician, most recent within three years.

The same map for the other four professions

Each profession ranks states differently. Assistant pay sits in a narrower band, so cost of living moves it more.

How this is calculated

Nominal pay is the median annual wage from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program (May 2025 release) for occupational therapy assistants, SOC 31-2011, in each state. Where BLS suppresses an estimate for confidentiality, that state is left out rather than filled in: the gap here is Vermont.

Take-homesubtracts modeled state income tax for a single filer taking the standard deduction, at that state's median wage, using Tax Foundation brackets as of January 1, 2026. It does not include federal income tax or FICA (those don't vary by state, so they don't change the ranking), and it excludes local (city or county) income taxes.

Real valuedivides take-home by each state's cost of living, using the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities (2024), where the US average is 100. Cost of living already captures sales tax and, through rents, some property tax; income tax is separate, which is why it is applied on its own.

Limits: single filer only; local income taxes (Maryland, New York, Ohio) are averaged out at the state grain; and cost of living is statewide, so a specific metro can run higher or lower. Typical pay, not personalized tax advice.

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