Licensed physical therapist assistants in Alabama are most commonly employed by hospitals and clinics. One of these clinics is the newly built VA Clinic located in Birmingham, where the physical therapy department is expected to grow significantly by December of 2015.
Alabama’s physical therapist assistants working in such facilities can earn salaries of approximately $52,600, the statewide average in this career field.
Job Growth and Salary Expectations for Physical Therapist Assistants in Alabama
Statistics released by the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations show that there were approximately 1,870 physical therapist assistants employed in Alabama in 2012. This is estimated to increase to 2,680 by 2022, representing a 43% increase.
The average salary for physical therapist assistants varies based on experience. For example, an entry-level physical therapist assistant who has just been licensed earns an average salary of about $37,600, whereas a physical therapist assistant who has had a few years of experience earns an average annual salary of approximately $53,500.
A highly experienced physical therapist assistant in Alabama earns an average salary of approximately $71,000 per year.
Salaries for Physical Therapist Assistants in Alabama’s Major Metro and Non-Metro Areas
The area with the highest number of licensed physical therapist assistants is the Birmingham-Hoover metropolitan region with 490. Other areas with a high concentration of physical therapist assistants include Mobile with 280, as well as Gadsden and Huntsville, both with 140 employed physical therapist assistants.
Though these major cities are home to the highest number of physical therapist assistants, PTAs in the Northeast Alabama nonmetropolitan area enjoy the highest average salary statewide, earning an average of $58,950 annually. The average salary for physical therapist assistants in the Florence-Muscle Shoals area is $58,340, and PTAs in the Northwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area earn an average salary of $57,160.
For more information about physical therapist assistant salaries in Alabama, see the chart below, provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014):