Travel Physical Therapists salary – what’s the number?

In the intro to our Travel Therapy Salary series we talked about how one of the biggest benefits of a travel therapy position versus a perm position somewhere being the increased pay overall. Today we are taking a closer look at the difference in average pay for a perm Physical Therapist versus a Travel PT and the answer is…

$57,000 a year for a Traveling Physical Therapist vs $52,000 a year for a  Physical Therapist

This data comes from averages compiled by Simply Hired, which also has a great tool for you to compare what you would make as a travel physical therapist in different cities than your current residence. For simplicity sake we will use annual salary, but really this would be better looked at hourly.

For one example let’s look at a Physical Therapist in Des Moines, IA who is making $51,000. He could potentially make $56,000 a year in Miami, FL as a traveler.

Or, say he wanted to stay close enough to home to come back on the weekends. The average Physical Therapist’s pay in Des Moines is $51,000 a year, while the average traveling physical therapist salary in Omaha, NE is $54,000, so with just a quick 2 1/2 hour drive he could raise his pay from $25.50 to $28.50 an hour. And throw the Per Diem allowances and free housing a lot of travel therapy companies provide and you can see how big a difference being a travel therapist can have on your pocket book.