The median salary among physical therapist assistants in Nevada was $56,950 as of 2015 according to the state’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR). Physical therapist assistants in Nevada with salaries that fell within the 90th percentile (typically experienced) earned an average of $78,000, while PTAs in the 10th percentile (typically entry-level) earned an average of $25,584.
The Nevada Physical Therapy Association honors several students in the PT field each year. Two of the three fall 2015 winners were PTA students. Randi Gilbert obtained a BS in kinesiology before entering her PTA program and works part-time as a PT technician. Kirsten Jackson got her BS in exercise and sport science before becoming a PTA student. She taught physical education for 16 years in an elementary school and served as a gymnastics coach for 10 years before dedicating her career to physical therapy.
Where the Jobs are for Nevada’s Physical Therapist Assistants
The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation expects to see a significant increase in the number of physical therapist assistants licensed in Nevada between 2012 and 2022. It predicts an increase of 31.5% in Nevada as a whole, while the Reno area should see even higher levels of growth, with a 46% increase in the number of jobs for physical therapist assistants during this ten-year period.
A 2013 report on Nevada’s health workforce conducted by the University of Nevada School of Medicine noted that healthcare was one of the few industries in the state that experienced employment gains since 2007 despite the severe recession. Using data from the DETR, the report predicts that Nevada will experience above average growth in healthcare employment between 2012 and 2022.
Physical therapist assistants are already benefitting from this trend, since major employers of PTAs dramatically increased their level of employment between 2002 and 2012:
- Offices of other health practitioners: 6%
- General medical and surgical hospitals: 2%
- Nursing care facilities: 6%
The DETR expects the number of jobs in these healthcare areas to continue increasing between 2010 and 2020:
- Offices of other health practitioners: 4%
- Nursing care facilities: 5%
- General medical and surgical hospitals: 9%
Location Strongly Affects the Salaries of Physical Therapist Assistants in Nevada
Salary data from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation indicated that salaries for PTAs in the state’s cities were substantially higher than those in the rest of the state (2015):
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics provides an expanded level of detail on the salaries for physical therapist assistants in the Las Vegas and Reno areas as of 2014: