Physical Therapists
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · SOC 29-1123
AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.
Decision card
Career Evidence Passport
SOC 29-1123 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.
- SOC exposure
- 1.7%
- Medium · Anthropic AEI
- Automation friction
- 66/100
- High friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
- Wages
- $102,760
- H-1B offered wage $81,058; LCAs are filings.
- Projected openings
- 16,900
- BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change +10.9%.
- Observed/proxy demand
- 1,949
- FY2025 certified LCAs; 41,478 postings in 2025.
Skill evidence
Transition context
- H-1B values are certified Labor Condition Applications, not visa approvals.
- Job postings are seed-static / seed-derived; treat as provider-ready proxy coverage until observed provider data is wired in.
- Transition matches are directional skill-overlap context, not placement guarantees.
- This release is a FutureGrid broad-SOC seed derived from public BLS ORS requirement concepts and categories, not direct occupation-level ORS survey estimates. It describes job requirements, not worker ability, AI capability, or displacement probability. Automation friction is a FutureGrid derived score and should be read alongside exposure, demand, wage, and projection signals.
Best transitions from here
Explore all pathways→Lower AI-exposure roles that reuse your skills, ranked by a transition score (skills that transfer, safety gain, pay and retraining effort).
AI Exposure Analysis
Across AI measures
Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.
AI could do ~19.1% of this role but only ~1.7% is currently done with AI — a large capability-vs-adoption gap.
Top Skills
H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand
View full H-1B trends →Certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications naming this occupation, FY2016–FY2025. A descriptive high-skill labor-demand signal — employer filings, not visa approvals or individual outcomes. Note: one LCA can cover multiple worker positions.
O*NET occupation profile
What this work involves
Assess, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitative programs that improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, and improve or correct disabling conditions resulting from disease or injury.
Common titles: Acute Care PT (Acute Care Physical Therapist), Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), Home Care Physical Therapist (Home Care PT), Inpatient Physical Therapist (Inpatient PT), Outpatient Physical Therapist (Outpatient PT), Pediatric Physical Therapist (Pediatric PT)
Representative Tasks
- •Plan, prepare, or carry out individually designed programs of physical treatment to maintain, improve, or restore physical functioning, alleviate pain, or prevent physical dysfunction in patients.
- •Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention.
- •Record prognosis, treatment, response, and progress in patient's chart or enter information into computer.
- •Instruct patient and family in treatment procedures to be continued at home.
- •Evaluate effects of treatment at various stages and adjust treatments to achieve maximum benefit.
Detailed Work Activities
- •Record patient medical histories.
- •Analyze patient data to determine patient needs or treatment goals.
- •Examine patients to assess general physical condition.
- •Develop medical treatment plans.
- •Enter patient or treatment data into computers.
Tools & Technologies
Employment Projections & AI Exposure
Employment & Wage Trend
BLS OEWS, 2019–2025
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.
Sector Comparison
| Metric | This Career | Sector Average |
|---|---|---|
| AI Exposure | 1.7% | 5.4% |
| Outlook | Bright ↗ | 62% Bright |
| Median Salary | $102,760 | N/A |
| AI Resiliency | 98/100 | N/A |