Occupational Therapy Aides
Healthcare Support · SOC 31-2012
AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.
Decision card
Career Evidence Passport
SOC 31-2012 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.
- SOC exposure
- 6.6%
- Medium · Anthropic AEI
- Automation friction
- 56/100
- Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
- Wages
- $39,160
- H-1B offered wage $52,000; LCAs are filings.
- Projected openings
- 1,100
- BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change +2.5%.
- Observed/proxy demand
- 1
- FY2025 certified LCAs; 1,379 postings in 2025.
Skill evidence
- 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 ~24.1% of this role but only ~6.6% 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
Under close supervision of an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant, perform only delegated, selected, or routine tasks in specific situations. These duties include preparing patient and treatment room.
Common titles: Certified Occupational Rehabilitation Aide (CORA), Direct Service Professional (DSP), Direct Support Professional (DSP), Occupational Rehabilitation Aide, Occupational Therapist Aide (OT Aide), Occupational Therapy Aide (OT Aide)
Representative Tasks
- •Encourage patients and attend to their physical needs to facilitate the attainment of therapeutic goals.
- •Report to supervisors or therapists, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, attendance, and accomplishments.
- •Observe patients' attendance, progress, attitudes, and accomplishments and record and maintain information in client records.
- •Prepare and maintain work area, materials, and equipment and maintain inventory of treatment and educational supplies.
- •Transport patients to and from the occupational therapy work area.
Detailed Work Activities
- •Encourage patients during therapeutic activities.
- •Communicate patient status to other health practitioners.
- •Prepare medical reports or documents.
- •Administer screening tests to determine abilities or treatment needs.
- •Maintain medical records.
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 | 6.6% | 1.9% |
| Outlook | Bright ↗ | 69% Bright |
| Median Salary | $39,160 | N/A |
| AI Resiliency | 93/100 | N/A |