Pay for occupational therapy assistants is unusually consistent across the country: $49,050 at the bottom of the range, $97,860 at the top, a spread of only 2×. Where you work matters less for this role than it does for most — which usually points to pay being set by structure (scales, licensure, collective agreements) rather than local bidding.
From $51,490 at the 10th percentile to $89,780 at the 90th is only 1.74×, which is narrow. Pay for occupational therapy assistants is set more by structure than by individual outcome — scales, steps, licensure. That makes income predictable and makes the ceiling real: the way to earn materially more is usually to change role or location, not to out-perform within this one.
7 of the ten best-paying metros for occupational therapy assistants are in CA. When one state dominates the top of the table like this, cost of living is doing part of the work but rarely all of it — state licensing rules, public-sector pay scales and the presence of a few large employers usually explain the rest. If you are comparing an offer in CA against one elsewhere, adjust for housing before concluding anything.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA | $97,860 | $47.05 | 0.36 | 290 |
| Modesto CA | $96,210 | $46.25 | 0.47 | 30 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA | $95,370 | $45.85 | 0.42 | 160 |
| Bakersfield-Delano CA | $95,190 | $45.77 | 0.4 | 40 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom CA | $95,180 | $45.76 | 0.48 | 170 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV | $88,250 | $42.43 | 0.41 | 420 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara CA | $86,440 | $41.56 | 0.62 | 40 |
| Spartanburg SC | $86,040 | $41.37 | 1.42 | 80 |
| Boulder CO | $84,860 | $40.80 | 0.72 | 50 |
| Stockton-Lodi CA | $84,400 | $40.58 | 0.63 | 60 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad CA | $82,680 | $39.75 | 0.72 | 360 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson MD | $82,620 | $39.72 | 0.68 | 310 |
| Beaumont-Port Arthur TX | $82,610 | $39.72 | 1.29 | 70 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura CA | $82,060 | $39.45 | 0.75 | 80 |
| Sussex Delaware nonmetropolitan area | $82,010 | $39.43 | 2.83 | 90 |
| Western Washington nonmetropolitan area | $81,710 | $39.29 | 1.1 | 50 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos TX | $81,500 | $39.19 | 2.79 | 1,190 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $81,340 | $39.11 | 0.83 | 900 |
| Visalia CA | $81,200 | $39.04 | 0.95 | 50 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX | $81,170 | $39.02 | 0.91 | 1,220 |
| North Region of Texas nonmetropolitan area | $81,070 | $38.98 | 1.73 | 160 |
| Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers AR | $80,910 | $38.90 | 1.09 | 100 |
| Northwestern Region of Texas nonmetropolitan area | $80,720 | $38.81 | 0.69 | 40 |
| Fort Smith AR-OK | $80,660 | $38.78 | 1.19 | 40 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario CA | $80,070 | $38.50 | 0.7 | 400 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage AK | $49,050 | $23.58 | 0.87 | 50 |
| Buffalo-Cheektowaga NY | $51,140 | $24.59 | 1.12 | 200 |
| East North Dakota nonmetropolitan area | $52,480 | $25.23 | 1.93 | 40 |
| Cedar Rapids IA | $52,560 | $25.27 | 1.13 | 50 |
| Madison WI | $54,870 | $26.38 | 1.31 | 180 |
| Southern Indiana nonmetropolitan area | $55,160 | $26.52 | 0.56 | 40 |
| Peoria IL | $55,210 | $26.54 | 1.9 | 100 |
| Eau Claire WI | $56,110 | $26.97 | 1.06 | 30 |
| East South Dakota nonmetropolitan area | $56,120 | $26.98 | 0.88 | 40 |
| Johnstown PA | $56,120 | $26.98 | 2.47 | 40 |
Homosassa Springs has 7.74× the national concentration of occupational therapy assistants — the densest market in the country for this role, with 90 employed locally. Pay there is $68,380, which does not put it near the top of the pay table. Concentration and compensation are different things — a dense market is easier to get hired in and easier to move around within, but the competition that makes it dense also caps what employers need to offer.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homosassa Springs FL | $68,380 | $32.87 | 7.74 | 90 |
| Jonesboro AR | $78,660 | $37.82 | 4.67 | 90 |
| Victoria TX | $73,720 | $35.44 | 4.45 | 60 |
| Cape Girardeau MO-IL | $62,010 | $29.81 | 4.13 | 60 |
| Canton-Massillon OH | $64,250 | $30.89 | 3.91 | 210 |
| Youngstown-Warren OH | $59,160 | $28.44 | 3.43 | 180 |
| Wichita Falls TX | $74,450 | $35.80 | 2.93 | 50 |
| Lima OH | $60,550 | $29.11 | 2.85 | 50 |
| Southern Ohio nonmetropolitan area | $60,920 | $29.29 | 2.84 | 150 |
| Sussex Delaware nonmetropolitan area | $82,010 | $39.43 | 2.83 | 90 |
| Sandusky OH | $63,260 | $30.41 | 2.83 | 50 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos TX | $81,500 | $39.19 | 2.79 | 1,190 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | $74,960 | $36.04 | 0.7 | 2,200 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $78,090 | $37.55 | 0.83 | 1,720 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN | $67,840 | $32.61 | 1.15 | 1,710 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX | $81,170 | $39.02 | 0.91 | 1,220 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos TX | $81,500 | $39.19 | 2.79 | 1,190 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach FL | $71,310 | $34.29 | 1.17 | 1,090 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | $76,440 | $36.75 | 0.99 | 940 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $81,340 | $39.11 | 0.83 | 900 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA-NH | $75,300 | $36.20 | 0.96 | 850 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler AZ | $76,080 | $36.58 | 1.02 | 800 |
| St. Louis MO-IL | $67,450 | $32.43 | 1.75 | 780 |
| Cleveland OH | $62,700 | $30.15 | 2.11 | 720 |
Figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme, May 2025 release, SOC code 31-2011. OEWS surveys employers, so it reports what is actually paid rather than what job advertisements claim, and it excludes the self-employed. Estimates are published for 291 of 528 metropolitan areas; the remaining 237 had too few survey responses for BLS to publish without risking disclosure, so they are absent here rather than estimated. For a specialised role that is normal. Read the methodology.