Last Updated on December 23, 2022
Are you interested in becoming an occupational therapy assistant in Florida? If so, then you need to know the average salary of OTA’s in Florida. However, there are a lot of factors that can influence the yearly earnings of occupational therapy assistants.
The occupational therapy assistant salary varies considerably depending on the state and region where one works. The following is a listing of average occupational therapy assistant salaries by state, together with information about the average cost of living and job outlook in those states.
So you’ve decided to become an occupational therapy assistant, and you want to do it in Florida. Congrats! This is a great choice, because the need for occupational therapy assistants in Florida is growing—and so are occupational therapy assistant salaries in Florida.
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To get more information on Occupational therapist assistant salary by state, how to become an occupational therapy assistant, occupational therapy assistant jobs. You can also find up-to-date, related articles on Collegelearners.
Occupational Therapy Assistant Salary In Florida
An occupational therapy assistant salary florida is a professional who helps people maintain, regain, or improve their everyday living and working skills. Occupational therapists work with individuals who have a physical, mental or development disability. They help these individuals develop, recover, improve, as well as maintain the skills needed for daily living and working. Occupational therapy assistants are typically responsible for implementing occupational therapy treatment plans established by an occupational therapist.
As of Oct 9, 2021, the average annual pay for an OTA in Florida is $63,558 an year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $30.56 an hour. This is the equivalent of $1,222/week or $5,296/month.
While ZipRecruiter is seeing salaries as high as $97,154 and as low as $32,103, the majority of OTA salaries currently range between $53,223 (25th percentile) to $75,610 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $86,593 annually in Florida.
The average pay range for an OTA varies greatly (as much as $22,387), which suggests there may be many opportunities for advancement and increased pay based on skill level, location and years of experience.
Based on recent job posting activity on ZipRecruiter, the OTA job market in Florida is not very active as few companies are currently hiring.
Florida ranks number 44 out of 50 states nationwide for OTA salaries.
Occupational therapist assistant salary by state
Although it is true that OTA salaries in Florida are higher than many other states, there is more to it than that. We will discuss everything you need to know about the average OTA salary in Florida.
| State Name | Average Salary |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $58,860 |
| Arkansas | $59,390 |
| Arizona | $63,310 |
| California | $70,190 |
| Colorado | $56,440 |
| Connecticut | $64,500 |
| District of Columbia | $58,090 |
| Delaware | $59,470 |
| Florida | $61,870 |
| Georgia | $67,570 |
| Hawaii | $58,550 |
| Iowa | $54,500 |
| Idaho | $58,000 |
| Illinois | $58,982 |
| Indiana | $54,605 |
| Kansas | $57,860 |
| Kentucky | $54,360 |
| Louisiana | $61,180 |
| Massachusetts | $61,240 |
| Maryland | $65,310 |
| Maine | $49,030 |
| Michigan | $53,330 |
| Minnesota | $50,740 |
| Missouri | $56,760 |
| Mississippi | $57,570 |
| Montana | $55,980 |
| North Carolina | $64,890 |
| North Dakota | $47,550 |
| Nebraska | $56,520 |
| New Hampshire | $56,510 |
| New Jersey | $70,460 |
| New Mexico | $58,010 |
| Nevada | $70,090 |
| New York | $60,050 |
| Ohio | $59,070 |
| Oklahoma | $60,310 |
| Oregon | $61,600 |
| Pennsylvania | $56,377 |
| Puerto Rico | $21,950 |
| Rhode Island | $61,640 |
| South Carolina | $63,510 |
| South Dakota | $38,990 |
| Tennessee | $60,550 |
| Texas | $72,930 |
| Utah | $57,730 |
| Virginia | $68,820 |
| Vermont | $58,790 |
| Washington | $62,690 |
| Wisconsin | $36,520 |
| West Virginia | $59,830 |
| Wyoming | $53,370 |
How do occupational therapist assistant salaries compare to similar careers?
Florida has a lower cost of living than many states and this means individuals can live comfortably on less money. This is great news for people who want to become occupational therapy assistants because they can get by on a lower salary.
Occupational therapist assistants earn about the same as related careers in Florida. On average, they make less than diagnostic medical sonographers but more than orthotists and prosthetists.
| Career | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Diagnostic medical sonographer salary | $66K |
| Dental hygienist salary | $66K |
| Hearing aid specialist salary | $52K |
| Magnetic resonance imaging technologist salary | $66K |
| Physical therapist assistant salary | $61K |
| Occupational therapist assistant salary | $62K |
| Radiologic technologist salary | $57K |
| Respiratory therapist salary | $58K |
| Exercise physiologist salary | $50K |
| Orthotist and prosthetist salary | $49K |
how to become an occupational therapy assistant
Becoming an occupational therapy assistant requires a great deal of work and dedication. If you’re considering pursuing this path, it’s important to know what your future salary will be.
In Florida, occupational therapists work in many different fields. These include helping people with disabilities or injuries to improve their everyday life skills, helping the elderly or children in schools, and assisting people who have suffered from a stroke or other debilitating injury.
An Occupational Therapy Assistant is a healthcare professional who provides patients with therapies intended to help them perform all essential personal and professional activities. For example, Occupational Therapy Assistants (OTA), who are supervised by an Occupational Therapist, will teach patients proper ways to move about, to stretch their muscles to improve function and to monitor activities for correctness in their completion.
They also report patient progress and feedback back to the Occupational Therapist, and often work directly with patients with learning disabilities to teach them skills increasing the possibilities of future independence. Occupational therapy can also be used to treat children and young adults with developmental disabilities, including autism.
Education & Training
To become an Occupational Therapy Assistant, professionals must obtain an Associate’s Degree accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education. Often, these programs can be found in community colleges and within technical schools, and are typically two years of full-time study in length. Learn about other careers achievable in two years or less!
“The curriculum was not that difficult, just a lot of studying. It took 2 years to complete,” Allen said. “The challenging part for me was the traveling, because there were no local Certified OTA programs close to where I live.”
To finish their studies, Occupational Therapy Assistants must complete at least 16 weeks of fieldwork to gain real-world work experience, and often need additional certifications in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and basic life support (BLS). Also, because each state separately regulates the practice of Occupational Therapy Assistants, passing the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy is often a prerequisite to a license.
Following successful completion of an approved course of study, most states require graduates to take and pass the COTA exam. This exam is administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy Assistant (NBCOTA). The OTA student is now considered a “Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant”, or “COTA.” A few states have additional requirements. Learn about other Occupational Therapy Assistant requirements today!
Allen confirmed that she was required to take the NBCOTA.
Advancement
The American Occupational Therapy Association offers specialty certifications for those OTAs who are interesting in increasing their knowledge of specialized areas of practice such as feeding, swallowing, eating and in assisting patients with poor vision.
“If a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant wanted to advance their career in healthcare to become a fully qualified (registered) Occupational Therapist (OTR) they would need additional schooling at the masters or doctoral level. Only OTRs are able to evaluate and prescribe treatment for clients,” Allen said. “As a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant, you can only implement the treatment plan, however you can supervise rehab techs within the department.”
Experience & Skills
To be successful as an OTA, professionals must be physically capable of helping patients complete therapeutic activities, such as stretches. Furthermore, Occupational Therapy Assistants should be able to educate others, and should possess attention to detail and the ability to note and record progress in the form of data.
“It is good to have some experience with healthcare-related nursing tasks, however it is not required,” added Allen. “COTAs may also be required to complete a certain amount of observation hours to enter the COTA program.”
Personality
“Occupational Therapy Assistants should have a kind, caring and empathetic personality,” stressed Allen.
Emotionally, this profession requires empathy and patience. Occupational Therapy Assistants must be able to adapt to challenges, while finding new therapy methods which will help a patient achieve their physical goals. They must also be able to effectively communicate and interact with patients, without getting frustrated and while clearly identifying what they are doing and hoping to achieve. Lastly, being detail-oriented is an important characteristic in this field, as one minor alteration can become the difference between and effective and ineffective treatment.
Lifestyle
“A Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant’s lifestyle can be fast-paced and energetic,” Allen explained.
Occupational Therapy Assistants can expect to spend much of their time on their feet when providing therapies to patients or helping to set up equipment. This is a career that involves physical exertion such as kneeling, stooping and standing. These professionals may be expected to work full-time and during atypical hours, including evenings and weekends to accommodate their patients or employing facilities.
Employment
Most frequently employed by the offices of Occupational, Speech Language Pathologist, Physical Therapists, or by Audiologists, Occupational Therapy Assistants also find employment at nursing care facilities, state, local and private hospitals, home healthcare and educational services. As the “baby boomer” generation continues to age, conditions such as arthritis and stroke become more prevalent and a need for Occupational Therapy Assistants increases. Furthermore, this profession is projected to grow 33 percent over the next decade.
While this growth is good news for the industry, because the field is relatively small, the fast growth will still only result in about 1,800 new positions over the course of the decade. This may indicate higher pay increases in the future as demand expands for the limited providers! Currently there are about 39,300 employed Occupational Therapy Assistants in the U.S. .
Earnings
“The earning potential for Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants is good,” Allen said. “Also, there are opportunities for traveling Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant’s and they can earn more money.”
While the median annual wage for Occupational Therapy Assistants was $61,510, the lowest 10 percent earned less than $41,730 and the highest 10 percent earned more than $82,210. The top-paying states include Texas, Arkansas, New Jersey, Maryland and California.
Unions, Groups, Social Media, and Associations
“There are numerous groups that support the Occupational Therapy discipline such as American Occupational Therapy Association, state associations and several on social media as well,” advised Allen.
The American Occupational Therapy Association represents the interests and concerns of occupational therapy practitioners and students of occupational therapy, while working to improve the quality of occupational therapy services overall. Representing approximately 213,000 occupational therapy practitioners and students in the U.S., AOTA’s work is dedicated to advancing the quality, availability, use, and support of occupational therapy through standard-setting, advocacy, education and research on behalf of its members and the public.
Occupational therapy assistant jobs
The occupational therapy assistant would then implement that treatment plan by helping patients through exercises, providing equipment to aid them in performing specific tasks, recording progress notes about each session with each client so that therapists can track changes over time and determine whether adjustments need to be made accordingly-all while ensuring safety during any activity sessions.
Once you obtain your degree or certificate, you’ll be able to work with people of all ages who are dealing with physical, mental, developmental, or social challenges. It’s an incredibly rewarding job and there are many reasons why you should become an OTA.
Occupational therapy assistants work with occupational therapists to help their clients develop and recover activities of daily living, like getting dressed and driving, and working.
Occupational therapy assistants can choose from a number of opportunities. Some choose to work with children, helping them with typical childhood activities, including learning, playing, and growing. Others work with students who have learning disabilities, behavioral problems, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome or other disabilities.
Occupational therapy assistants also work with adults in their homes, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, community centers and other facilities. They help people deal with and recover from traumatic injuries, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease or mental health problems, helping them relearn activities of daily living or learning occupations.
Occupational therapy assistants carry out activities and exercises with clients based on a treatment plan developed in collaboration with an occupational therapist. Occupational therapy assistants monitor an individual’s activities to make sure they are performed correctly and to provide encouragement. They also record their client’s progress for use by the occupational therapist. If the treatment is not having the intended effect, or the client is not improving as expected, the occupational therapist may alter the treatment program in hopes of obtaining better results. Occupational therapy assistants also document billing of the client’s health insurance provider.
Working Conditions
Occupational therapy assistants work primarily in occupational therapists’ offices, hospitals and nursing care facilities. Occupational therapy assistants spend much of their time on their feet setting up equipment and working with patients.
Occupational therapy assistants have variable work schedules that may include evening and weekend hours, depending on the facility and whether they are full or part-time employees. Many outpatient therapy offices and health care facilities have evening and weekend hours, to help coincide with patients’ personal schedules.
Salary Range and Outlook
The employment outlook for this career is good, projected to grow 41% from 2012 to 2022, much faster than the average for other occupations.
Academic Requirements
You must complete an associate’s degree from an accredited college or technical school to qualify for occupational therapy assistant jobs. In most states, you will also be required to take and pass a licensing exam.
