How to become a Physical Therapist: education, training and skills.
What workers in the job actually report about their education, experience and training, the skills to build first, and the stepping-stone roles that lead in.
- 47% Doctoral Degree
- 38% Master's Degree
- 8% Bachelor's Degree
- 6% Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree
Most physical therapists report needing a doctoral degree (47% of workers surveyed by O*NET). O*NET places the job in Job Zone 5 of 5 (extensive preparation). The most common answer for related work experience was “no related experience needed” (30%), and for on-the-job training “anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month” (42%).
Six steps to becoming a Physical Therapist
Data Steps 1 to 5 summarise O*NET data for the role; step 6 is advice.
- EducationPlan for a doctoral degree
47% of workers report it as required.
- TrainingExpect on-the-job training
Most common: anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month.
- ExperienceRelated experience
Most common: no related experience needed (30% of workers).
- SkillsBuild the core skills
Social Perceptiveness, Service Orientation, Reading Comprehension are rated most important.
- ToolsLearn the tools
MEDITECH software, eClinicalWorks EHR software, Microsoft Excel.
- CredentialsCheck licensing where you live
Many occupations need a state license or certification. Requirements vary by state, so confirm with your state's licensing board.
What workers report
Data Share of workers giving each answer, O*NET.
O*NET Job Zone 5 (Extensive Preparation Needed): Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Related roles that need less preparation
Data O*NET related occupations in a lower Job Zone with a skill match of 65% or more.
Data Pay once you are in the job: the BLS median is $102,760; the lowest-paid quarter earn $86,160 or less. See the full Physical Therapist salary data.
How this page is built
Education, experience, training and Job Zone come from O*NET 31.0 survey data for the occupation. Stepping-stone roles use our skill-match score: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- Licensing rules in your state.
- Requirements at a specific employer.
- How long the path will take you personally.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
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