Occupational Therapists in Florida
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,730
after federal, FICA and Florida tax
Tax takes
$20,630
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,103
Florida costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Florida — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$99,360
Kept after tax
$78,730
Worth in national money
$76,103
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Florida sits in the middle of the pack for occupational therapists. The median is $99,360, ranking 24 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within Florida this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, occupational therapists ranks 60 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $99,360 the take-home is $78,730. But Florida costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $76,103 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $95,620, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Florida occupies the middle band for occupational therapists: a median of $99,360, ranking 24 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Ranked against every occupation Florida publishes a median for, occupational therapists sits 60 of 493 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Florida income tax is $78,730 for occupational therapists, from $99,360. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $76,103. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $95,620 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Occupational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $117,950 |
| This salary | $99,360 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Florida | $78,730 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,730 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,916 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $99,360 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,790 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 103 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Florida earn less than $99,360. The published range is $66,230 up to $117,950, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $78,730 take-home in Florida comes from $99,360. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 60 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $76,103 uses one figure for the whole of Florida. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 60.
- Reported values are medians; for occupational therapists in Florida the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $66,230 to $117,950. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $78,730, from $99,360, assumes a single Florida filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 60 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $76,103, worked from $99,360, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Florida address, on work sitting at 60 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $95,620 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $66,230 and the top tenth $117,950, so most people doing this work in Florida sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Florida costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $76,103 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $78,730 of this wage reaches your account, because Florida takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Florida is $95,620. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($66,230 to $117,950) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Florida rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Florida's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $76,103 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Florida levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $78,730 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.