Recreational Therapists in Oregon

A stethoscope and folded scrubs in a sunlit clinical workspace.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$50,363

after federal, FICA and Oregon tax

Tax takes

$16,167

24.3% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$48,092

Oregon costs more than average

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

$66,530

Kept after tax

$50,363

Worth in national money

$48,092

State rank

8

of 48 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • This is a good state for the work. Oregon pays recreational therapists a middle wage of $66,530, ranking 8 of 48 states and sitting about 7.38% above the national middle.
  • Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Oregon reports figures for, this is number 226.
  • Oregon is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $66,530 the take-home is $50,363; in national-average money that behaves like $48,092. The average comes to $67,670, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
  • Oregon's median for recreational therapists is $66,530, about 7.38% above the national figure and 8 of 48 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
  • In Oregon's occupational distribution, recreational therapists sits at 226 of 489 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
  • Take-home for recreational therapists in Oregon, on $66,530, is $50,363; deflated by the state's price level, $48,092. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $67,670 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Recreational Therapists

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$51,210
Half earn under$66,530
Top tenth earn over$83,780
This salary$66,530

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

Compare with
+$5,271take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Oregon$50,363
Take-home in Texas$55,634
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity+$9,159

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

Moving to
$0now · $66,530$55,449
$55,449in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$59,966
You could take a cut of−$11,081
Prices in Texas97 vs 105

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • Half the people doing this work in Oregon earn less than $66,530. The published range is $51,210 up to $83,780, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • In Oregon the take-home figure of $50,363, from $66,530, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 226 of 489 occupations here.
  • Two cautions on $48,092, the adjusted value of that $66,530 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Oregon. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 226 of 489 locally.
  • Reported values are medians; for recreational therapists in Oregon the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $51,210 to $83,780. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
  • Take-home for Oregon is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $50,363 from $66,530. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 226 of 489 locally.
  • This $48,092 adjusted figure, worked from $66,530, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 226 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 226 of 489 locally.

Questions people ask

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $51,210 at the tenth percentile, $83,780 at the ninetieth.

Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?

The number and the value are different things. Oregon costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $48,092 rather than its face figure.

Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?

Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Oregon then takes its own share, leaving $50,363.

Why is this job missing from some states?

Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.

What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($51,210 to $83,780) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oregon rather than a national figure.

How does the state price level affect real compensation?

Oregon's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $48,092 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.

What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?

Take-home of $50,363 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oregon income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.

Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?

BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.