Physical Therapist Assistant Job Description: Duties, Requirements, Template & Pay (2026)
A physical therapist assistant (PTA) delivers the treatment a physical therapist prescribes — therapeutic exercise, gait training, manual therapy, modalities — and documents each patient's response. This page covers the duties employers actually hire for, a copy-paste physical therapist assistant job description template for outpatient, skilled nursing, home health and hospital settings, the licensing rules that are fixed versus the requirements that are habit, and what therapy applicants cost on social media — the most expensive role family in Boostpoint's 2026 benchmark.
Physical therapist assistant duties and responsibilities
The PTA works under the direction and supervision of a licensed physical therapist: the PT evaluates, sets the plan of care and re-evaluates; the PTA carries out the plan across the visits in between and reports what changed. How much of the day is hands-on treatment versus documentation, and how many patients a PTA sees, varies enormously by setting. An outpatient orthopedic PTA might treat 12–16 patients a day in 30–45 minute slots. A skilled nursing PTA treats residents in their rooms and the therapy gym with productivity targets set in minutes per day. A home health PTA drives between six or seven visits. The posting should name the setting, the caseload and the supervision model in the first two lines.
Day to day, physical therapist assistant responsibilities include:
- Implement the plan of care established by the supervising physical therapist: therapeutic exercise, gait and balance training, transfer training, functional mobility
- Instruct and assist patients during exercise and functional activities; teach proper body mechanics and use of assistive devices (walkers, crutches, canes, orthoses)
- Administer manual therapy techniques, soft-tissue mobilization and modalities such as ultrasound, electrical stimulation, heat, ice and traction as directed
- Monitor patient response to treatment — vital signs, pain, tolerance — and adjust within the plan or report to the PT
- Document each treatment session, progress toward goals and any change in status in the EMR; complete billing and units accurately
- Communicate with the supervising PT about progress, concerns and readiness for re-evaluation or discharge; participate in care conferences
- Transfer and position patients safely; secure them on therapy equipment; use lifts and gait belts
- Educate patients and families on home exercise programs and safety
- Maintain a clean, safe treatment area and equipment; follow infection control procedures
The BLS counted about 111,500 physical therapist assistants in 2024 and projects growth of 7% or more through 2034 — much faster than average, driven by an aging population and by the shift of care into outpatient and home settings — with roughly 19,800 openings a year. The median wage was $32.88 an hour in 2025, or $68,380 a year; home health and skilled nursing typically pay above the median, outpatient clinics below it. Because CAPTE programs graduate a limited number of PTAs each year and every setting wants them, the hiring problem is reach and speed, not screening. Our therapy staffing page covers what happens when the role goes to agency instead.
Physical Therapist Assistant job description template
Copy this into your ATS or job board, replace the bracketed fields, and cut what doesn't apply. It leads with setting, caseload, schedule and pay, because a licensed PTA reading it is comparing those four things against a job they already have.
Job title
Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) — [Outpatient Ortho / Skilled Nursing / Home Health / Acute Care], [Full-time / Part-time / PRN], [City, State]
Summary
[Clinic / Facility / Agency] is hiring a licensed physical therapist assistant for our [outpatient orthopedic clinic / 90-bed skilled nursing facility / home health team] in [City]. Pay is $[XX]–$[XX]/hour based on experience [or $XX–$XX per visit for home health, plus mileage at the IRS rate], with a $[X,XXX] sign-on bonus. Caseload is [12–14 patients per day in 45-minute slots / a productivity target of X% / 25–30 visits per week], with [one-to-one treatment, no double-booking] and [a supervising PT on site every day]. Schedule is [Monday–Friday, no weekends / four 10-hour days / flexible visit scheduling]. [State] PTA license required; new graduates welcome with [mentorship program].
Responsibilities
- Deliver treatment per the physical therapist's plan of care: therapeutic exercise, gait and balance training, manual therapy and modalities
- Monitor and document patient response, progress and status changes in [WebPT / Net Health / PointClickCare / Epic]
- Communicate with the supervising PT on progress, concerns and re-evaluation timing
- Educate patients and families on home programs and safety
- Transfer and position patients safely; maintain equipment and treatment areas
- Complete documentation and billing accurately and on time
Requirements
- Current [State] PTA license (or eligibility with license before start date)
- Associate degree from a CAPTE-accredited PTA program; passing score on the NPTE-PTA
- BLS/CPR certification
- [Valid driver's license and reliable vehicle for home health]
- Able to lift and transfer patients, stand and move for a full shift, and pass a background check and health screening
- [New graduates welcome]
Preferred
- [1+ year] of experience in [setting]
- Experience with [EMR system]
- [Certification in a specialty area, e.g., LSVT BIG, vestibular, lymphedema]
- [Bilingual English/Spanish]
Schedule and pay
- $[XX]–$[XX]/hour, or $[XX]–$[XX] per visit [home health]
- [Sign-on bonus $X,XXX]; [productivity bonus]; [mileage reimbursement]
- Schedule: [Mon–Fri, 8–5, no weekends]; [PRN: minimum X shifts per month]
- [Continuing education stipend $X,XXX per year and X paid CEU days]
Benefits
- Medical, dental and vision after [30] days
- [401(k) with X% match]
- Paid time off and [X] paid holidays
- Continuing education allowance and license renewal reimbursement
- [Mentorship program for new graduates]; [tuition assistance toward DPT]
Requirements: what's required, what's preferred, and what kills applications
Every state licenses PTAs, so the credential line is fixed. Everything after it is a choice, and therapy postings make expensive ones: only 5% of clickers on therapy ads finish the application — the lowest completion rate of any role family in our benchmark — and long applications for licensed clinicians are the reason.
| Requirement | What to know |
|---|---|
| State PTA license | Required in all 50 states; most require graduation from a CAPTE-accredited program and a passing NPTE-PTA score. Ask for license state and number as form fields. Say whether you'll consider new graduates awaiting results. |
| PT Compact privilege | The PT Compact lets licensed PTAs from member states work in other member states with a compact privilege. If your state participates, say so — it opens the pool to relocating clinicians. |
| Experience | "2+ years in SNF" removes every new graduate in a field that graduates too few. If a PT can mentor, say "new grads welcome" and describe the mentorship. |
| Setting-specific skills | Name them (e.g., vestibular, post-surgical ortho, dementia care) as preferred, not required; PTAs learn settings quickly and the license covers the scope. |
| Caseload and productivity | Not a requirement, but the reason PTAs leave. State the caseload or productivity expectation honestly; a posting that omits it is assumed to be hiding a bad one. |
| Physical requirements | Lifting, transferring, standing and moving patients. Include them; they're expected and legally useful. |
| Driver's license and vehicle | Required for home health only. State the visit territory and mileage reimbursement rate. |
| Résumé, references, license upload | Not needed to start a conversation with a licensed clinician. Collect after the phone screen. |
How to customize it for your setting
Outpatient orthopedic and sports clinics
Slot length, one-on-one vs. overlapping patients, Saturday hours, and continuing education support. Outpatient pays below the median and competes on schedule and clinic culture.
Skilled nursing and senior living
Productivity expectations in minutes or percent, census, and whether therapy is in-house or contracted. SNF pays above the median and loses PTAs over productivity pressure; honesty here is the retention strategy. See senior living staffing.
Home health
Per-visit rate, territory, visits per week, documentation system and mileage. Autonomy and pay are the draws; drive time is the objection — state the territory radius.
Acute care and inpatient rehab
Shift pattern, weekend rotation, patient population, and the supervising PT model. The wider healthcare cost picture, including why therapy roles run 8x the cost of caregiver roles, is on our healthcare recruiting page.
What it costs to reach physical therapist assistants on social
Therapy campaigns (PT, OT and SLP roles, which include PTAs and COTAs) ran a median of $74.62 per applicant across 39 campaign-months in our 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark — the most expensive role family in the study — with the middle half between $44.85 and $171.40, a blended figure of $64.12, and only 5% of clickers finishing the application. The healthcare and senior living sector as a whole ran $15.42 with 16% completion, so therapy roles sit roughly five times the sector median.
The reason isn't attention; therapy ads reach clinicians in the feed at ordinary costs. It's completion. A licensed PTA who taps an ad and meets a résumé upload, a license upload and a portal account leaves; the same clinician who meets three questions — license state, setting experience, availability — applies. Employers that fix the form move from the top of that band toward the bottom, and the alternative, agency placement, costs a multiple of even the top figure. See therapy staffing costs for the agency math.
Writing the ad version
The ad is not the job description. It answers setting, caseload, schedule and pay in the first two lines: "PTAs — $34–$40/hr, outpatient ortho, 45-minute one-on-one slots, no weekends, $5K sign-on, $1,500 CEU. [Clinic], [City]. Apply in 60 seconds." Knockout questions: license state, setting experience (multiple choice), full-time or PRN, start date. No résumé, no license upload.
A 15-second video of the gym or the clinic with a PTA explaining the caseload beats any stock photo of a resistance band. Therapists talk to each other about productivity, and an honest number gets shared.
Frequently asked questions
What are the duties and responsibilities of a physical therapist assistant?
Delivering the treatment in a physical therapist's plan of care — therapeutic exercise, gait and balance training, transfers, manual therapy and modalities; instructing patients and teaching body mechanics and home programs; monitoring response to treatment and reporting changes to the supervising PT; documenting each session; and transferring and positioning patients safely.
What is the difference between a physical therapist and a physical therapist assistant?
A physical therapist holds a doctoral degree (DPT), evaluates patients, establishes and modifies the plan of care, and supervises PTAs. A physical therapist assistant holds an associate degree from a CAPTE-accredited program, passes the NPTE-PTA, and delivers treatment under the PT's direction and supervision. PTAs cannot evaluate or change the plan of care; how closely the PT must supervise varies by state and payer.
What qualifications does a physical therapist assistant need?
An associate degree from a CAPTE-accredited PTA program, a passing score on the National Physical Therapy Exam for PTAs (NPTE-PTA), and a license from the state board — required in all 50 states. BLS/CPR certification is standard; home health roles also require a driver's license and vehicle.
How much do physical therapist assistants make?
The 2025 national median was $32.88 an hour, or $68,380 a year, per O*NET/BLS. Home health and skilled nursing roles typically pay above the median; outpatient clinics below it. Sign-on bonuses and continuing education stipends are common.
What should a physical therapist assistant job description template include?
The setting and patient population, caseload or productivity expectation, schedule and weekend policy, the supervising PT model, pay range (hourly or per visit) with sign-on bonus and mileage, EMR system, license requirements and whether new graduates are considered, physical requirements, and benefits including continuing education support. Setting, caseload and pay belong in the first two lines.
Pay, employment and outlook figures: O*NET OnLine (Physical Therapist Assistants, 31-2021), 2025 wage data, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–34 projections. Licensure per state physical therapy boards, the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (NPTE) and the PT Compact. Cost-per-applicant figures: Boostpoint 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark (therapy PT/OT/SLP role family, 39 campaign-months; healthcare and senior living sector). Last updated August 2026.