Recreational Therapists
Also called: Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS), Recreation Therapist, Recreational Therapist, Rehabilitation TherapistPlan, direct, or coordinate medically-approved recreation programs for patients in hospitals, nursing homes, or other institutions. Activities include sports, trips, dramatics, social activities, and crafts. May assess a patient condition and recommend appropriate recreational activity.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 7 of its 11 tasks, yet jobs are projected to grow 4.8% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 0.3% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 5.0 hires for every 10 job openings in health care and social assistance, which employs about 75% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.5.0 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $57,360 | $49,670 to $66,660 | 160 |
| Arizona | $62,610 | $55,820 to $82,490 | 170 |
| Arkansas | $42,670 | $31,140 to $49,560 | 70 |
| California | $98,170 | $79,820 to $107,830 | 1,920 |
| Colorado | $66,580 | $55,010 to $78,420 | 200 |
| Connecticut | $63,240 | $51,190 to $81,330 | 380 |
| Delaware | $51,110 | $44,190 to $60,710 | 70 |
| District of Columbia | $95,640 | $60,600 to $109,970 | 50 |
| Florida | $57,980 | $47,480 to $66,480 | 640 |
| Georgia | $52,010 | $47,340 to $64,360 | 530 |
| Hawaii | $64,500 | $57,200 to $85,360 | 40 |
| Idaho | $49,720 | $47,290 to $60,510 | 90 |
| Illinois | $54,910 | $49,700 to $65,120 | 440 |
| Indiana | $53,770 | $45,560 to $63,450 | 190 |
| Iowa | $56,140 | $50,910 to $64,290 | 230 |
| Kansas | $40,010 | $34,880 to $50,370 | 710 |
| Kentucky | $59,240 | $49,280 to $64,150 | 100 |
| Louisiana | $51,150 | $43,150 to $61,590 | 190 |
| Maine | $57,560 | $50,530 to $75,650 | 40 |
| Maryland | $64,300 | $45,420 to $77,600 | 290 |
| Massachusetts | $62,820 | $53,260 to $72,760 | 210 |
| Michigan | $61,700 | $51,180 to $72,010 | 590 |
| Minnesota | $76,360 | $65,160 to $84,200 | 250 |
| Mississippi | $39,560 | $34,800 to $53,170 | 140 |
| Missouri | $58,620 | $49,660 to $67,280 | 140 |
| Montana | $51,110 | $47,740 to $62,900 | 40 |
| Nebraska | $62,980 | $47,430 to $72,650 | 150 |
| Nevada | $78,730 | $56,640 to $82,100 | 400 |
| New Hampshire | $82,280 | $67,290 to $86,530 | 70 |
| New Jersey | $60,400 | $55,890 to $75,180 | 430 |
| New Mexico | $49,210 | $43,790 to $68,320 | 100 |
| New York | $65,520 | $57,980 to $78,180 | 1,230 |
| North Carolina | $51,030 | $45,950 to $63,860 | 440 |
| North Dakota | $58,370 | $48,530 to $63,010 | 80 |
| Ohio | $60,770 | $50,110 to $72,840 | 310 |
| Oklahoma | $50,480 | $41,490 to $62,310 | 120 |
| Oregon | $66,530 | $62,770 to $70,320 | 250 |
| Pennsylvania | $58,940 | $47,820 to $65,870 | 720 |
| Puerto Rico | $28,140 | $27,630 to $54,080 | 80 |
| South Carolina | $48,880 | $42,060 to $60,980 | 190 |
| South Dakota | $46,850 | $42,130 to $60,000 | 40 |
| Tennessee | $51,910 | $48,090 to $61,220 | 150 |
| Texas | $62,490 | $47,550 to $99,260 | 800 |
| Utah | $56,640 | $48,510 to $67,210 | 210 |
| Vermont | $63,380 | $57,660 to $68,790 | 40 |
| Virginia | $61,270 | $55,520 to $78,170 | 570 |
| Washington | $77,860 | $65,940 to $92,930 | 240 |
| West Virginia | $49,010 | $42,460 to $62,420 | 130 |
| Wisconsin | $59,350 | $52,470 to $70,370 | 350 |
Nationally: $61,960. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 7 of its 11 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Not much | Instruct patient in activities and techniques, such as sports, dance, music, art, or relaxation techniques, designed to meet their specific physical or psychological needs. | Not published |
| AI + software | Develop treatment plan to meet needs of patient, based on needs assessment, patient interests, and objectives of therapy. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Counsel and encourage patients to develop leisure activities. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Observe, analyze, and record patients' participation, reactions, and progress during treatment sessions, modifying treatment programs as needed. | Not published |
| AI + software | Obtain information from medical records, medical staff, family members and the patients, themselves, to assess patients' capabilities, needs and interests. | Not published |
| AI + software | Confer with members of treatment team to plan and evaluate therapy programs. | Not published |
See all 11 tasks
| Not much | Encourage clients with special needs and circumstances to acquire new skills and get involved in health-promoting leisure activities, such as sports, games, arts and crafts, and gardening. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Plan, organize, direct, and participate in treatment programs and activities to facilitate patients' rehabilitation, help them integrate into the community, and prevent further medical problems. | Not published |
| AI alone | Conduct therapy sessions to improve patients' mental and physical well-being. | Not published |
| AI + software | Prepare and submit reports and charts to treatment team to reflect patients' reactions and evidence of progress or regression. | Not published |
| AI + software | Develop discharge plans for patients. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 3 of the 11 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 11 tasks fall under 10 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #46 Provide support or encouragement to others
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Develop patient or client care or treatment plans | |||
| Confer with healthcare or other professionals about patient care | |||
| Provide support or encouragement to others | |||
| Advise patients or clients on medical issues | |||
| Monitor health conditions of humans or animals | |||
| Collect information about patients or clients | |||
| Prepare health or medical documents | |||
| Administer therapeutic treatments |
Show all 10 activities
| Train others on health or medical topics | |||
| Maintain health or medical records |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- Advice or a recommendation28%
- An email or message18%
- A document or report9%
- A plan or strategy9%
- An analysis or summary5%
How they worked with Claude
11% of these conversations were about work. Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026.
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for recreational therapists specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved next
of 18,243 moves out
- 1 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 7%
- 2 Mental Health Counselors 5%
- 3 Registered Nurses High +5.6% 4%
- 4 Medical and Health Services Managers High +24.2% 4%
- 5 Management Analysts Very high +10.1% 3%
Where people moved in from
of 15,386 moves in
- 1 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 6%
- 2 Mental Health Counselors 5%
- 3 Office Clerks, General Very high -6.0% 4%
- 4 Recreation Workers Moderate +4.3% 4%
- 5 Self-Enrichment Teachers High +3.5% 3%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
O*NET survey of workers in this occupation
- 92% bachelor's
- 5% post-bachelor's certificate
- 3% master's
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 37 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 2% less than high school
- 13% high school
- 10% some college
- 5% associate's
- 52% bachelor's
- 18% master's
- 1% professional degree
Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation · 162 people surveyed.
Why the two can differ
O*NET asks about 20 people in each occupation, which makes its shares uncertain, but it reports the exact occupation and counts certificates. The Census survey reaches thousands, but it groups some occupations together and counts degrees only. More in the Guide
1 program: Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy.
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
72.0% this occupation
45.3% all occupations
| By kind | This occupation | All occupations |
|---|---|---|
| a license | 23.6% | 19.1% |
| a certification | 47.2% | 5.8% |
| an educational certificate | not published |
Share of jobs whose employer requires it. BLS doesn't say which credential. How to read this
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeship Finder ↗ DOL lists 1 registered apprenticeship in this occupation (Therapeutic Riding Instructor). Apprenticeship.gov can't be linked to one occupation, so search for “Recreational Therapists” there.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
See it online, and explore any career: https://www.pathmosaic.com/card/29-1125.00