Occupational Therapy Assistants
Also called: Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant (COTA), Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA), Licensed Occupational Therapy Assistant (LOTA), Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA)Assist occupational therapists in providing occupational therapy treatments and procedures. May, in accordance with state laws, assist in development of treatment plans, carry out routine functions, direct activity programs, and document the progress of treatments. Generally requires formal training.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 7 of its 22 tasks, and jobs are projected to grow 21.5% 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, 3.3% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Occupational therapy assistants and aides”
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 5.0 hires for every 10 job openings in health care and social assistance, which employs about 92% 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 | $62,250 | $55,850 to $68,010 | 750 |
| Alaska | $53,530 | $37,670 to $71,360 | 60 |
| Arizona | $73,490 | $63,750 to $79,240 | 1,120 |
| Arkansas | $78,940 | $65,760 to $85,020 | 730 |
| California | $81,770 | $76,350 to $96,720 | 3,840 |
| Colorado | $75,340 | $65,320 to $84,860 | 710 |
| Connecticut | $72,780 | $62,760 to $77,050 | 820 |
| Delaware | $78,640 | $67,950 to $82,010 | 220 |
| District of Columbia | $66,390 | $66,390 to $81,670 | 60 |
| Florida | $71,630 | $63,180 to $75,320 | 3,910 |
| Georgia | $75,920 | $63,050 to $79,010 | 1,060 |
| Hawaii | $72,710 | $65,660 to $76,750 | 60 |
| Idaho | $65,330 | $63,070 to $73,280 | 210 |
| Illinois | $64,120 | $59,460 to $73,850 | 2,470 |
| Indiana | $66,660 | $58,560 to $76,580 | 1,490 |
| Iowa | $64,140 | $52,990 to $74,660 | 400 |
| Kansas | $65,010 | $61,370 to $73,750 | 660 |
| Kentucky | $65,230 | $59,880 to $71,840 | 500 |
| Louisiana | $66,090 | $60,620 to $77,820 | 760 |
| Maine | $64,270 | $60,430 to $75,520 | 250 |
| Maryland | $82,010 | $72,590 to $88,710 | 710 |
| Massachusetts | $75,040 | $58,870 to $79,510 | 1,410 |
| Michigan | $63,260 | $59,500 to $70,590 | 1,250 |
| Minnesota | $64,920 | $61,270 to $72,820 | 540 |
| Mississippi | $61,650 | $56,740 to $72,280 | 420 |
| Missouri | $66,070 | $59,560 to $73,790 | 1,470 |
| Montana | $72,800 | $63,750 to $81,670 | 60 |
| Nebraska | $63,180 | $50,250 to $72,550 | 210 |
| Nevada | $79,510 | $73,580 to $81,160 | 220 |
| New Hampshire | $67,790 | $62,030 to $77,050 | 150 |
| New Jersey | $74,960 | $74,930 to $79,930 | 1,080 |
| New Mexico | $77,020 | $58,870 to $82,160 | 300 |
| New York | $68,530 | $57,250 to $77,730 | 2,230 |
| North Carolina | $69,390 | $62,110 to $76,420 | 1,590 |
| North Dakota | $60,970 | $49,290 to $63,170 | 130 |
| Ohio | $62,700 | $58,920 to $73,930 | 3,890 |
| Oklahoma | $66,520 | $59,930 to $75,590 | 1,000 |
| Oregon | $76,850 | $71,490 to $80,880 | 250 |
| Pennsylvania | $71,590 | $61,240 to $74,960 | 2,560 |
| Rhode Island | $66,710 | $61,110 to $72,980 | 300 |
| South Carolina | $73,740 | $63,170 to $77,660 | 830 |
| South Dakota | $56,180 | $48,470 to $59,670 | 100 |
| Tennessee | $62,420 | $58,470 to $74,000 | 1,300 |
| Texas | $81,500 | $75,250 to $89,780 | 5,610 |
| Utah | $66,080 | $59,740 to $73,540 | 280 |
| Virginia | $74,960 | $63,090 to $79,500 | 1,130 |
| Washington | $77,590 | $70,970 to $81,890 | 720 |
| West Virginia | $60,370 | $55,690 to $67,810 | 340 |
| Wisconsin | $59,960 | $47,960 to $65,740 | 1,050 |
| Wyoming | $62,750 | $57,980 to $70,850 | 80 |
Nationally: $72,300. 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 22 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Not much | Instruct, or assist in instructing, patients and families in home programs, basic living skills, or the care and use of adaptive equipment. | Not published |
| Not much | Maintain and promote a positive attitude toward clients and their treatment programs. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Report to supervisors, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, and behavior. | Not published |
| Not much | Implement, or assist occupational therapists with implementing, treatment plans designed to help clients function independently. | Not published |
| Not much | Monitor patients' performance in therapy activities, providing encouragement. | Not published |
| AI + software | Observe and record patients' progress, attitudes, and behavior and maintain this information in client records. | under 0.01% |
See all 22 tasks
| AI alone | Select therapy activities to fit patients' needs and capabilities. | Not published |
| Not much | Attend continuing education classes. | Not published |
| Not much | Aid patients in dressing and grooming themselves. | Not published |
| AI + software | Communicate and collaborate with other healthcare professionals involved with the care of a patient. | Not published |
| AI alone | Alter treatment programs to obtain better results if treatment is not having the intended effect. | Not published |
| Not much | Assemble, clean, or maintain equipment or materials for patient use. | Not published |
| Not much | Work under the direction of occupational therapists to plan, implement, or administer educational, vocational, or recreational programs that restore or enhance performance in individuals with functional impairments. | Not published |
| Not much | Demonstrate therapy techniques, such as manual or creative arts or games. | Not published |
| Not much | Teach patients how to deal constructively with their emotions. | Not published |
| Not much | Transport patients to and from the occupational therapy work area. | Not published |
| Not much | Design, fabricate, or repair assistive devices or make adaptive changes to equipment or environments. | Not published |
| Not much | Evaluate the daily living skills or capacities of clients with physical, developmental, or mental health disabilities. | Not published |
| AI + software | Attend care plan meetings to review patient progress and update care plans. | Not published |
| Not much | Order any needed educational or treatment supplies. | Not published |
| AI alone | Perform clerical duties, such as scheduling appointments, collecting data, or documenting health insurance billings. | Not published |
| Not much | Assist educational specialists or clinical psychologists in administering situational or diagnostic tests to measure client's abilities or progress. | 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. 2 of the 22 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 22 tasks fall under 21 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.
- #4 Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
- #30 Perform administrative or clerical activities
- #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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confer with healthcare or other professionals about patient care | |||
| Provide support or encouragement to others | |||
| Teach life skills | |||
| Monitor health conditions of humans or animals | |||
| Develop patient or client care or treatment plans | |||
| Administer therapeutic treatments | |||
| Train others on health or medical topics | |||
| Administer diagnostic tests to assess patient health |
Show all 21 activities
| Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise | |||
| Perform administrative or clerical activities | |||
| Execute financial transactions | |||
| Schedule appointments | |||
| Prepare health or medical documents | |||
| Monitor resources or inventories | |||
| Assist individuals with special needs | |||
| Maintain health or medical records | |||
| Prepare medical equipment or work areas for use | |||
| Maintain medical equipment or instruments | |||
| Clean medical equipment or facilities | |||
| Transport patients or clients | |||
| Fabricate medical devices |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- Advice or a recommendation18%
- A plan or strategy13%
- An analysis or summary11%
- A chart or visualization7%
- A document or report6%
How they worked with Claude
21% 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 occupational therapy assistants 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 14,563 moves out
- 1 Medical and Health Services Managers High +24.2% 8%
- 2 Mental Health Counselors 6%
- 3 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 6%
- 4 Marriage and Family Therapists High +13.5% 5%
- 5 Registered Nurses High +5.6% 4%
Where people moved in from
of 16,077 moves in
- 1 Mental Health Counselors 8%
- 2 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 5%
- 3 Medical and Health Services Managers High +24.2% 5%
- 4 Marriage and Family Therapists High +13.5% 4%
- 5 Office Clerks, General Very high -6.0% 4%
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
- 5% some college
- 92% associate's
- 3% bachelor's
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 17 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 2% less than high school
- 4% high school
- 11% some college
- 51% associate's
- 24% bachelor's
- 6% master's
- 2% professional degree
Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Occupational therapy assistants and aides” · 466 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
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Occupational therapy assistants and aides”
1 program: Occupational Therapist Assistant.
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
>95% this occupation
45.3% all occupations
| By kind | This occupation | All occupations |
|---|---|---|
| a license | not published | |
| a certification | not published | |
| 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 (Occupational Therapy Assistant (NOF)). Apprenticeship.gov can't be linked to one occupation, so search for “Occupational Therapy Assistants” 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/31-2011.00