Occupational Therapists Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $106K, rent takes 31.4% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $2,044/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $2,000/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new occupational therapists typically earn — is $82K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $4,941/month.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $106K locally vs. $100K nationally, a 5% difference.

Southwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area pays $106K median vs. the U.S. average of $100K — that’s +5%.

The median is $105,770 a year, that works out to about $51 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $82,350, and experienced occupational therapists can clear $126,560. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $6,512/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $2,044/month, which eats 31.4% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

Southwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area has a Regional Price Parity of 100 (100 is the national average). That's right at the national average. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median occupational therapists salary is worth about $105,770 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.