Home / Research / How many physical therapists are there in the US? 291,006
How many physical therapists are there in the US? 291,006
ProfessionLens, 2026-10-22
There are 291,006 physical therapists in the United States with an active NPI on the CMS NPPES file of September 2026. Another 62,818 people are registered as physical therapy assistants.
We counted every individual record that holds a physical therapist taxonomy code in any of its 15 slots and whose NPI has not been deactivated. An NPI never expires, so some of these people have retired or moved out of clinical work. Read the count as the number of people registered to bill as a physical therapist.
Who they are
| Physical therapists | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 291,006 | 100.0% |
| Sex code F | 190,727 | 65.5% |
| Sex code M | 99,310 | 34.1% |
| Flagged as sole proprietor | 64,140 | 22.0% |
| Primary taxonomy is physical therapy | 289,264 | 99.4% |
One in five physical therapists is flagged as a sole proprietor. On the same file the share is 21.1% for physicians and 38.7% for dentists.
By state
New York has 24,217 physical therapists, almost as many as California (25,786) with half the population. Per resident, the small northern states lead: Vermont has 142.5 per 100,000 residents and North Dakota 140.6. Texas has 55.1, the lowest of any state, and the national figure is 85.3.
| State | Physical therapists | Per 100,000 residents |
|---|---|---|
| California | 25,786 | 65.4 |
| New York | 24,217 | 121.9 |
| Texas | 17,233 | 55.1 |
| Florida | 16,018 | 68.5 |
| Pennsylvania | 13,945 | 106.6 |
| Illinois | 12,913 | 101.6 |
| New Jersey | 10,635 | 111.9 |
| Michigan | 10,267 | 101.2 |
| North Carolina | 9,541 | 86.4 |
| Ohio | 8,357 | 70.3 |
| Highest per 100,000 | Lowest per 100,000 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont | 142.5 | Texas | 55.1 |
| North Dakota | 140.6 | Alabama | 60.4 |
| Montana | 136.3 | Mississippi | 60.6 |
| Maine | 129.2 | Louisiana | 60.9 |
| New Hampshire | 127.3 | Oklahoma | 61.6 |
All 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico are in physical_therapists_by_state.csv.
New physical therapists by year
The NPI became mandatory in 2007, so 2006 and 2007 hold most of the people who were already working. Since 2018 the register has added between 12,250 and 14,349 physical therapists a year.
| NPI issued | Physical therapists | Physical therapy assistants |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 10,387 | 3,226 |
| 2016 | 10,863 | 2,881 |
| 2017 | 11,267 | 2,671 |
| 2018 | 14,349 | 4,166 |
| 2019 | 12,752 | 3,607 |
| 2020 | 12,250 | 2,423 |
| 2021 | 12,889 | 3,807 |
| 2022 | 12,267 | 3,203 |
| 2023 | 12,658 | 3,214 |
| 2024 | 12,613 | 2,845 |
| 2025 | 12,884 | 3,064 |
| 2026 to mid September | 10,189 | 2,229 |
These are records still active today, so earlier years lose the people who have since deactivated their NPI.
Specializations
271,022 physical therapists hold the general code. The largest specialty codes are orthopedic (14,081), pediatrics (8,090), geriatrics (2,905), sports (2,292) and neurology (1,701). A specialty code is self-reported on the NPI record and is not a board certification.
Method
Source: ProfessionLens, October 2026. CMS NPPES full replacement file, September 2026; NUCC taxonomy code set 26.1; US Census Bureau state population estimates, 1 July 2024. Individuals only, deactivated NPIs dropped unless reactivated, state from the practice location address. The script and the files are in the dataset folder.
Data
- new_npis_by_year.csv
- physical_therapists_by_state.csv
- specializations.csv
- README.md
- METHOD.md
- facts.json
Cite this
ProfessionLens, How many physical therapists are there in the US? 291,006, 2026-10-22, https://professionlens.com/research/how-many-physical-therapists-are-there-in-the-us.