Physical Therapy Assistant Pay in the Great Lakes Region

May 2020 data released recently by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported there being nearly 93,000 physical therapy (PT) assistants at work in the United States.  About 17,000 physical therapy assistants worked in the five-state Great Lakes region of the country. BLS data shows a good amount of pay disparity in the region for PT assistant pay.  The data indicates that about 60% of the region's PT assistants work in either Illinois or Ohio, two states where the average PT assistant annual mean wage exceeds the national average.  Indeed, Ohio was a top 10 state for PT assistant annual mean wages.  However, elsewhere in the region annual mean wages for PT assistants runs below the national average, particularly in Michigan and Wisconsin.  A deeper look at BLS data from May 2020 reveals the following about physical therapy assistant pay in the Great Lakes region of the U.S.:

Physical Therapy Assistant Pay in the Great Lakes Region

State	# Employed	Annual Mean Wages	Wage Rank*
IL	3,820	$60,580	14th
IN	2,090	$58,330	22nd
MI	3,100	$54,240	37th
OH	6.400	$61,440	10th
WI	1,620	$52,930	41st
U.S.	92,740	$59,440	-------

(*) annual mean wage ranking among the 50 states and the District of Columbia

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on May 29, 2021

Medicare Long Term Care Hospital Beds in the Southeastern U.S.

Long Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs) serve the needs of over 61 million Americans having Medicare Part A long term care coverage.  LTCHs provide hospital care to individuals with complicated health conditions that necessitate longer duration (in excess of 25 days on average) inpatient care.  As of calendar year 2019, LTCHs accounted for approximately 6% of all hospitals, and about 2.7% of all hospital beds, that were participating in the Medicare program.

In calendar year 2019, the twelve-state Southeastern region of the U.S. was home to 127 long term care hospitals, with over 7,000 beds, who were participating in the Medicare program.  This made the region home to 27.3% of the nation's Medicare Part A enrollees and 27.6% of the program's LTCH bed capacity nationally.   A deeper look into the data reveals the following about Medicare long term care hospital beds in the Southeastern U.S. region:

Medicare Long Term Care Hospital Beds in the Southeastern U.S.

Area	# Part A Enrollees		# Hospitals	# Beds
AL	1,040,502		9	358
AR	636,495		8	277
FL	4,550,450		23	1,651
GA	1,708,820		12	718
KY	917,181		8	630
LA	867,854		27	1,350
MS	601,243		9	380
NC	1,978,972		9	473
SC	1,070,242		6	308
TN	1,354,299		8	362
VA	1,504,299		6	492
WV	438,435		2	60
Region	16,668,792		127	7,059
National*	61,166,694		367	25,593
% of National	27.3%		34.6%	27.6%

* National totals include U.S. territories

Data Source:  CMS Program Statistics, Table: MDCR PROVIDERS 4. Medicare Providers:  Number of Medicare Certified Hospitals and Skilled Nursing Facilities, and Number of Beds, by State, Territories, Possessions and Other, Calendar Year 2019