Recreational Therapist Pay in the U.S. Mid-East

The most recent occupational employment data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that over 20,000 recreational therapists were employed in the United States as of May 2020.  Just under 3,500 of those recreational therapist jobs were in the five-state U.S. Mid-East region, which encompasses the District of Columbia and five states.  Relative to the rest of the country, BLS data shows the region to be one of much disparity for recreational therapist pay.  The District of Columbia and two states, which collectively hold about 55% of the region's recreational therapist jobs, all ranked among the top ten states in the country for recreational therapist annual mean wage levels.  However, the remaining 45% of region's employed recreational therapists lived in states where the annual mean wage level for recreational therapists was below the national average.  A closer examination of May 2020 BLS data details the following about recreational therapist pay in the U.S. Mid-East region:

Recreational Therapist Pay in the U.S. Mid-East

State	# Employed	Annual Mean Wages	Wage Rank*
DC	70	$78,630	1st
DE	110	$48,160	28th
MD	460	$46,610	33rd
NJ	400	$61,090	4th
NY	1,430	$58,010	6th
PA	990	$48,350	26th
U.S.	20,080	$51,260	-------

(*) 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