Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians Career, Salary and Skills
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $265,930 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 342,720. Wage data is published for 384 locations.
Occupation description
Diagnose and treat disorders requiring physiotherapy to provide physical, mental, and occupational rehabilitation.
O*NET code
29-1229.04
Job zone
5
Typical education
Doctoral Degree
Experience
Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years
National salary and employment
Median annual
$265,930
Hourly median
$127.85
Employment
342,720
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
$69,170
10th
$102,930
25th
$265,930
Median
$378,770
75th
$452,360
90th
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Critical Thinking | 4.12 | 4.75 |
| Social Perceptiveness | 4.00 | 4.62 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 4.00 | 4.25 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 4.00 | 4.25 |
| Reading Comprehension | 4.00 | 5.00 |
| Active Listening | 4.00 | 4.75 |
| Speaking | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Coordination | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Monitoring | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Writing | 3.88 | 4.00 |
Typical tasks
- Document examination results, treatment plans, and patients' outcomes.
- Examine patients to assess mobility, strength, communication, or cognition.
- Develop comprehensive plans for immediate and long-term rehabilitation, including therapeutic exercise, speech and occupational therapy, counseling, cognitive retraining, patient, family or caregiver education, or community reintegration.
- Assess characteristics of patients' pain, such as intensity, location, or duration, using standardized clinical measures.
- Monitor effectiveness of pain management interventions, such as medication or spinal injections.
- Provide inpatient or outpatient medical management of neuromuscular disorders, musculoskeletal trauma, acute and chronic pain, deformity or amputation, cardiac or pulmonary disease, or other disabling conditions.
- Consult or coordinate with other rehabilitative professionals, including physical and occupational therapists, rehabilitation nurses, speech pathologists, neuropsychologists, behavioral psychologists, social workers, or medical technicians.
- Prescribe orthotic and prosthetic applications and adaptive equipment, such as wheelchairs, bracing, or communication devices, to maximize patient function and self-sufficiency.
Technology
- Allscripts PM
- athenahealth athenaCollector
- Automatic Data Processing AdvancedMD EHR
- Benchmark Systems Benchmark Clinical EHR
- Biodex Medical Systems Biodex Concussion Manager
- Bizmatics PrognoCIS EMR
- CareCloud Central
- Cerner PowerWorks Practice Management
- eClinicalWorks EHR software
- Email software
- Epic Practice Management
- GalacTek ECLIPSE
- GE Healthcare Centricity Practice Solution
- Greenway Medical Technologies PrimeSUITE
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians Salary in TXMedian $269,800 · Employment 30,720
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians Salary in CAMedian $281,590 · Employment 25,530
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians Salary in PAMedian $217,310 · Employment 23,800
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians Salary in FLMedian $262,180 · Employment 23,390
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians Salary in OHMedian $297,440 · Employment 21,160
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians Salary in ILMedian $132,540 · Employment 20,790
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians Salary in New York, NYMedian $265,930 · Employment 17,210
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians Salary in Chicago, ILMedian $94,820 · Employment 16,950
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians Salary in NYMedian $242,500 · Employment 16,600
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians Salary in NCMedian $260,330 · Employment 14,080
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians Salary in Dallas, TXMedian $222,410 · Employment 13,580
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians Salary in MIMedian $155,480 · Employment 13,150
Related careers
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- PsychiatristsNational median $281,870
- Advanced Practice Psychiatric NursesNational median $97,550
- Physician AssistantsNational median $135,880
- Ophthalmologists, Except PediatricNational median $300,080
- Pediatricians, GeneralNational median $210,040
- Family Medicine PhysiciansNational median $244,180
- ChiropractorsNational median $79,200
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.