Best Physical Therapist programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Assess, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitative programs that improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, and improve or correct disabling conditions resulting from disease or.
17 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,647 people a year. The job pays a median of $124,190 in California across about 26,580 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physical Therapy/Therapistmain feeder CIP 51.2308In California → | 1,647 | 100.0% | 17 | $35,966 | $26,323 |
Top 17 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 17 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences San Marcos, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 797 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 133 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 3 | Western University of Health Sciences Pomona, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 98 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Chapman University Orange, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 76 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 82% | $42,965 | 65% |
| 5 | Loma Linda University Loma Linda, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 76 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | Azusa Pacific University Azusa, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 62 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 62% | $20,686 | 88% |
| 7 | San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 50 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 50% | — | 96% |
| 8 | University of California - San Francisco San Francisco, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 49 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | — | — | — |
| 9 | Samuel Merritt University Oakland, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 48 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 37 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 76% | — | 36% |
| 11 | West Coast University - Center for Graduate Studies Los Angeles, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 37 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | — | — | — |
| 12 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 35 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 69% | — | 46% |
| 13 | University of the Pacific Stockton, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 69% | $23,964 | 71% |
| 14 | California State University - Fresno Fresno, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 57% | — | 95% |
| 15 | California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 56% | — | 94% |
| 16 | California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 57% | — | 93% |
| 17 | Mount Saint Mary's University Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 53% | $25,892 | 73% |
All 17 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences | San Marcos | Private for-profit | 797 | 1 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 133 | 1 |
| Western University of Health Sciences | Pomona | Private not-for-profit | 98 | 1 |
| Chapman University | Orange | Private not-for-profit | 76 | 1 |
| Loma Linda University | Loma Linda | Private not-for-profit | 76 | 1 |
| Azusa Pacific University | Azusa | Private not-for-profit | 62 | 1 |
| San Francisco State University | San Francisco | Public | 50 | 1 |
| University of California - San Francisco | San Francisco | Public | 49 | 1 |
| Samuel Merritt University | Oakland | Private not-for-profit | 48 | 1 |
| San Diego State University | San Diego | Public | 37 | 1 |
| West Coast University - Center for Graduate Studies | Los Angeles | Private for-profit | 37 | 1 |
| California State University - Long Beach | Long Beach | Public | 35 | 1 |
| University of the Pacific | Stockton | Private not-for-profit | 34 | 1 |
| California State University - Fresno | Fresno | Public | 32 | 1 |
| California State University - Sacramento | Sacramento | Public | 32 | 1 |
What physical therapists earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $102,760. California pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Physical Therapists page.
How to become a Physical Therapist
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Physical Therapists2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.2308Physical Therapy/Therapist
- 51.2311Kinesiotherapy/Kinesiotherapist
Common questions
Answers for people weighing physical therapists programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Physical Therapist?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Physical Therapy/Therapist, which awarded 1,647 degrees in California in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Physical Therapist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. Together they graduate about 1,647 people a year in California.
How much do physical therapists earn in California?+
The median is $124,190 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 20.9% above the U.S. median of $102,760. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for physical therapists growing?+
BLS projects a +10.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 13,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
17 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do physical therapists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), Home Care Physical Therapist (Home Care PT), Inpatient Physical Therapist (Inpatient PT), Pediatric Physical Therapist (Pediatric PT) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-1123.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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