Best Physical Therapist programs in Illinois, 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.
8 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 359 people a year. The job pays a median of $105,250 in Illinois across about 9,800 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Illinois that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in Illinois that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Illinois (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 Illinois page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physical Therapy/Therapistmain feeder CIP 51.2308In Illinois → | 359 | 100.0% | 8 | $35,966 | $26,323 |
Top 8 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 8 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 96 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 95% | $14,799 | 8% |
| 2 | University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 58 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | $33,530 | 62% | — | 77% |
| 3 | Midwestern University - Downers Grove Downers Grove, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 49 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science North Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 45 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | North Central College Naperville, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 64% | $20,052 | 77% |
| 6 | Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 49% | — | 70% |
| 7 | Bradley University Peoria, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 76% | $21,768 | 77% |
| 8 | Governors State University University Park, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 22% | — | 48% |
All 8 schools in Illinois
Every school in Illinois 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern University | Evanston | Private not-for-profit | 96 | 1 |
| University of Illinois Chicago | Chicago | Public | 58 | 1 |
| Midwestern University - Downers Grove | Downers Grove | Private not-for-profit | 49 | 1 |
| Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science | North Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 45 | 1 |
| North Central College | Naperville | Private not-for-profit | 32 | 1 |
| Northern Illinois University | Dekalb | Public | 28 | 1 |
| Bradley University | Peoria | Private not-for-profit | 26 | 1 |
| Governors State University | University Park | Public | 25 | 1 |
What physical therapists earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $102,760. Illinois pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Illinois
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 Illinois
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 Illinois.
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 359 degrees in Illinois 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 359 people a year in Illinois.
How much do physical therapists earn in Illinois?+
The median is $105,250 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 2.4% 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 Illinois?+
8 institutions in Illinois 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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