Best Physical Therapist programs in New York, 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.
22 schools in New York run programs that feed this job, graduating 913 people a year. The job pays a median of $100,660 in New York across about 20,940 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in New York that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in New York that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in New York (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 New York page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physical Therapy/Therapistmain feeder CIP 51.2308In New York → | 913 | 100.0% | 22 | $35,966 | $26,323 |
Top 22 schools in New York
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 22 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ithaca College Ithaca, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 109 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | $7,071 | 76% | $28,970 | 69% |
| 2 | Touro University New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 78 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 72% | $27,110 | 61% |
| 3 | Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 70 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 76% | — | 49% |
| 4 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 64 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 96% | $15,315 | 4% |
| 5 | Daemen University Amherst, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 61 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 59% | $16,826 | 68% |
| 6 | Utica University Utica, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 49 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | $39,478 | 56% | $20,237 | 92% |
| 7 | Nazareth University Rochester, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 48 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | $39,739 | 73% | $27,945 | 75% |
| 8 | New York University New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 44 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 88% | $29,023 | 9% |
| 9 | New York Medical College Valhalla, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 75% | — | 74% |
| 11 | Long Island University Brookville, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 39 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 57% | $24,639 | 86% |
| 12 | Upstate Medical University Syracuse, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 35 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | — | — | — |
| 13 | CUNY Hunter College New York, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 57% | — | 54% |
| 14 | Russell Sage College Troy, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 56% | $22,451 | 53% |
| 15 | New York Institute of Technology Old Westbury, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 59% | $22,158 | 81% |
| 16 | Marist University Poughkeepsie, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 80% | $33,867 | 57% |
| 17 | Mercy University Dobbs Ferry, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 46% | $17,604 | 86% |
| 18 | SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University Brooklyn, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | — | — | — |
| 19 | College of Staten Island CUNY Staten Island, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 34% | — | 92% |
| 20 | D'Youville University Buffalo, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | $50,473 | 67% | $18,846 | 81% |
| 21 | Dominican University New York Orangeburg, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 53% | $25,775 | 63% |
| 22 | Clarkson University Potsdam, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Physical Therapy/Therapist | — | 75% | $27,281 | 77% |
All 22 schools in New York
Every school in New York 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ithaca College | Ithaca | Private not-for-profit | 109 | 1 |
| Touro University | New York | Private not-for-profit | 78 | 1 |
| Stony Brook University | Stony Brook | Public | 70 | 1 |
| Columbia University in the City of New York | New York | Private not-for-profit | 64 | 1 |
| Daemen University | Amherst | Private not-for-profit | 61 | 1 |
| Utica University | Utica | Private not-for-profit | 49 | 1 |
| Nazareth University | Rochester | Private not-for-profit | 48 | 1 |
| New York University | New York | Private not-for-profit | 44 | 1 |
| New York Medical College | Valhalla | Private not-for-profit | 43 | 1 |
| University at Buffalo | Buffalo | Public | 43 | 1 |
| Long Island University | Brookville | Private not-for-profit | 39 | 1 |
| Upstate Medical University | Syracuse | Public | 35 | 1 |
| CUNY Hunter College | New York | Public | 33 | 1 |
| Russell Sage College | Troy | Private not-for-profit | 33 | 1 |
| New York Institute of Technology | Old Westbury | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 1 |
What physical therapists earn in New York
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $102,760. New York pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: New York employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in New York
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 New York
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 New York.
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 913 degrees in New York 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 913 people a year in New York.
How much do physical therapists earn in New York?+
The median is $100,660 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 2.0% below 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 New York?+
22 institutions in New York 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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