Occupational Therapy Aides

Low pay & lowrisk
Low Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (4)

Lower estimated automation risk

Recreational Therapists
4% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Pays better More jobs
24.4 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Builds on therapeutic activities, patient engagement, functional goals, and rehabilitation settings with education.

Occupational Therapy Assistants
20% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better Higher growth
8.6 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Direct advancement path using OT treatment support, patient setup, documentation, and activity-based care.

Physical Therapist Assistants
18% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Pays better Higher growth
10.2 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Builds on rehabilitation support and patient mobility work with a formal therapy-assistant credential.

Personal Care Aides
21% automation risk | Low Risk
Higher growth More jobs
7.3 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Reuses assistance with daily activities, patient communication, mobility support, and home safety awareness.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
3.8/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

29% (Low Risk)

Low Risk (21-40%): This occupation has a lower risk of full replacement by AI, software, or robotic systems. Some tasks may be automated or assisted, but the role usually still relies on human judgement, communication, responsibility, physical adaptability, or practical decision-making.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Assisting and caring for others

Very important
Why this matters
Provide hands-on help, emotional support, or personal care to people—work that depends on empathy, trust, and responding to individual needs in the moment.
Jobs that also use this strength

Working directly with the public

Very important
Why this matters
The job involves face-to-face interaction with customers, clients, or guests—answering questions, handling requests, and managing service situations in real time. Roles with frequent public interaction are harder to replace end-to-end because they rely on trust, communication, and adapting to unpredictable human needs.
Jobs that also use this strength

Thinking creatively

Quite important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
Jobs that also use this strength

Decision-making and problem solving

Quite important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
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Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
Jobs that also use this strength
Show 4 more strengths

Coaching and developing others

Quite important
Why this matters
Helps people learn and improve through coaching, mentoring, and feedback. This relies on trust, motivation, and adapting guidance to each person—work that’s hard to replace end-to-end with automation.
Jobs that also use this strength

Developing objectives and strategies

Quite important
Why this matters
Sets long-term goals and chooses strategies and actions to reach them, weighing tradeoffs and adapting plans as conditions change.
Jobs that also use this strength

Psychology knowledge

Quite important
Why this matters
Understanding human behavior, motivation, and individual differences to assess needs, respond appropriately, and support behavior change or mental health.
Jobs that also use this strength

Active learning

Quite important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 14 votes

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Occupational Therapy Aides will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Occupational Therapy Aides was $37,370 ($18 per hour).

The median annual wage for Occupational Therapy Aides was 24.5% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Moderate growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Occupational Therapy Aides' job openings is expected to rise 2.5% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 5,000 people employed as 'Occupational Therapy Aides' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 30 thousand people are employed as 'Occupational Therapy Aides'.

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What people are saying (1)

Andres Tobar (Uncertain)
08 Jan 2025 15:04
The technical and support work can be covered with AI models that simulate coaching functions.
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Job description

Under close supervision of an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant, perform only delegated, selected, or routine tasks in specific situations. These duties include preparing patient and treatment room.

O*NET-SOC code: 31-2012.00