Occupational Therapy Assistants

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Low Risk
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Explore safer careers (4)

Lower estimated automation risk

Occupational Therapists
10% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Pays better More jobs
10.1 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Natural advancement using treatment plans, functional goals, patient assessment, adaptive activities, documentation, and care teamwork.

Recreational Therapists
4% automation risk | Minimal Risk
15.8 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Applies activity programs, functional goals, patient motivation, safety, observation, documentation, and care-team coordination.

Recreation Workers
9% automation risk | Minimal Risk
More jobs
10.9 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Fits assistants using activity planning, group facilitation, participant safety, adaptation, schedules, and engagement skills.

Rehabilitation Counselors
13% automation risk | Minimal Risk
More jobs
7.2 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses disability support, goal planning, client barriers, adaptive strategies, records, referrals, and progress follow-up.

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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
7.8/10
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

20% (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.
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Thinking creatively

Very 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

Psychology knowledge

Very important
Why this matters
Understanding human behavior, motivation, and individual differences to assess needs, respond appropriately, and support behavior change or mental health.
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Working directly with the public

Quite 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

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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Show 4 more strengths

Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
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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.
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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.
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Education and training expertise

Quite important
Why this matters
Designing and delivering instruction—adapting lessons to different learners and measuring whether training actually works.
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What users think

Based on 34 votes

16.9% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a minimal chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 20% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

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

View sentiment trend

Pay & outlook

Wages

Moderately paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Occupational Therapy Assistants was $68,340 ($33 per hour).

The median annual wage for Occupational Therapy Assistants was 38.1% higher 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

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Occupational Therapy Assistants' job openings is expected to rise 19.2% 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

Moderate range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 47,910 people employed as 'Occupational Therapy Assistants' within the United States.

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

Put another way, around 1 in 3 thousand people are employed as 'Occupational Therapy Assistants'.

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What people are saying (3)

RJ (Low)
30 Nov 2025 13:55
There are some legal liability issues connected to poorly provided therapy services.
R.A.J.,COTA
emmy (No chance)
07 Jun 2025 20:36
because robots can't understand humans the way humans understand humans
Rod (No chance)
19 Nov 2022 08:59
The therapeutic use of self is the backbone of this profession.
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Job description

Assist occupational therapists in providing occupational therapy treatments and procedures. May, in accordance with state laws, assist in development of treatment plans, carry out routine functions, direct activity programs, and document the progress of treatments. Generally requires formal training.

O*NET-SOC code: 31-2011.00