Therapist Salary publishes pay, school and license figures for physical, occupational, speech-language and respiratory therapy careers. This page explains where each number comes from, how the calculators are checked, and how we correct mistakes.
Sources we use
We use primary sources only: BLS OEWS wage estimates and the Occupational Outlook Handbook; O*NET OnLine (U.S. Department of Labor); exam bodies (FSBPT, NBCOT, ETS, NBRC) and certifying bodies (ASHA); accreditors and their published aggregate program data (CAPTE, ACOTE, CoARC); official interstate compact sites and state licensing boards; schools’ own published tuition and cost pages; the Federal Register and Federal Student Aid for loan rules and rates; and the IRS and Social Security Administration for tax rules. Salary aggregators, job boards, staffing ads and school marketing claims are never used as sources of fact.
How calculators are checked
Every calculator uses published rules: BLS percentiles as printed, IRS 2026 brackets and FICA, and the repayment terms written into 20 U.S.C. 1087e for federal loans made after July 1, 2026. Automated tests check the engine against answers worked out by hand (for example, a single filer at the BLS May 2025 national median for physical therapists, and the RAP payment at each $10,000 income band). Each tool states its assumptions so you can redo the arithmetic.
What we will not publish
- Affiliate links, paid school listings, staffing-agency referrals or lead forms.
- Salary figures from job boards, staffing ads or anonymous self-reports presented as fact.
- Average program costs, pass rates or license fees we cannot trace to the accreditor, exam body, school or board that publishes them.
Updates and corrections
Every page shows the date its content last changed, and each wage table names the BLS survey month (currently May 2025). BLS publishes new OEWS wage estimates each spring; the IRS sets tax brackets each fall; exam bodies, accreditors, compacts and state boards change fees and rules through the year. We refresh the data and re-run the tests when they do, and change page dates only when content changes. If a wage, fee, pass rate or loan rule looks wrong, tell us through the contact page with the source you are looking at; we check it against the publisher, fix confirmed errors and note material changes on the page.