The three categories of state
High-pay / high-cost states
California, New York, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Alaska. Highest absolute pay but highest cost of living + state tax + travel PT competition. Often worse take-home than apparent.
Best value states
Texas, Tennessee, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, North Carolina. Strong pay with no state income tax or reasonable COL. Consistently the highest take-home for travel PTs.
Underserved / premium states
Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Alaska rural, West Virginia, rural Appalachia. Chronic undersupply. Contracts routinely pay $300-600 above national averages.
High-pay, high-cost states
California
Typical range: $2,300 – $3,200/week. Tops every pay chart in absolute terms. But California has 9-13% state income tax on the taxable portion, extreme housing costs (driving housing stipends up but also driving what housing actually costs you), and the highest travel PT applicant pool in the country. Net take-home often trails no-tax states by $200-400/week despite higher gross.
Where CA still wins: coastal markets with severe COL pressure (Bay Area, San Diego county, Santa Barbara). Housing stipends there can legitimately reach $2,200+/week, and if you have a genuinely affordable housing solution you come out ahead.
New York
Typical range: $2,200 – $3,000/week. NYC metro and Long Island drive the high end. State income tax up to 10.9%. NYC itself adds 3-4% city tax. Supply is deep. Upstate (Rochester, Buffalo, Albany) has better take-home dynamics but lower headline pay.
Hawaii
Typical range: $2,000 – $2,800/week. Lifestyle premium keeps supply artificially high — travelers accept lower effective pay to be in Hawaii. Cost of living eats most of the nominal advantage. 8-10% state tax.
Massachusetts
Typical range: $2,100 – $2,700/week. Boston metro and teaching hospitals drive the high end. 5% state tax. Supply is moderate — less applicant-dense than CA/NY. Reasonable take-home in state.
Alaska
Typical range: $2,300 – $3,200/week. Unique among high-pay states — no state income tax. Alaska consistently pays premiums because applicant pool is thin (climate, remoteness). Anchorage has more supply than rural; rural Alaska (Bethel, Fairbanks, Kodiak) pays crisis-rate premiums year-round.
Best value states (highest take-home)
Texas
Typical range: $2,000 – $2,700/week. No state income tax. Major metro diversity (Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio). Broad setting mix. TX consistently delivers top-5 take-home for travel PTs nationally, despite middle-of-pack headline pay.
Tennessee
Typical range: $1,900 – $2,500/week. No state income tax. Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville metros plus rural Tennessee. Low cost of living. Strong take-home.
Florida
Typical range: $1,900 – $2,500/week. No state income tax. Seasonal demand spikes November-April (snowbirds). Outpatient ortho in particular sees strong seasonal pay spikes.
Colorado
Typical range: $2,000 – $2,700/week. 4.4% state income tax (moderate). Desirable market = high applicant pool in Denver/Boulder. Rural Colorado (Durango, Grand Junction, San Luis Valley) pays significant premiums.
Arizona
Typical range: $1,900 – $2,500/week. 2.5% state income tax. Phoenix/Scottsdale metro has deep supply and moderate pay; Tucson and rural AZ pay premiums. Ski areas (Flagstaff) see seasonal spikes.
Utah
Typical range: $1,900 – $2,500/week. 4.85% state tax. Salt Lake metro, plus ski country (Park City, Moab) seasonal premiums. Outdoor lifestyle draws applicants, keeping metro pay moderate.
North Carolina
Typical range: $1,900 – $2,500/week. 4.5% state tax. Triangle and Charlotte metros. Strong outpatient and acute markets. Rural NC pays premiums; coastal areas see seasonal spikes.
Washington
Typical range: $2,000 – $2,700/week. No state income tax. Seattle metro has deep supply; rural Washington and Eastern WA (Spokane, Yakima) consistently undersupplied.
Underserved premium states
These are the states most travelers don't think about. They're where the biggest desperation premiums sit because local supply is chronically thin.
| State | Typical range | Premium situation |
|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | $2,100 – $2,900 | Low population, few PT programs. Chronic undersupply. |
| Montana | $2,000 – $2,700 | Rural medicine premium. Critical-access hospitals pay well. |
| North Dakota | $2,000 – $2,700 | No state income tax. Rural + energy-industry demand. |
| South Dakota | $1,900 – $2,500 | No state income tax. Low cost of living. |
| West Virginia | $1,900 – $2,500 | Rural appalachia shortage. Premium pay common. |
| Mississippi | $1,800 – $2,400 | Rural health shortage. Low COL keeps take-home strong. |
| Arkansas | $1,800 – $2,400 | Rural premiums. Lower cost of living. |
| Nebraska | $1,900 – $2,500 | Omaha/Lincoln moderate; rural Nebraska premiums. |
| Kansas | $1,900 – $2,500 | Rural Kansas premiums. Kansas City metro moderate. |
| Iowa | $1,900 – $2,500 | Rural premium pattern. Des Moines/Cedar Rapids moderate. |
The common thread: these states have fewer PT education programs, older-than-average populations driving PT demand, and chronic undersupply of travelers. A PT who's willing to work in Wyoming can earn 15-25% more than the same PT in California, with a fraction of the tax and cost-of-living burden.
Moderate-pay states
Not underserved, not premium — just average supply and average demand. Pay tracks national averages without significant upside or downside.
Georgia, Virginia, Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, New Mexico, Nevada, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey.
Typical range for most of these: $1,800 – $2,400/week. Vary by metro vs rural and by setting, but without systematic supply-demand distortion.
Three things to remember
- Headline pay isn't take-home. A $3,000/week California contract with 12% state tax and high housing costs often nets less than a $2,400/week Tennessee contract.
- Rural premiums are real. The best-paying PT contracts are rarely in the states at the top of "best pay" charts. They're in underserved markets within middle-tier states.
- Seasonal demand matters. Florida elective ortho Nov-April. Colorado ski country Dec-March. Schools nationwide in August. Time your contract starts to demand peaks.