2019 Salary Workforce Survey methods

What's the Salary and Workforce Survey?

The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) represents the interests of the profession of occupational therapy and occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, educators, and students of occupational therapy. AOTA regularly conducts a national survey of salaries, benefits, demographics, and perceptions of the profession. This Executive Summary includes the results of the 2019 AOTA Salary and Workforce Survey, which asked questions about the 2018 calendar work year. With more than 15,500 responses, this is the most comprehensive data for workforce, salary, and benefits known to AOTA.

The 2019 Salary & Workforce Survey resulted in a static Executive Summary and customizable salary reports for AOTA members. The survey methods and reporting are informed by past experience conducting the salary and workforce study. The study was conducted in some form in 1997, 2000, 2006, 2010, and 2015.

How was data collected?

The survey was distributed via email to everyone who had opted in to receive AOTA communications (including members, former members, and nonmembers). Participants were offered a free Executive Summary as an incentive. Participants could also opt into a raffle. The winners were selected at random. An email address was required to request the Executive Summary and to enter the raffle.

Confidentiality rules were followed throughout data collection and analysis. Contact information to receive the Executive Summary or to enter the raffle was the only question that requested identifiable information. This contact information was maintained separately from the survey responses and was not used in any analyses of the data.

The survey was designed based on the 2015 Salary and Workforce Survey. The 2019 survey included key classifications and elements to promote comparison across years of data. Additional questions were added, and some areas were modified based on feedback and results from the analysis of the 2015 survey. Demographic questions were consistent across all surveys. Based on the answer to the primary work setting question, respondents were presented with questions specific to that setting.

With the exception of students, all respondents were presented with key questions based on compensation and workforce issues. Students provide key insight into the future workforce for occupational therapy, so they were presented with questions related to their view of the job market, future plans, degrees, and issues related to occupational therapy education.

Mean vs. median

The average (or mean) and the median are both used throughout the reports, based on the data being summarized. The mean is “a value that is computed by dividing the sum of a set of terms by the number of terms.”ⁱ The median is “a value in an ordered set of values below and above which there is an equal number of values or which is the arithmetic mean of the two middle values if there is no one middle number.”ⁱⁱ The median is less influenced by outliers or extreme values than is the mean. Therefore, the median is presented as the key summary value unless there was a compelling reason to prefer the mean.

Limitations

As with any survey, there are limitations to the data and factors that must be considered when interpreting the results. Recruitment was through a sample of convenience. Respondents could only complete the survey online. While this is the most comprehensive data available on the occupational therapy workforce and salary, the results should be used as just one factor to inform decision making and not considered fully generalizable to the population. Results are provided in aggregate and also by groups of interest. Use caution when interpreting data, especially for subgroups with fewer than 100 responses. For groups with fewer than 25 responses, the results should be considered anecdotal.

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary is available as a benefit to AOTA members and for those who participated in the survey, and for a fee to AOTA nonmembers. Some tables in the Executive Summary include results from the following prior surveys to facilitate interpretation and for comparison:

• 2015 AOTA Salary & Workforce Survey
• 2010 Occupational Therapy Compensation and Workforce Survey, Final Report
• 2006 Workforce Survey, Final Report
• 2000 Compensation Survey, Final Report
• 1997 Compensation Survey, Final Report

Customizable reports

The customizable reports are only available as an AOTA member benefit. These reports may be discontinued or modified at any time, are for information only, and carry no guarantees.

Survey respondents were able to enter either an hourly rate or an annual salary for their primary work setting. 57% of practitioners reported an hourly rate; 43% reported an annual salary. In an effort to maintain as much data as possible for custom reports, annual salaries and hourly rates were calculated for all occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants. (Data from faculty were handled differently.) If the respondent reported an annual salary, that number was used for calculated annual salary, and one of the following formulas was used to calculate their hourly rate based on whether they reported receiving paid time off from their primary employer:

• If they did receive paid time off, the reported salary was divided by the reported typical hours worked per week, and the result was divided by 52.
• If they did not receive paid time off, the result was divided by 49.

If the respondent reported an hourly rate, that number was used for the calculated hourly rate and one of the following formulas was used to calculate their annual salary based on whether they reported receiving paid time off from their primary employer:

• If they did receive paid time off, the reported hourly rate was multiplied by the reported typical hours worked per week, and the result was multiplied by 52.
• If they did not receive paid time off, the result was multiplied by 49. This method assumes that people receiving paid time off are paid for all 52 weeks in the year. And, it assumed that people who do not receive paid time off work 49 of 52 weeks on average.

The median for hourly and annual salaries are reported for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants. The median hours worked per week is also reported.

Only 4% of faculty entered an hourly rate. There was not sufficient data available to convert these 4% of responses into annual compensation with confidence. Therefore, the custom reports only include faculty who reported an annual salary.

The customizable reports also include a range of annual compensations to provide context for the other numbers reported. The 20th percentile is the lower number and the 80th percentile is the higher number.

Customizable reports include additional efforts to maintain the confidentiality of respondents. Separate limited data sets were created from the original data for each custom report. The reports only use calculated hourly and calculated annual compensation amounts to prevent differentiating someone who reported an hourly rate from someone who reported an annual amount. In addition, the reports only use the specific variables needed to generate the report.

ⁱ a value that is computed by dividing the sum of a set of terms by the number of terms - Merriam-Webster.com, s.v. "arithmetic mean."

ⁱⁱ a value in an ordered set of values below and above which there is an equal number of values or which is the arithmetic mean of the two middle values if there is no one middle number - - Merriam-Webster.com, s.v. "median."