---
title: "Will AI Replace Physical Therapists? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates physical therapists' exposure to AI as high. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+11.9% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-physical-therapists"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Physical Therapists? (2026)

**Short answer:** Not replaced, but changed. BLS rates the exposure as high, so AI can help with a real share of the work, yet it still projects employment to grow faster than average.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places physical therapists in its high AI exposure category, above the middle of the pack: a substantial share of the work overlaps with what AI can do. BLS projects employment to change by +11.9% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 13,400 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | High | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 52/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +11.9% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 13,400 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $102,760 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low | 203 |
| Moderate | 194 |
| High (this job) | 190 |
| Very high | 199 |

Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm

## What holds up

- Assisting and caring for others: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Performing for or working directly with the public: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Face-to-face discussions: 4.8/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Performing general physical activities: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Documenting/recording information: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Processing information: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Getting information: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Evaluating information to determine compliance with standards: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Plan, prepare, or carry out individually designed programs of physical treatment to maintain, improve, or restore physical functioning, alleviate pain, or prevent physical dysfunction in patients.
- Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention.
- Record prognosis, treatment, response, and progress in patient's chart or enter information into computer.
- Instruct patient and family in treatment procedures to be continued at home.
- Evaluate effects of treatment at various stages and adjust treatments to achieve maximum benefit.
- Confer with the patient, medical practitioners, or appropriate others to plan, implement, or assess the intervention program.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than physical therapists

- [Physical Therapist Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/physical-therapist-assistant): BLS exposure Low, median $68,380; [Will AI replace physical therapist assistants?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-physical-therapist-assistants)
- [Physical Therapist Aide](https://nuecareer.com/careers/physical-therapist-aide): BLS exposure Low, median $35,240
- [Occupational Therapy Aide](https://nuecareer.com/careers/occupational-therapy-aide): BLS exposure Moderate, median $39,160
- [Recreational Therapist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/recreational-therapist): BLS exposure Moderate, median $61,960

## FAQ

**Will AI replace physical therapists?**

Not replaced, but changed. BLS rates the exposure as high, so AI can help with a real share of the work, yet it still projects employment to grow faster than average. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to change by +11.9% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 13,400 openings a year.

**How exposed are physical therapists to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Physical Therapists are in the high category, alongside 189 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk.

**What parts of a physical therapist's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are documenting/recording information, processing information and getting information. The parts that hold up best are assisting and caring for others, performing for or working directly with the public and face-to-face discussions. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being a physical therapist a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, physical therapists score 52 out of 100, higher than 66% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $102,760 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing.

**What careers similar to physical therapists are less exposed to AI?**

Physical Therapist Assistant (low exposure, $68,380 median), Physical Therapist Aide (low exposure, $35,240 median), Occupational Therapy Aide (moderate exposure, $39,160 median), Recreational Therapist (moderate exposure, $61,960 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than physical therapists, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/physical-therapist.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology