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Healthcare

Occupational therapists

Typically requires Master's degree

What is this page & how do I use it?

This is a research report for one career — the kind an analyst would write for a stock. The rating at the top is the neutral baseline (same for everyone); below it come the cases for and against, how the last official forecast for this career actually aged, and what the education path costs and pays.

How to use it: read the bulls-vs-bears case, then hit Score this career to weigh it against your other options with your own interests factored in.

CareerStar rating
StrongMedium uncertainty
top 1% of all 730 careers

Analyst take: Strong market prospects — +13.8% projected growth, low AI exposure (30/100).

70
/ 100
low riskhigh
top row = high reward

Moat (borrowed from investing — the water that defends a castle): how shielded this career is from AI. Wide = well-defended — few automatable tasks, built on skills few other jobs have.

The small grid is a style box (borrowed from Morningstar’s fund reports): the blue square places this career on reward (top row = high) versus risk (left column = low), against all 730 careers. Medium uncertainty means the score leans partly on forward-looking bets like AI exposure, so treat the exact number loosely.

🐂 Bulls say
  • +Strong projected growth — outpaces 96% of careers (+13.8%).
  • +High pay — above 85% of careers ($98,340).
  • +Low AI exposure — resilient (30% of tasks exposed).
🐻 Bears say
  • Its softest spot: it carries some AI exposure (30% of tasks).
📜 Reality check — how the last forecast for this career fared

In 2014, the U.S. government projected +26.6% growth for this career by 2024. What actually happened: +39.6%. Reality beat the forecast — a reminder that every number on this page is an estimate, and this is how the last one aged. Full back-test →

Was this rating fair?
Projected growth
+13.8%
Median pay
$98,340
AI exposure
30/100
share of tasks exposed to AI — not job loss

Education & ROI — how to get here

Real outcomes for the college majors that feed this occupation, across 291 bachelor’s programs.

Median earnings
$30,976
1 year after graduating
Typical debt
$26,584
median federal debt
Pay-to-debt
1.2×
first-year pay ÷ debt
Feeder majors
Assistive/Augmentative Technology and Rehabilitation Engineering
Selective schools offering these majors
Northeastern University
MA · 5% admit rate
$84,641/yr
$92,538 grad pay
University of Southern California
CA · 10% admit rate
$90,300/yr
$92,498 grad pay
Boston University
MA · 11% admit rate
$86,285/yr
$83,238 grad pay
University of Miami
FL · 19% admit rate
$86,078/yr
$75,328 grad pay
Florida State University
FL · 24% admit rate
$25,720/yr
$61,675 grad pay
Southern University and A & M College
LA · 35% admit rate
$26,341/yr
$43,371 grad pay

Earnings & debt from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard; majors mapped to this occupation via the NCES CIP→SOC crosswalk. A grounded ROI snapshot, not a guarantee — pay varies widely by school and specialty.

What this work involves

healthcaremedicinecarepeoplescience