Pediatricians, General vs Physical Therapist: $210K vs $103K Median Pay

Pediatricians, General vs Physical Therapist: what changes?

Consider Pediatricians, General if you want to diagnose, treat, and help prevent diseases and injuries in children. Consider Physical Therapist if you would rather assess, plan, organize, and participate in rehabilitative programs that improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, and improve or correct disabling conditions resulting from disease or injury. Both list doctoral or professional degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Pediatricians, General and Physical Therapist. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Pediatricians, General

National median pay (2025): $210,040
Route into the job: Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.
Work to investigate: Prescribe or administer treatment, therapy, medication, vaccination, and other specialized medical care to treat or prevent illness, disease, or injury in infants and children.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 1,000

Know before you choose

Training continues through internship/residency after the degree path.

See the full Pediatricians, General brief

Physical Therapist

National median pay (2025): $102,760
Route into the job: Doctoral or professional degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: 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.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 13,400

Know before you choose

The work routinely happens in close physical proximity to other people; personal space is limited.

See the full Physical Therapist brief

How the national numbers differ

Physical Therapist has the edge on annual openings

Physical Therapist is at 13,400 annual openings, compared with 1,000 annual openings for Pediatricians, General.

Physical Therapist has the edge on projected growth

Physical Therapist is at 11.9% projected growth, compared with 1.5% projected growth for Pediatricians, General.

Pediatricians, General has the edge on median pay

Pediatricians, General is at $210,040, compared with $102,760 for Physical Therapist.

45.3/ 100

Pediatricians, General

71.5/ 100

Physical Therapist

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Pediatricians, General vs Physical Therapist

Dimension	Pediatricians, General	Physical Therapist
Median pay (2025)	$210,040	$102,760
Pay percentile	97.4 percentile	84.7 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	1.5%	11.9%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	1,000	13,400
2025 employment	42,200	283,700
How you qualify	Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements	Doctoral or professional degree
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 5	Job Zone 5
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.	BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Pediatricians, General brief Read Physical Therapist brief

Pediatricians, General vs Physical Therapist: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Pediatricians, General

Physical Therapist

How the national numbers differ

Physical Therapist has the edge on annual openings

Physical Therapist has the edge on projected growth

Pediatricians, General has the edge on median pay

Pediatricians, General vs Physical Therapist

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