Physical Therapist vs Registered Nurse: Which Field Is Better?

Dimension	Physical Therapist	Registered Nurse
Median pay	$101,020	$93,600
Projected growth (2024–34)	10.9%	4.9%
Annual openings	13,200	189,100
2024 employment	267,200	3,391,000
2034 projected employment	296,400	3,557,100
Self-employed share	4.5%	0.5%
Typical entry education	Doctoral or professional degree	Bachelor's degree
Related work experience	None	None
On-the-job training	None	None

Dimension

Physical Therapist

Registered Nurse

Median pay

$101,020

$93,600

Projected growth (2024–34)

10.9%

4.9%

Annual openings

13,200

189,100

2024 employment

267,200

3,391,000

2034 projected employment

296,400

3,557,100

Self-employed share

4.5%

0.5%

Typical entry education

Doctoral or professional degree

Bachelor's degree

Related work experience

None

On-the-job training

None

Physical Therapist: main tradeoff

Strong demand and six-figure median pay are offset by a doctoral training requirement and the economics of graduate-school cost.

Registered Nurse: main tradeoff

Employment security is exceptional, but workload, burnout, and retention are central career risks rather than footnotes.

Which should you choose?

Physical Therapist has the higher national median pay in the BLS data. Physical Therapist has the higher projected 2024–2034 growth rate. The larger decision is whether you prefer the training path, work style, and occupation-specific tradeoffs of Physical Therapist or Registered Nurse.