CatSol Healthcare Staffing

Ohio PT Tax Comparison — Midwest & Border States

Ohio's graduated 0–3.5% income tax produces a low effective rate for most travel PTs — favorable compared to Illinois, Kentucky, and Michigan. Tax-free housing and meal stipends further boost net weekly take-home.

State	Income Tax	PT Compact?	Notes
Ohio	0% – 3.5% graduated	✓ Yes	0% up to $26,050; low effective rate for travelers
Illinois	4.95% flat	✓ Yes	Higher flat tax; Chicago market premium
Indiana	3.05% flat	✓ Yes	Low flat tax; compact member
Kentucky	4.5% flat	✓ Yes	Higher than Ohio; compact member
Pennsylvania	3.07% flat	✓ Yes	Similar effective rate; compact member
Michigan	4.25% flat	✓ Yes	Higher than Ohio; compact member

Why Travel PTs Choose Ohio

From Cleveland Clinic's cardiac rehab PT to Ohio State Dodd IRF rehab and Appalachian HPSA crisis pay, Ohio delivers some of the most clinically rich and financially rewarding PT travel markets in the Midwest.

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Cleveland Clinic Cardiac PT — #1 Heart Hospital 28 Years

Cleveland Clinic has been ranked the #1 heart hospital in the United States for 28 consecutive years by US News & World Report. Travel PTs in cardiac rehab work with post-LVAD, post-heart transplant, TAVR, and post-CABG patients — among the most complex cardiac PT caseloads anywhere in the country. Demand is constant year-round. CORE (Center for Orthopaedics) adds a second major PT program.

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Ohio State Dodd IRF — SCI/TBI/Stroke Rehab

Dodd Rehabilitation Hospital at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center is Ohio's premier inpatient rehabilitation facility. Travel PTs treat complex SCI, TBI, and stroke cases from across the Midwest. James Cancer PT adds oncology rehab PT to the Ohio State caseload. IRF experience (2+ years) required — Dodd is not an entry-level assignment.

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PT Compact Member — Fast Start for Travelers

Ohio is a PT Compact member state. PTs licensed in any compact home state can apply for Compact Privilege at PTCompact.com and begin practicing in Ohio without a separate full Ohio license. Non-compact home state PTs must apply for full Ohio PT Board endorsement (6–10 weeks processing). Compact Privilege significantly reduces time-to-start for most travelers.

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Low Effective Tax + Appalachian HPSA Premium

Ohio's graduated income tax is 0% on earnings up to $26,050 — meaning a large portion of the taxable wage base is tax-free. The effective rate for travel PTs is low relative to neighboring IL (4.95%) and KY (4.5%). Appalachian Ohio (Athens, Gallipolis, McArthur) carries HPSA designation with crisis pay of $2,100–$2,700/wk and the same favorable tax treatment.

Key Ohio PT Facilities & Demand Drivers

Ohio's PT market is anchored by three major academic medical centers in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, plus a significant pediatric PT segment, a manufacturing-belt work injury niche, and rural Appalachian HPSA shortages.

Cleveland Clinic — Cleveland

Ranked #1 heart hospital in the United States for 28 consecutive years. Cardiac rehab PT covers post-LVAD, post-heart transplant, TAVR, and post-CABG patients. Neurological PT at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. CORE (Center for Orthopaedics) provides orthopedic PT for joint replacement and spine surgery. One of the largest PT employers in Ohio with constant travel PT demand in cardiac and orthopedic specialties. Level I trauma center adds acute care PT volume.

University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center — Cleveland

Level I trauma center with active inpatient PT program. SCI and TBI rehabilitation via UH Rehabilitation Hospital. UH Orthopaedic Center provides high-volume orthopedic PT covering knee replacement, hip replacement, shoulder reconstruction, and spine surgery post-op PT. Travel PTs cover inpatient and outpatient UH system sites across the Cleveland metro.

Ohio State Wexner Medical Center — Columbus

Level I trauma center anchoring central Ohio PT demand. Dodd Rehabilitation Hospital IRF handles SCI, TBI, and stroke rehab. James Cancer Hospital PT covers oncology rehab including breast cancer PT, cancer-related lymphedema, and post-surgical mobility. Wexner outpatient PT and Ohio State sports PT for Buckeyes athletics round out the caseload. Requires 2+ years acute care or IRF experience for most travel PT roles.

Nationwide Children's Hospital — Columbus

One of the top pediatric hospitals in the United States. Pediatric PT covers developmental delays, cerebral palsy, scoliosis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and pediatric sports injuries. NICU developmental PT for premature infants. Travel PT positions require pediatric PT experience — not a generalist acute care assignment.

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center — Cincinnati

Top-ranked pediatric hospital in the nation. Outpatient pediatric PT: developmental conditions, CP, sports PT for adolescent athletes, and complex musculoskeletal pediatric PT. Inpatient pediatric PT covers post-surgical mobility and complex pediatric cases. Travel pediatric PT assignments here are competitive and require 2+ years pediatric PT experience.

UC Health — University of Cincinnati Medical Center — Cincinnati

Level I trauma center in southwest Ohio. Acute care PT and trauma PT for the region. Mayfield Brain & Spine neuro PT covers spine surgery post-op PT and neurological rehab. High surgical volume drives consistent outpatient orthopedic PT demand across the Cincinnati UC Health network. Travel PTs cover inpatient and outpatient sites.

ProMedica Toledo — Toledo

Level I trauma center in northwest Ohio serving the Toledo metro and adjacent Michigan/Indiana border counties. NICU step-down PT for medically fragile newborns. Orthopedic PT covers high-volume joint replacement and spine surgery. Acute care PT across ProMedica's regional network. Northwest Ohio has persistent PT demand due to limited PT training program density in the region.

Appalachian Ohio HPSA — Athens, Gallipolis, McArthur, Chillicothe, Defiance, Napoleon

Southeast Ohio (Appalachian region) and parts of northwest Ohio carry federal HPSA designation for physical therapy. Persistent PT vacancies in sole-community hospitals, SNFs, and home health agencies. Travel PT pay reaches $2,100–$2,700/week in these shortage areas. Long-term contracts (13–26+ weeks) are common. Housing stipend provided. Rural trauma from farming, mining, and ATV/off-road accidents drives acute PT demand seasonally.

Ohio Travel PT Pay by Setting (2026)

Weekly pay includes base hourly rate plus tax-free housing and meal stipends. Actual packages vary by agency, contract length, and facility bill rate. Ohio's low effective income tax improves net take-home across all settings.

Setting	Weekly Pay	Demand	Notes
Cleveland Clinic Cardiac Rehab PT	$2,300–$2,900/wk	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Post-LVAD, transplant, TAVR — cardiac PT experience preferred
Ohio State Dodd IRF PT	$2,300–$2,800/wk	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	SCI/TBI/stroke — 2+ years IRF experience required
Acute Hospital PT (Level I)	$2,200–$2,800/wk	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	UH Cleveland, UC Health, ProMedica Toledo
Pediatric PT	$2,000–$2,600/wk	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Nationwide Children's, Cincinnati Children's
Outpatient Orthopedic PT	$1,900–$2,500/wk	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Cleveland Clinic CORE, OhioHealth, UC Health network
Rural Appalachian Ohio HPSA	$2,100–$2,700/wk	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Athens, Gallipolis, McArthur, Chillicothe
SNF / Home Health PT	$1,900–$2,400/wk	⭐⭐⭐⭐	High Medicare volume statewide, aging rural population

Open Ohio PT Jobs

Live physical therapist travel assignments in Ohio — updated every 4 hours from our active job database.

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Ohio PT Jobs Being Updated

Our Ohio PT job inventory is refreshing. New assignments are added daily — contact a recruiter for the most current Ohio PT openings.

Contact an Ohio PT Recruiter

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❤️ Featured Facility

Cleveland Clinic PT — #1 Heart Hospital, 28 Consecutive Years

Cleveland Clinic has held the number one ranking for cardiology and heart surgery from US News & World Report for 28 straight years — the longest consecutive top ranking of any hospital program in US News history. For travel PTs, this translates to a cardiac rehab PT caseload with complexity found nowhere else in the country. Post-LVAD mobilization, post-heart transplant PT, TAVR recovery PT, and CABG cardiac rehab are daily realities.

Specialized PT Programs at Cleveland Clinic

Cardiac Rehab PT — Post-LVAD — Left ventricular assist device patients require specialized cardiac PT: early post-op mobilization, deconditioning reversal, and functional mobility restoration before discharge and bridge to transplant.
Cardiac Rehab PT — Post-Heart Transplant — Heart transplant PT involves ICU early mobility, deconditioning rehab, post-surgical exercise progression, and long-term cardiac conditioning. One of the highest-volume heart transplant programs in the US.
TAVR Recovery PT — Transcatheter aortic valve replacement PT: post-procedure early mobilization and cardiac exercise tolerance restoration for elderly and high-risk surgical patients.
Neurological PT — Lou Ruvo Center — The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health treats Alzheimer's, Huntington's disease, and Lewy body dementia. Neurological PT covers gait retraining, falls prevention, and cognitive-motor dual-task training.
CORE Orthopedic PT — Cleveland Clinic CORE (Center for Orthopaedics) is one of the highest-volume orthopedic PT programs in Ohio. Joint replacement PT (hip, knee, shoulder), spine PT, sports medicine PT for professional and recreational athletes.
Level I Trauma Acute PT — Cleveland Clinic main campus is a Level I trauma center. Acute care PT covers trauma mobilization, ICU early mobility, post-surgical PT, and complex multi-system injury rehab.

Cleveland Clinic PT Experience Requirement:Cardiac rehab PT and acute care PT at Cleveland Clinic main campus typically require 2+ years of relevant experience. Cardiac PT experience (ICU, acute care, or cardiac rehab) is strongly preferred for post-LVAD and post-transplant PT roles.

♿ IRF Spotlight

Ohio State Dodd Rehabilitation Hospital — SCI, TBI & Stroke IRF PT

Dodd Rehabilitation Hospital is Ohio State Wexner Medical Center's dedicated inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) in Columbus. It receives complex SCI, TBI, and stroke patients transferred directly from Ohio State's Level I trauma center — the highest-acuity inpatient rehab caseload in central Ohio. James Cancer Hospital feeds oncology rehab PT cases into Dodd's program as well, adding cancer-related deconditioning and post-surgical PT to the travel PT caseload.

Dodd IRF PT Programs

SCI Rehabilitation PT — Complete and incomplete spinal cord injury PT. FIM-based functional mobility goals, standing programs, transfer training, and wheelchair mobility.
TBI Rehabilitation PT — Traumatic brain injury PT encompassing cognitive-motor integration, gait retraining, balance rehabilitation, and community reintegration functional goals.
Stroke Rehabilitation PT — Hemiplegia PT, body-weight supported treadmill training, constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT), and post-stroke functional mobility restoration.
Oncology Rehab PT — James Cancer — Cancer-related fatigue PT, post-surgical mobility (thoracic surgery, abdominal surgery, spinal tumor PT), and chemotherapy deconditioning rehab for James Cancer Hospital patients.
Ohio State Sports PT — Buckeyes — Wexner outpatient PT and Ohio State sports PT cover Big Ten athletes. Sports medicine travel PT roles require sports PT or orthopedic clinical specialist (OCS) experience.

$2,300–$2,800

Dodd IRF PT weekly pay

2+ years

IRF/acute care experience required

Year-round

SCI/TBI traveler demand

Ohio PT License Guide — Compact Privilege vs. Full Endorsement

Ohio's PT Compact membership gives most US-licensed PTs a streamlined path to practice in the state. Understanding your licensure track helps you plan your contract timeline correctly.

PT Compact Privilege (Recommended)

➤Available if your home state PT license is in a PT Compact member state
➤Apply at PTCompact.com — faster processing than full Ohio endorsement
➤No separate Ohio PT license required — Compact Privilege IS your authorization to practice in Ohio
➤Home state license must remain active and unencumbered in good standing
➤Compact Privilege deactivates automatically if your home state license lapses

Full Ohio PT Endorsement

➤Required if your home state is NOT a PT Compact member state
➤Apply through the Ohio Physical Therapy Section (Ohio OT/PT/AT Board)
➤Processing: 6–10 weeks from complete application submission
➤Requirements: current PT license, NPTE verification, background check, CPR documentation
➤Plan licensure 8–10 weeks ahead of your desired Ohio contract start date

Ohio PT Board Contact: The Ohio Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Athletic Trainers Board handles PT licensing. If you are planning multiple Ohio PT contracts, consider establishing your primary PT license in a compact state for streamlined future access across all 40+ PT Compact member states.

🌄 Rural & Manufacturing PT

Rural Ohio PT — Appalachian HPSA, Manufacturing Belt & ProMedica Toledo

Ohio's rural PT market divides into three distinct segments: Appalachian southeast Ohio (federally designated HPSA), the northeast Ohio manufacturing belt (Cleveland, Youngstown, Canton, Akron), and northwest Ohio anchored by ProMedica Toledo. Each segment creates different PT demand patterns and different pay structures.

Appalachian Ohio PT Shortage — HPSA Region

Athens

Gallipolis

McArthur

Chillicothe

Waverly

Logan

Defiance

Napoleon

Ohio PT Demand by Region

➤Appalachian HPSA PT — Southeast Ohio's mountainous terrain and economically distressed communities create structural PT shortages. Sole-community hospitals, federally qualified health centers, and SNFs all carry vacancies. Crisis pay $2,100–$2,700/wk. Long-term contracts (13–26+ weeks) are the norm.
➤Manufacturing Belt PT — Cleveland, Youngstown, Canton, Akron — Ohio's legacy manufacturing corridor generates work injury PT, FCE (functional capacity evaluations), and work hardening program demand. Steel, automotive parts, and polymer manufacturing plants create repetitive strain and lifting injuries that sustain industrial PT volume year-round.
➤ProMedica Toledo PT — Level I, Northwest Ohio — ProMedica Toledo Hospital is the only Level I trauma center in northwest Ohio and serves a large catchment area extending into southeast Michigan and northeast Indiana. NICU step-down PT, orthopedic PT, and acute trauma PT are the primary travel PT roles. Persistent demand due to limited PT training program supply in the Toledo metro.
➤Dayton PT — Bon Secours Mercy / Premier Health — Dayton's two dominant health systems (Bon Secours Mercy Health and Premier Health) operate large outpatient orthopedic PT networks across the Dayton metro. Travel PTs fill both inpatient acute care and outpatient orthopedic vacancies.

$2,100–$2,700

Appalachian HPSA weekly pay

HPSA

Federal shortage designation

13–26+ wks

Typical rural contract length

Ohio Travel PT — Frequently Asked Questions

How much do travel PTs make in Ohio?

Travel PTs in Ohio earn $1,900–$2,900/week depending on setting and location. Cleveland Clinic cardiac rehab PT and Ohio State Dodd IRF PT pay $2,300–$2,900/wk for experienced travelers. Acute hospital PT at Level I trauma centers runs $2,200–$2,800/wk. Outpatient orthopedic PT pays $1,900–$2,500/wk. Rural Appalachian Ohio HPSA positions reach $2,100–$2,700/wk with strong demand and long-term contracts.

Is Ohio a PT Compact state?

Yes — Ohio is a PT Compact member state. PTs whose home state license is also in a compact state can apply for Ohio Compact Privilege at PTCompact.com and begin practicing in Ohio without a separate full Ohio PT license. PTs from non-compact home states must apply for full endorsement through the Ohio Physical Therapy Section (processing typically 6–10 weeks from complete application). Plan your licensure timeline at least 8 weeks before your desired Ohio start date.

What is the Ohio income tax rate for travel PTs?

Ohio uses a graduated income tax with a low effective rate for most travel PTs. The first $26,050 in earnings is taxed at 0%. Income from $26,050 to $100,000 is taxed at 2.765%. Income over $100,000 is taxed at 3.5%. Combined with tax-free housing and meal stipends, Ohio's effective take-home is favorable compared to neighboring states like Illinois (4.95% flat), Kentucky (4.5%), and Michigan (4.25% flat).

What is the Ohio State Dodd Rehabilitation Hospital?

Dodd Rehabilitation Hospital is Ohio State Wexner Medical Center's inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) in Columbus. It handles complex SCI (spinal cord injury), TBI (traumatic brain injury), and stroke rehabilitation — cases transferred from Ohio State's Level I trauma center and James Cancer Hospital. Travel PT positions require a minimum of 2 years IRF or acute care inpatient experience. Dodd also provides neurological PT for complex post-ICU patients from across Ohio and the Midwest.

Which Ohio cities hire the most travel PTs?

Cleveland is the largest PT market (Cleveland Clinic — cardiac/orthopedic PT, University Hospitals — trauma/SCI, MetroHealth — trauma). Columbus is second (Ohio State Dodd IRF, Nationwide Children's pediatric PT, OhioHealth). Cincinnati hosts UC Health acute PT and Cincinnati Children's pediatric PT. Toledo (ProMedica, Level I trauma) and Dayton (Bon Secours Mercy, Premier Health) are mid-size PT markets. Appalachian Ohio (Athens, Gallipolis, Chillicothe) has the highest rural pay — $2,100–$2,700/wk.

Ohio PT Travel Jobs by City

Ohio's PT market spans three major academic medical centers, pediatric PT hubs, manufacturing belt work injury PT, and rural Appalachian HPSA shortages.