Occupational Therapists
Assess, plan, and organize rehabilitative programs that help build or restore vocational, homemaking, and daily living skills, as well as general independence, to persons with disabilities or developmental delays. Use therapeutic techniques, adapt the individual's environment, teach skills, and modify specific tasks that present barriers to the individual.
162,450 people do this job in the US. $100,330 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 31%
- 4%
- 64%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 20%. Today's estimate: 21%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 17 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 13% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 10% | 50 min25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Conduct research in occupational therapy.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 10% | 2.1 work days6.7 h to 4.2 work days | 0%Half by Jan 2028 | |
| Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 10% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Develop and participate in health promotion programs, group activities, or discussions to promote client health, facilitate social adjustment, alleviate stress, and prevent physical or mental disability.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 8% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 33 min17 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Design and create, or requisition, special supplies and equipment, such as splints, braces, and computer-aided adaptive equipment.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Recommend changes in patients' work or living environments, consistent with their needs and capabilities.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 5% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | 95%Half by now | |
| Complete and maintain necessary records.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Train caregivers in providing for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Help clients improve decision making, abstract reasoning, memory, sequencing, coordination, and perceptual skills, using computer programs.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | 99%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).