Electrical Engineer vs Physical Therapist Salary
Electrical Engineers earn approximately 10.3% more than Physical Therapists nationally — $107,000 vs $96,000.
Electrical Engineers earn approximately $11,000 more per year than Physical Therapists — about 11% — with comparable entry requirements.
What it takes to get in
Electrical Engineer roles typically require a bachelor's degree, while Physical Therapist roles require a doctoral or professional degree. Counting everything it takes to become employable — degree plus any apprenticeship, residency, or licensing exam — that is roughly 4 years for Electrical Engineer and 7 for Physical Therapist.
Those extra years are not free. Over a 40-year working life, becoming a Physical Therapist consumes about 7 of them in training rather than earning, against 4 on the Electrical Engineer path. Holding pay flat at the median and ignoring raises, that leaves roughly $3,168,000 of lifetime gross for the Physical Therapist versus $3,852,000 for the Electrical Engineer — $684,000 behind, because the head start compounds. Actual pay rises with tenure, so the arithmetic understates both sides — it is directional, not predictive.
Only one of the two is gated by licensing: Physical Therapist requires State license via the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE), while Electrical Engineer does not. That cuts both ways — a license is a real barrier when you are trying to enter, and a real moat once you hold one, because it limits how quickly the labor supply can grow.
Pay range, not just the median
The medians hide most of what matters. Electrical Engineer pay runs from roughly $66,000 at the low end to $152,000 at the high end; Physical Therapist runs $72,260 to $130,870. The title sets the band; specialization, employer size, and location decide where inside it you actually sit.
What the work is actually like
Electrical Engineer: Offices, electronics/power labs, and manufacturing test facilities. Physical Therapist: Outpatient clinics, hospitals, and patients' homes; hands-on physical work.
The physical difference is large enough to affect how long you can do the work: Physical Therapist work is moderately physical, Electrical Engineer work largely sedentary. Physically demanding trades often pay well in your twenties and thirties and then force a move into supervision, inspection, estimating, or training — worth planning for rather than discovering at fifty.
Moving between the two
These two barely touch. Engineering and Healthcare draw on separate training pipelines, and employers in one rarely read experience in the other as relevant. Budget for a real reset. Electronics and computer engineers overlap heavily and move between roles easily; power-systems specialists need additional training to shift into semiconductor or RF design. Physical therapist assistants can only move into this role by completing a full DPT program; PTs can pivot into sports performance, ergonomics consulting, or academia.
If you are entering rather than switching: Electrical Engineer — Earn an ABET-accredited bachelor's in electrical engineering, complete internships/co-ops, then enter industry — PE licensure only needed for public utility or consulting work. Physical Therapist — Complete a bachelor's degree, then a 3-year Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, then pass the NPTE.
Pay ranges, education requirements, and employment projections come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook and Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. See our methodology for how these are compiled and updated.
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