When an agency offers you a per-visit rate, the first thing you want to know is whether it is fair. I have never found a good public answer to that. Job boards mix hourly, salaried and per-visit jobs. Salary surveys rarely split out home health, and almost none of them count visits.
There is one source that does both. Every Medicare-certified home health agency files a cost report with CMS each year. It lists what the agency paid each discipline and how many visits that discipline made. Divide one by the other and you get what the agency spent per visit on that discipline's pay.
That is what the tables below show, for every state, from the 2024 reports. They also feed our free clinician pay calculator, which narrows the same numbers to your county.
Pay Per Visit by Discipline, Nationwide
"Middle" is the median agency: half spent more per visit, half spent less. The low and high ends are the 25th and 75th percentiles, so half of all agencies fall between them.
| Discipline | Low end (25th percentile) | Middle (median) | High end (75th percentile) | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical therapist (PT) | $82 | $100 | $125 | 6,285 |
| Occupational therapist (OT) | $78 | $93 | $114 | 4,026 |
| Speech-language pathologist (SLP) | $79 | $96 | $119 | 2,444 |
| Registered nurse (RN) | $68 | $95 | $130 | 6,587 |
| Medical social worker (MSW) | $79 | $109 | $164 | 1,368 |
| PT assistant (PTA) | $51 | $62 | $79 | 3,642 |
| OT assistant (OTA) | $50 | $59 | $76 | 1,752 |
| Licensed practical nurse (LPN/LVN) | $39 | $50 | $68 | 4,568 |
| Home health aide | $25 | $36 | $51 | 3,420 |
A few things stand out to me.
- Therapists cluster tightly. PT, OT and speech medians sit within $7 of each other, and the middle half of agencies lands in a band about $40 wide.
- Nursing spreads out. The RN range runs from $68 to $130, the widest of any nursing or therapy discipline. Florida's middle RN figure is $65. Washington's and Oregon's are both $170.
- Assistants come in a little over 60%. PTA visits ran 62% of PT visits at the median, and OTA visits 63% of OT visits.
- Social work looks high, and that is the arithmetic. In the same cost reports, a full-time social worker made fewer than half as many visits in a year as a full-time physical therapist. When a salary is spread over fewer visits, the cost per visit goes up. It does not mean social workers are paid $109 a visit.
Where These Numbers Come From
The source is the home health agency cost report, CMS Form 1728-20, which agencies file every year. We read the raw 2024 file CMS publishes and take each agency's latest report in it. For each discipline, the figure is:
(salaries + contracted services) ÷ visits
- Salaries are gross pay before taxes. CMS's instructions say this line includes "deferred compensation, overtime, incentive pay, and bonuses."
- Contracted services are what the agency paid outside companies or contractors for that discipline's visits.
- Visits are every visit that discipline made, for every patient and every payer, in the year.
- Benefits are left out. Employee benefits sit in a separate column of the report, and we don't add them.
A few rules keep bad figures out. An agency counts for a discipline only if that discipline made at least 100 visits and the result falls between $15 and $500 a visit. A state appears only when at least 5 agencies there have a usable figure. The state is where the agency is located.
Four things follow from how the number is built:
- It is the middle agency, not the middle clinician. A small agency counts as much as a large one.
- Every visit counts the same. A start of care with a full OASIS and a 30-minute routine visit each count as one visit.
- For contracted staff, it is what the agency paid the contractor. If a staffing company placed the clinician, the company's share is inside the figure.
- For salaried staff, it is salary divided by visits. It is what the payroll came to per visit, not a rate anyone quoted.
Use it as a benchmark. It shows where an offer sits against what agencies in your state spent.
Pay Per Visit by State
Middle (median) figure per visit for the six therapy and nursing disciplines most people ask about. A dash means fewer than 5 agencies in that state had a usable figure. A dagger (†) means fewer than 20 agencies, so one or two agencies can move the number a lot. Read those rows with care.
| State | PT | OT | SLP | RN | PTA | OTA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $123 | $94 | $90 | $90 | $54 | $54 |
| Alaska | $115† | $126† | — | $100† | — | — |
| Arizona | $107 | $100 | $100 | $96 | $67 | $72 |
| Arkansas | $113 | $94 | $85 | $99 | $53 | $54 |
| California | $107 | $110 | $125 | $109 | $86 | $93 |
| Colorado | $98 | $91 | $93 | $87 | $62 | $66† |
| Connecticut | $101 | $91 | $102 | $100 | $70 | $61† |
| Delaware | $112† | $114† | $111† | $147† | $70† | $62† |
| District of Columbia | $118† | $99† | — | $104† | — | — |
| Florida | $90 | $87 | $90 | $65 | $55 | $56 |
| Georgia | $118 | $100 | $97 | $124 | $57 | $56 |
| Hawaii | $121† | $98† | $117† | $153† | — | — |
| Idaho | $101 | $94 | $97 | $98 | $56 | $62† |
| Illinois | $90 | $89 | $108 | $75 | $65 | $69 |
| Indiana | $100 | $93 | $93 | $93 | $55 | $56 |
| Iowa | $111 | $109 | $111† | $110 | $73† | $84† |
| Kansas | $107 | $101 | $98 | $81 | $54 | $59 |
| Kentucky | $104 | $88 | $90 | $96 | $56 | $51 |
| Louisiana | $82 | $78 | $76 | $78 | $63 | $61 |
| Maine | $128† | $101† | $133† | $145† | $58† | $87† |
| Maryland | $107 | $99 | $114 | $118 | $63 | $66 |
| Massachusetts | $98 | $95 | $108 | $110 | $60 | $60† |
| Michigan | $86 | $84 | $93 | $87 | $55 | $55 |
| Minnesota | $133 | $112 | $122 | $119 | $55 | $65† |
| Mississippi | $105 | $86 | $87 | $74 | $53 | $47† |
| Missouri | $118 | $102 | $98 | $108 | $61 | $60 |
| Montana | $118† | $111† | $108† | $133† | $70† | — |
| Nebraska | $123 | $105 | $88† | $121 | $58† | $65† |
| Nevada | $95 | $90 | $97 | $80 | $80 | $78† |
| New Hampshire | $109 | $106 | $102† | $115 | $57† | — |
| New Jersey | $89 | $87 | $101 | $122 | $68† | — |
| New Mexico | $95 | $87 | $92 | $84 | $56 | $58† |
| New York | $99 | $97 | $113 | $128 | $67 | $61† |
| North Carolina | $122 | $102 | $105 | $107 | $54 | $54 |
| North Dakota | $117† | $118† | — | $145† | — | — |
| Ohio | $96 | $89 | $86 | $89 | $56 | $58 |
| Oklahoma | $102 | $93 | $85 | $93 | $70 | $71 |
| Oregon | $126 | $116 | $119 | $170 | $65 | $79† |
| Pennsylvania | $84 | $77 | $78 | $87 | $60 | $59 |
| Puerto Rico | $56 | $70† | $68† | $38 | $47† | — |
| Rhode Island | $95† | $88† | $75† | $99† | $60† | $63† |
| South Carolina | $114 | $101 | $96 | $112 | $55 | $54 |
| South Dakota | $104† | $105† | — | $132† | — | — |
| Tennessee | $105 | $89 | $99 | $95 | $52 | $51 |
| Texas | $93 | $86 | $88 | $93 | $66 | $66 |
| Utah | $90 | $80 | $82 | $82 | $51 | $67† |
| Vermont | $108† | $109† | $124† | $130† | — | — |
| Virginia | $112 | $101 | $102 | $106 | $61 | $59 |
| Washington | $144 | $131 | $125 | $170 | $63 | $62 |
| West Virginia | $121 | $100 | $90 | $98 | $52 | $55 |
| Wisconsin | $126 | $95 | $114 | $96 | $54 | $49 |
| Wyoming | $82† | $102† | $97† | $80† | $55† | $50† |
The calculator covers all nine disciplines, including LPN, social work and aide, with the low and high end for your county, your state and the US. It shows a county figure when at least 5 agencies serving that county have a usable number, and your state's figure when they don't. It asks for your own per-visit range first, with no name or email, and then shows where you sit.
Using These Numbers When You Get an Offer
What follows is my advice as a clinician, not anything CMS sets.
Start with the right line. Find your discipline and state. If the offer is near the middle, it is an ordinary offer. If it is below the low end, ask why. If it is above the high end, find out what comes with it before you get excited.
Ask whether the rate changes by visit type. Some agencies pay more for a start of care, an evaluation, a recertification or a discharge than for a routine visit, because those visits take longer and carry OASIS or a full evaluation. A flat rate for everything is worth less than it sounds if your caseload is heavy on admissions.
Ask what is paid outside the visit. Mileage, drive time, missed visits, case conferences and orientation days are paid at some agencies and not at others. None of that is in the visit count, and it can change what a rate is worth.
Convert it to a week. A per-visit rate means little until you multiply it by the visits you will actually do. The calculator's paycheck section lets you set visits per week for each visit type, with a different rate for each if your agency pays that way, and shows the weekly and yearly total before taxes.
Compare like with like. If you are weighing a salaried job against a per-visit job, remember that the salaried figure in these tables already includes overtime and bonuses but not benefits. Per-visit jobs often come with fewer benefits, so ask what is included.
If You Run an Agency
These figures are also a check on your own offers. If your rate sits near the low end for your state, you are competing for the same clinicians as agencies that pay more, and you will feel it in open positions and turnover. Our guide to clinician turnover in home health walks through how to estimate what each departure costs you, which is the number to weigh against a raise.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do home health physical therapists make per visit?
In 2024 Medicare cost reports, the middle home health agency spent $100 per physical therapy visit on therapist pay. The middle half of agencies fell between $82 and $125. That is wages plus contractor fees divided by visits, with benefits left out, so it is close to a per-visit rate but not the same thing.
How much do home health nurses make per visit?
The middle agency spent $95 per registered nurse visit, with the middle half of agencies between $68 and $130. That is the widest spread of any nursing or therapy discipline. For licensed practical nurses the middle was $50, with the middle half between $39 and $68.
How much do PTAs and OTAs make per visit in home health?
The middle agency spent $62 per PT assistant visit, with the middle half between $51 and $79, and $59 per OT assistant visit, with the middle half between $50 and $76. Both come to a little over 60% of what the same agencies spent per therapist visit.
Where do these home health pay per visit numbers come from?
From the yearly cost reports Medicare-certified home health agencies file with CMS. For each agency and discipline, we add up salaries and contracted services and divide by the number of visits. Benefits are not included. We use each agency's latest report in the 2024 file and only show a state when at least 5 agencies there have a usable figure.
Sources
- Home Health Agency cost report data, HHA20FY2024 (CMS HCRIS)
- Home Health Agency 1728-2020 form cost reports (CMS)
- Provider Reimbursement Manual, Part 2 (CMS Pub. 15-2), chapter 47, Form CMS-1728-20: §4709 (Worksheet A, salaries and contracted services) and §4707.1 (Worksheet S-3, visits)
See the numbers for your county
Pick your discipline and ZIP code. The calculator shows what agencies near you spent per visit, and turns a per-visit rate into weekly and yearly pay.