Physical Therapist: how many are there, and how many are in private practice?

National totals

What this specialty covers

Physical therapists (PTs) are licensed health care professionals who diagnose and treat individuals of all ages, from newborns to the very oldest, who have medical problems or other health-related conditions that limit their abilities to move and perform functional activities in their daily lives. PTs examine each individual and develop a plan using treatment techniques to promote the ability to move, reduce pain, restore function, and prevent disability. In addition, PTs work with individuals to prevent the loss of mobility before it occurs by developing fitness- and wellness-oriented programs for healthier and more active lifestyles. PTs: 1.Diagnose and manage movement dysfunction and enhance physical and functional abilities. 2.Restore, maintain, and promote not only optimal physical function but optimal wellness and fitness and optimal quality of life as it relates to movement and he

Reading the sole-proprietor share

For Physical Therapist records, the 19.5% sole-proprietor share means that 54,806 records are flagged that way in NPPES; it does not establish that those providers work in private practice. The flag is a self-reported NPPES field and may not reflect employment, ownership, group structure, or billing arrangements, so it is an imperfect proxy for private practice.

By state

New NPI registrations by year

Counts reflect the year each NPI was first issued, among records still active today. The final year is partial: this data covers through 2026-01-11.

Data notes

• The sole-proprietor field is self-reported by the provider in NPPES and is an imperfect proxy for private practice.
• A sole-proprietor count shown as <11 is suppressed: the true value is below 11, which could include zero.
• - NPPES taxonomy selections and sole-proprietor status are provider-reported fields and may change over time.
• - Active NPI records do not measure visits, hours worked, staffing levels, or clinical capacity.
• - NPI first-enumeration year reflects when an NPI was issued, not when a physical therapist began practicing or entered private practice.
• Providers are counted once, by their primary taxonomy code only.

Source: CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) Data Dissemination file, FOIA-disclosable public data under CMS-6060-N. Aggregated by Hero EMR on 2026-08-03; deactivated NPIs excluded; specialty assigned from the primary taxonomy code (NUCC 25.1). Counts below 11 are suppressed. Individual providers are never published. All provider data pages.

Common questions