How to transfer your Physical therapist assistant licence to Rhode Island (2026)

Physical therapist assistant work in Rhode Island is licensed at state level, by the Rhode Island Board of Physical Therapy. This page says what a physical therapist assistant licensed or working in another state has to do to work in Rhode Island, in the order to do it, and what goes wrong when the order is reversed.

How the transfer works

Physical therapist assistants are licensed in every state and covered by the PT Compact on the same terms as therapists: a compact privilege between member states, or licensure by endorsement with NPTE-PTA scores and verification where the compact does not apply.

Exam: NPTE-PTA.

How long: days under the compact; four to ten weeks otherwise. Fee: $50 to $250; the current figure is on the licensing body's own site.

What to have ready before you move

• NPTE-PTA score transfer
• Licence verification
• Continuing education record

Start the paperwork before you give notice. Every week the licence is not done is a week you are not paid, and nothing in the process needs you to be in Rhode Island already.

What people get wrong

• Confusing the compact privilege with a licence; it has to be renewed and ends if your home licence lapses

Who hires physical therapist assistants in Rhode Island

Physical therapist assistants in Rhode Island are hired by outpatient clinics, skilled nursing, home health and hospitals. The metros with the most of that work are Providence, Warwick and Cranston. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the Rhode Island openings page.

For the money side: the median physical therapist assistant in Rhode Island earned $63,410 a year ($30 an hour) in May 2024 across 550 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Rhode Island has a progressive state income tax with a top rate of 5.99%. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about Rhode Island, on one page

The Rhode Island page has the registries and boards, the income tax table, the programs that pay you to come and the openings filed this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Rhode Island employers hiring from out of state.