How to transfer your Physical therapist assistant licence to Tennessee (2026)

4 min read

Physical therapist assistant work in Tennessee is licensed at state level, by the Tennessee Board of Physical Therapy. This page says what a physical therapist assistant licensed or working in another state has to do to work in Tennessee, 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 Tennessee already.

Plan your move: licence steps for your two states, free

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 Tennessee

Physical therapist assistants in Tennessee are hired by outpatient clinics, skilled nursing, home health and hospitals. The metros with the most of that work are Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the Tennessee openings page.

For the money side: the median physical therapist assistant in Tennessee earned $62,920 a year ($30 an hour) in May 2024 across 3,140 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Tennessee has no state income tax on wages. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about Tennessee, on one page

The Tennessee 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 Tennessee employers hiring from out of state.

Moving for a job?

Tell us your trade and your two states. We send the licence steps and show you to employers hiring from out of state. Free.

What work do you do, and where are you now?

Any trade. Any state.

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