Office of Rural Health & Primary Care
Health Workforce Analysis Program
Minnesota Physical Therapists Facts and Data—2005
The Office of Rural Health and Primary Care (ORHPC) asks physical therapists to answer questions about
their employment status and the nature of their practices each year when they renew their licenses.
Response to the survey is voluntary and does not affect license renewal.
Physical therapist workforce data has previously been reported for “urban” and “rural” portions of the state.
Urban has been defined to include seven Twin Cities metropolitan counties (Anoka, Carver, Dakota,
Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington) and the cities of Duluth, Rochester and St. Cloud. For 2005,
data is also reported for three groupings that focuses greater attention on the 46 most rural counties:
•
•
•
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) counties – 21 Minnesota counties included in seven
metropolitan statistical areas (Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Cloud, Rochester, Duluth-Superior,
Fargo, Grand Forks and La Crosse.
Micropolitan counties – 20 counties surrounding smaller urban centers of at least 10,000
people.
Rural – 46 counties outside MSAs and Micropolitan areas.
In data tables below, shaded rows and columns are used to distinguish data reported under the old urbanrural definition from data reported under the new MSA-micropolitan-rural definition.
Numbers of Physical Therapists
At the close of 2005, 3,580 physical therapists held 2005 Minnesota licenses. Some of these were retired or
not working as physical therapists, and others lived or practiced in other states.
The ORHPC received 2,253 survey responses from the 3,449 physical therapists who renewed licenses for
2005. This was a 65 percent response rate.
At the time of license renewal, 1,877, or 83 percent, of survey respondents said they were working at least
part time at a primary practice site in Minnesota.
The exact number of physical therapists practicing in Minnesota is not known. Not all of the 3,580 physical
therapists holding Minnesota licenses at the end of 2005 would have been working as physical therapists in
Minnesota. An unknown number would have been working in other jobs or not working due to
unemployment, illness, retirement or other reasons.
To estimate the numbers of physical therapists actually working in Minnesota, the ORHPC survey asks
physical therapists about the location of their primary practice site and how many hours they work there.
P.O. Box 64882
St. Paul, MN 55164-0882
(651) 201-3838
http://www.health.state.mn.us
March 2006
page 2
Minnesota Physical Therapists Facts and Data—2005
Ninety-three percent of respondents said they worked at least part time at a primary practice site in
Minnesota. Applied to the actual number of licensees in 2005, this percentage produces an estimate of
about 3,330 physical therapists practicing in Minnesota.
Using the July 1, 2004, population estimate for Minnesota, 3,330 physical therapists equate to 65 active
physical therapists per 100,000 people.
Because of different data sources and definitions, this estimate of 65 active physical therapists is not directly
comparable to other reported data. The Bureau of Health Professions in the U.S. Health Resources and
Services Administration reported that Minnesota had 2,700 practicing physical therapists in 2000, or 55
physical therapists per 100,000 people, exceeding the national number of 43.
All data reported below is for physical therapists who work at least part time at a primary practice site in
Minnesota, according to the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care survey of physical therapists renewing
licenses for 2005.
Geographic Distribution
Active Physical Therapists
Rural
19%
Micropolitan
13%
Metropolitan
68%
2005 Minnesota Population
Rural
13%
Micropolitan
15%
Metropolitan
72%
page 3
Minnesota Physical Therapists Facts and Data—2005
Physical Therapists: Gender, age and location
Physical Therapists by Gender
Male
23.5%
Female
76.5%
AGE
All physical
therapists
Under 35
35-44
45-54
55-64
65 and older
Urban locations
Rural locations
Metropolitan
Micropolitan
Rural
MALE
1,875
533
603
517
200
22
1,313
562
1,278
248
349
FEMALE
23.5%
21.8%
24.2%
23.6%
25.5%
27.3%
20.3%
31.1%
18.5%
34.3%
33.9%
76.5%
78.2%
75.8%
76.4%
74.5%
72.7%
79.7%
68.9%
81.5%
65.7%
65.5%
32.1%
35%
30%
N
28.4%
27.6%
25%
20%
10.7%
15%
10%
1.2%
5%
0%
< 35
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
page 4
Minnesota Physical Therapists Facts and Data—2005
Age of Physical Therapists Active in Minnesota by Location
Age Group
Median age
Less than 35
35-44
45-54
55-64
65 and older
Total
Statewide
Urban
Rural
n = 1,877
respondents
n = 1,314
respondents
n = 563
respondents
41
28.4%
32.1%
27.6%
10.7%
1.2%
100.0%
42
27.2%
31.2%
29.2%
10.7%
1.6%
100.0%
40
31.1%
34.3%
23.8%
10.7%
.2%
100.0%
MSA
42
27.6%
31.8%
28.3%
10.8%
1.4%
100.0%
MicroPolitan
Rural
39.5
29.0%
37.9%
22.6%
10.1%
.4%
100.0%
41
30.8%
29.1%
28.5%
10.8%
.9%
100.0%
Physical therapist specialties
44 percent of respondents reported specialized training in one or more physical therapy field.
Orthopedics
Sports medicine
Pediatrics
Neurology
Geriatrics
Cardiopulmonary
Other
16
20 percent
8 percent
8 percent
5 percent
4 percent
1 percent
percent
Totals add to more than 44 percent because some respondents have training in more than one field.
Primary practice settings by location
All
Type of Site
Physical
therapists
N = respondents
1,585
Office/clinic
30.2%
Hospital – inpatient
15.1%
Hospital – outpatient
17.5%
Rehab agency/clinic
8.1%
Home health agency
7.5%
Long term care facility
10.7%
Educational institution
5.4%
Other
6.1%
Urban
1,106
33.4%
17.6%
9.9%
8.7%
9.5%
8.9%
5.9%
6.4%
Rural
484
22.9%
9.3%
34.9%
6.6%
2.9%
14.7%
4.3%
5.4%
Metropolitan
1,069
33.3%
14.5%
11.8%
9.2%
9.1%
9.8%
5.9%
6.8%
Micropolitan
218
24.8%
9.2%
34.4%
7.3%
3.2%
15.1%
4.1%
3.2%
Rural
298
23.2%
21.5%
25.8%
4.7%
5.0%
10.4%
4.7%
5.7%
Of the professionally active respondents, 292 did not identify their type of practice setting. Totals may add to more than 100
percent because some respondents selected more than one option to describe their primary workplace.
page 5
Minnesota Physical Therapists Facts and Data—2005
Gender by type of primary practice setting
Type of Site
N
Male Female
Office/clinic
479 31.3%
68.5%
Hospital – inpatient
239 13.4%
86.6%
Hospital – outpatient
278 28.8%
70.9%
Rehab agency/clinic
128 26.6%
73.4%
Home health agency
119 23.5%
76.5%
Long term care facility
169 16.0%
84.0%
Educational institution
86
7.0%
93.0%
Other
97 17.5%
82.5%
Some respondents selected more than one option to describe their primary practice setting.
Race and Ethnicity
Physical therapists are overwhelmingly white, both in urban and rural areas.
StateUrban Rural
wide
Responses
1,551
1,078
473
White
98.1% 97.5% 99.4%
Black or African American
.3%
.5%
Asian
.6%
.6%
.4%
American Indian or Alaska Native
.1%
.1%
.2%
Spanish/Hispanic/Latino
.5%
.6%
Multiple race
.3%
.55
Other
.1%
.2%
Of the professionally active respondents, 326 did not answer the question about race and ethnicity.
Physical Therapist Vacancy Rates
4th quarter 2001 through 4th quarter 2005
7.0%
6.30%
6.0%
5.7%
3.8%
5.0%
4.0%
3.0%
4.0%
4.80%
3.0% 3.0%
2.6%
2.0%
1.0%
2.5%
4Q
20
01
2Q
20
02
4Q
20
02
2Q
20
03
4Q
20
03
2Q
20
04
4Q
20
04
2Q
20
05
4Q
20
05
0.0%
Source: Occupational Employment Statistics, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. DEED
cautions that OES data is not designed as a time series, and cross year comparisons may not be reliable. Based on sample
page 6
Minnesota Physical Therapists Facts and Data—2005
response, the estimated number of physical therapist position declined dramatically in 2005, contributing to a large increase in
estimated vacancy rates.