Physical Therapist Salary in Newport News, VA: Median $73,414 in 2026
Newport News (VA) · COL index 93 · Unemployment 4.1% · Metro pop 188,000 · Rank #177 of 283 for Physical Therapist salary
A Physical Therapist in Newport News earns an estimated median of $73,414 per year. That figure starts from the Virginia state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($79,990) and scales it by Newport News's composite cost-of-living index of 93 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $38,997; the 90th percentile reaches $146,992. After federal, Virginia state, and FICA taxes, a single-filer Physical Therapist takes home approximately $56,775/year — about $4,731/month or $2,184 every other week.
Compared to the national Physical Therapist median of $99,710, Newport News pays -26.4%. Relative to the Newport News median household income of $55,200, a Physical Therapistsalary runs +33.0%. Local unemployment is 4.1%[3], with an estimated 21 annual Physical Therapist openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (244,200).
Physical Therapist Snapshot — Newport News (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Newport News | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physical Therapist median salary | $73,414 | $99,710 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $38,997 | $81,350 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $146,992 | $138,950 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $56,775 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $255,000 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,200/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,100/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $55,200 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 93.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 4.1% | — | [3] |
How Physical Therapist Salaries Work in Newport News
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the Virginia state-level OEWS median ($79,990) and scaling by Newport News's composite cost-of-living index (93)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and Virginia state income tax at a 4.7% effective rate ($3,422/yr on the $73,414 median)[10].
Newport News also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. Near-national unemployment means a balanced market — employers and candidates negotiate from roughly equal positions. Median household income in the metro is $55,200, which frames what "a good Physical Therapist salary" means locally: a $$73,414 wage pays about 133% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Physical Therapist Salary & Cost-of-Living Context — Newport News
Buy vs rent in Newport News
Monthly PITI on the $255,000 median home in Newport News is ~$1,866/mo — vs a $1,200/mo median rent. Rent burden on median household income is 26.1%, which falls within the recommended 30% guideline for housing costs.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Newport News
Estimated annual expense shares on a $56,775 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Newport News's COL index of 93. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Newport News's COL index of 93[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $1,200/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Newport News
Renting
Buying
At $4,731/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $1,419/mo. Newport News's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,200/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,100/mo), making rent very affordable on a median Physical Therapist salary. For homebuyers, the 3.5× price-to-income ratio is comfortable — a median {p.title} salary supports the median home in {city.name} well inside standard lender DTI caps.
How Newport News Stacks Up for Physical Therapists
Against 283 major US cities: Newport News ranks #177 for nominal Physical Therapist salary, #149 for rent affordability, and #113 for overall purchasing power. High cost of living absorbs much of Newport News's nominal wage premium. Physical Therapists here often trade pay for lifestyle, proximity to employers, or family roots — consider nearby metros on a salary-to-COL basis.
Nearby Cities — Physical Therapist Salary Comparison
Newport News's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs VA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newport News, VA ★ | $73,414 | 93 | $1,200 | — |
| Virginia Beach, VA | $102,701 | 103 | $1,571 | +39.9% |
| Richmond, VA | $96,719 | 97 | $1,287 | +31.7% |
| Roanoke, VA | $87,745 | 88 | $950 | +19.5% |
| Chesapeake, VA | $98,713 | 99 | $1,450 | +34.5% |
| Norfolk, VA | $94,725 | 95 | $1,250 | +29.0% |
Physical Therapist Job Market in Newport News
Newport News has an estimated 21 annual Physical Therapistopenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 244,200 national Physical Therapists[1]. The 4.1% unemployment rate[3] is near the national average, with steady turnover across most sectors.
About the profession: Physical therapists help patients recover from injuries and manage chronic conditions through exercise, manual therapy, and education. Demand is growing due to an aging population. Typical entry requirement: doctoral degree (dpt). Projected growth through 2034: 15%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Newport News
Early-career Physical Therapists in Newport News start around $38,997, reach the city median ($73,414) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($146,992) at senior / specialized levels.
Related healthcare professions in Newport News
Calculators for Physical Therapists in Newport News
Other professions in Newport News
Frequently Asked Questions — Physical Therapist in Newport News
How much does a Physical Therapist make in Newport News, VA?
The estimated median salary for a Physical Therapist in Newport News is $73,414/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS Virginia state median ($79,990) by Newport News's composite cost-of-living index of 93 (US = 100). After federal, Virginia state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $56,775/year or $4,731/month.
Can a Physical Therapist afford to live in Newport News?
On $4,731/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $1,419/month. Newport News's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,200/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,100/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 19.6%, making housing very affordable for a Physical Therapist at the local median. Home-buyers face 3.5× price-to-income, needing roughly 3.5 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Physical Therapist pay in Newport News?
On $73,414 gross, a Physical Therapist in Newport News pays approximately $7,600 in federal income tax (10.4% effective), $3,422 in Virginia state income tax (4.7% effective), and $5,617 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 22.7%. Some Virginia cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Newport News rank for Physical Therapist salaries vs other cities?
Newport News ranks #177 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Physical Therapist salary, #149 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #113 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Physical Therapist in Newport News?
On $56,775 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Newport News looks like: housing $14,400/yr (25.4%); food $6,527/yr; transportation $5,519/yr; healthcare $3,891/yr; utilities $2,739/yr; savings + discretionary $23,699/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Newport News's COL index of 93 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Physical Therapist job market like in Newport News?
Newport News's unemployment rate is 4.1% across the metro of 188,000. Estimated annual Physical Therapist openings: ~21 (extrapolated from 244,200 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The market is near national averages with steady turnover.
Do Newport News employers pay above or below the Virginia median for Physical Therapists?
Not consistently — Newport News's estimated Physical Therapist median of $73,414 is 26.4% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Newport News median is derived from the Virginia state-level BLS OEWS median ($79,990), scaled by Newport News's composite cost-of-living index of 93. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Physical Therapistmedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses Virginia's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 93index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 101.3(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Virginia Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
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