Start with the answer
Occupational Therapists pay in Alabama and California
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Occupational Therapists is $94,050 per year in Alabama. It is $124,510 per year in California. Alabama is 24.5% below California on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 29-1122 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 1,500 wage and salary jobs in Alabama and 13,810 in California. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings