Recreational Therapists vs Music Therapists
Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index
A factual, source-backed comparison of Recreational Therapists and Music Therapists on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”
At a glance
| Dimension | Recreational Therapists | Music Therapists |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $60,280 | $65,010 |
| Employment | 15,060 | 19,320 |
| Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection | About average (+3.3%) | Growing fast (+11.5%) |
| Annual openings · BLS projection | 1,300 | 4,100 |
| Typical education · O*NET | Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not. | Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not. |
| AI exposure · published exposure studies | Low · 16th pct | Low · 30th pct |
| Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk | 32nd pct · 20% of tasks | 32nd pct · 20% of tasks |
| Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index | Augmentation-leaning (63.1%) | — |
| Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman | No | — |
Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.
Skills
Shared: Psychology, Therapy and Counseling, Customer and Personal Service, Education and Training, Service Orientation, English Language, Active Listening, Speaking, Social Perceptiveness, Coordination, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Speech Clarity, Reading Comprehension, Writing, Critical Thinking, Instructing, Written Comprehension, Written Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Speech Recognition, Information Ordering, Complex Problem Solving, Sociology and Anthropology, Active Learning, Learning Strategies, Monitoring, Persuasion, Originality, Negotiation, Judgment and Decision Making, Fluency of Ideas, Category Flexibility, Near Vision, Systems Analysis.
Specific to Recreational Therapists
- Administration and Management
- Time Management
- Medicine and Dentistry
Specific to Music Therapists
- Fine Arts
- Selective Attention
- Hearing Sensitivity
Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).
Tools & technology
Shared: Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Music or sound editing software , Medical software , Internet browser software .
Specific to Recreational Therapists
Specific to Music Therapists
Full profiles
This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Recreational Therapists or Music Therapists — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.
More comparisons
Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.
- Recreational Therapists vs Occupational Therapy Assistants
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- Recreational Therapists vs Occupational Therapists
- Recreational Therapists vs Physical Therapist Assistants
- Recreational Therapists vs Occupational Therapy Aides
- Recreational Therapists vs Physical Therapists
- Recreational Therapists vs Physical Therapist Aides
- Recreational Therapists vs Rehabilitation Counselors
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Recreational Therapists vs Music Therapists." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/recreational-therapists-vs-music-therapists
Singulariki. (2026). Recreational Therapists vs Music Therapists. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/recreational-therapists-vs-music-therapists
@misc{singulariki-recreational-therapists-vs-music-therapists,
title = {Recreational Therapists vs Music Therapists},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/compare/recreational-therapists-vs-music-therapists}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.