Physical & Occupational Therapy in South Dakota
Physical therapists and occupational therapists registered with a practice address in this area, including their board-recognised specialty areas.
How density varies inside South Dakota
Each bar is the number of places at that level of provider density. A long right tail means a few places carry far more providers per resident than the rest of the state.
There are 1,631 licensed therapists registered in South Dakota. The two most common licence types are physical therapist (993) and occupational therapist (525).
South Dakota ranks 51st of 56 states and territories by the number of registered providers in this field.
The largest single group is physical therapist, at 993 providers or 61% of the total. Licence titles vary between states for what is often similar training and scope, so the mix here partly reflects how South Dakota licenses its providers.
No single licence type dominates here — physical therapist and occupational therapist are within reach of each other. For most common reasons to seek therapy, the distinction between those licences matters less than availability and cost.
Providers are registered in 136 distinct places across South Dakota. The map shows the ZIP codes with the highest counts.
These counts come from the federal NPI registry. A provider appears here if they hold an active NPI with a practice address in this area — it does not mean they are currently accepting new clients, and the registry does not record insurance, fees or availability.
How South Dakota got here
new registrations per yearEach registration carries the year it was issued, so the registry doubles as a record of when this workforce grew in South Dakota. A rising line means the constraint is easing; a flat one means today's shortage is likely to be next year's too.
Who they are
self-reported to CMS74.7% of registered licensed therapists in South Dakota are women. Nationally the figure varies a great deal by licence type — occupational therapy at one end, psychiatry at the other. See the national breakdown.
You can filter any city list on this site by gender. We show it because it is one of the most common things people search for and, for some kinds of work, a real need — but it is only ever a filter here, never a ranking.
Where they are registered
circle size = providers in that ZIP codeBy licence type
Places in South Dakota
103 of 103 have their own page so far| Place | Providers | Population | Per 10k |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sioux Falls | 541 | 213,748 | 25.3 |
| Rapid City | 265 | 80,589 | 32.9 |
| Aberdeen | 82 | 27,961 | 29.3 |
| Watertown | 69 | 23,736 | 29.1 |
| Mitchell | 55 | 15,756 | 34.9 |
| Spearfish | 49 | 14,154 | 34.6 |
| Dakota Dunes | 46 | ||
| Yankton | 40 | 15,816 | |
| Brookings | 39 | 25,355 | 15.4 |
| Pierre | 31 | 13,848 | 22.4 |
| Sturgis | 29 | 6,922 | |
| Vermillion | 25 | 11,720 | 21.3 |
| Madison | 18 | 6,065 | 29.7 |
| Winner | 15 | 2,969 | 50.5 |
| Custer | 15 | 1,803 | 83.2 |
| Huron | 14 | 14,607 | 9.6 |
| Brandon | 13 | 11,306 | 11.5 |
| Big Stone City | 13 | 406 | |
| Belle Fourche | 13 | 5,791 | 22.4 |
| Salem | 12 | 1,357 | 88.4 |
| Hartford | 12 | 3,635 | 33.0 |
| Hot Springs | 10 | 3,670 | 27.2 |
| Beresford | 9 | 2,105 | 42.8 |
| Tea | 8 | 8,019 | 10.0 |
| Redfield | 8 | 2,114 | 37.8 |
| Canton | 8 | 3,001 | |
| Viborg | 7 | 853 | 82.1 |
| Tyndall | 7 | 1,117 | |
| Milbank | 7 | 3,512 | 19.9 |
| Deadwood | 7 | 1,360 | 51.5 |
| Chamberlain | 7 | 2,453 | 28.5 |
| Parkston | 6 | 1,540 | 39.0 |
| Faulkton | 6 | 827 | 72.6 |
| Britton | 6 | 1,199 | 50.0 |
| Ashland Heights | 6 | ||
| Webster | 5 | 1,681 | 29.7 |
| Sisseton | 5 | 2,413 | 20.7 |
| Mobridge | 5 | 3,192 | 15.7 |
| Miller | 5 | 1,313 | 38.1 |
| Gregory | 5 | 1,250 | 40.0 |
| Garretson | 5 | 1,174 | 42.6 |
| Centerville | 5 | 984 | 50.8 |
| Wagner | 4 | 1,422 | 28.1 |
| Lemmon | 4 | 1,158 | 34.5 |
| Howard | 4 | 838 | 47.7 |
| Dell Rapids | 4 | 3,852 | 10.4 |
| Summerset | 3 | 3,030 | 9.9 |
| Rosebud | 3 | ||
| North Sioux City | 3 | 3,036 | 9.9 |
| Harrisburg | 3 | 10,405 | 2.9 |
| Groton | 3 | 1,337 | 22.4 |
| Elk Point | 3 | 2,080 | 14.4 |
| Clark | 3 | 1,183 | 25.4 |
| Platte | 2 | 1,230 | 16.3 |
| Piedmont | 2 | 1,245 | 16.1 |
| Philip | 2 | 740 | 27.0 |
| Lennox | 2 | 2,657 | 7.5 |
| Irene | 2 | 439 | 45.6 |
| Ipswich | 2 | 935 | 21.4 |
| Flandreau | 2 | 2,396 | 8.3 |
| Eagle Butte | 2 | 1,269 | 15.8 |
| Clear Lake | 2 | 1,220 | 16.4 |
| Bridgewater | 2 | 517 | 38.7 |
| Alcester | 2 | 776 | 25.8 |
| Wolsey | 1 | 471 | 21.2 |
| White | 1 | 571 | 17.5 |
| Wessington Springs | 1 | 753 | 13.3 |
| Wakonda | 1 | 338 | 29.6 |
| Volga | 1 | 2,458 | 4.1 |
| Valley Springs | 1 | 889 | 11.2 |
| Tripp | 1 | 563 | 17.8 |
| Smithwick | 1 | ||
| Selby | 1 | 600 | 16.7 |
| Scotland | 1 | 804 | 12.4 |
| Roslyn | 1 | 182 | 54.9 |
| Rosholt | 1 | 370 | 27.0 |
| Pollock | 1 | 226 | 44.2 |
| Pine Ridge | 1 | ||
| Nunda | 1 | 46 | |
| Montrose | 1 | 476 | 21.0 |
| Menno | 1 | 622 | |
| Langford | 1 | 276 | 36.2 |
| Lake Preston | 1 | 605 | 16.5 |
| Jefferson | 1 | 448 | 22.3 |
| Java | 1 | 119 | |
| Hudson | 1 | 342 | 29.2 |
| Hayti | 1 | 482 | |
| Gettysburg | 1 | 1,049 | 9.5 |
| Fort Thompson | 1 | ||
| Faith | 1 | 347 | 28.8 |
| Eureka | 1 | 775 | 12.9 |
| Emery | 1 | 465 | 21.5 |
| De Smet | 1 | 1,032 | 9.7 |
| Corsica | 1 | 564 | 17.7 |
| Colome | 1 | 337 | 29.7 |
| Colman | 1 | 696 | 14.4 |
| Claremont | 1 | 107 | 93.5 |
| Chancellor | 1 | 322 | |
| Brandt | 1 | 119 | |
| Box Elder | 1 | 13,936 | 0.7 |
| Bowdle | 1 | 474 | 21.1 |
| Armour | 1 | 725 | 13.8 |
| Arlington | 1 | 926 | 10.8 |
11 places have no per-resident figure. Those are office districts inside a larger urban area, rural towns whose practices serve a whole region, or places where most registrations share one employer's address — dividing by the resident population there produces a number that looks precise and describes nothing. The provider counts are unaffected; the test is described in the methodology.