In a 2026 survey of 778 rehab therapy clinicians, most therapists still believe in the work itself. What varies is whether their practice gives them the schedule, culture, and leadership that make staying sustainable.
Most retention conversations focus on why clinicians stay in the field. In our 2026 survey of 778 rehab therapy clinicians, that turned out to be the wrong question. Clinicians already stay in the field, in large numbers. The real split is over whether they stay at a specific practice, and that split comes down to the environment, not the profession.
77% of clinicians plan to stay in clinical care, and patient impact and relationships tower over every other reason they name for staying: 77% point to making an impact and 72% to patient relationships, well ahead of compensation (28%) or work-life balance (27%). About 6 in 10 clinicians would recommend a career in rehab therapy to someone else, including more than 2 in 10 who'd recommend it strongly. About 4 in 10 would not. And 1 in 3 clinicians say the job turned out better than they expected going in, not worse. That's not a profession short on believers.
Set that against a different number: 1 in 3 clinicians are unsure they'll be at their current practice in 2 years, while 1 in 4 are unsure they'll be in a clinical role at all. The gap between those 2 figures is the whole finding. Clinicians aren't losing faith in the work. They're losing patience with where they're doing it.
My coworkers are my biggest reason for staying where I am. We work so well together it's hard to leave such a supportive environment like that.
Ask what keeps clinicians at a specific practice, and pay ranks near the bottom. Clinical autonomy (54%) and schedule flexibility (53%) rank highest, followed by strong team culture (50%) and supportive leadership (44%). Compensation trails at 34%. These aren't soft perks sitting alongside the real retention levers. In this data, they are the retention levers, and they outrank pay by a wide margin.
Team! That's my favorite part of my job. And our patients get better because of the positive atmosphere.
Day-to-day control over the work and a flexible schedule are named almost as often as team culture, and they track closely with intent to stay. Clinicians who plan to leave their practice are far more likely to point to back-to-back patients with no breaks: 72% of likely leavers name it, compared to 50% of likely stayers. A schedule that leaves no room to breathe is one of the clearest signals a practice can watch for.
Good leadership and a good team is more important than any patient population, documentation load, or compensation.
Documentation follows most clinicians home: 78% chart outside work hours at least once a week, and 38% do it 3 or more nights. That burden shows up in retention data, too, though less sharply than schedule and culture. Among clinicians likely to leave their practice, 20% chart 5 or more nights a week, compared to 14% of clinicians likely to stay. It's a smaller gap than the one for back-to-back scheduling, but it points the same direction: Less time protected outside the clinic tracks with more uncertainty about staying.
Clinicians already care about the work. What varies is whether the practice around them makes that easy to act on. The friction sits in schedules with no breaks, in leadership that isn't felt day to day, in a culture that hasn't been built with intention, and in evenings that keep getting eaten by documentation. Removing that friction is a more direct, more actionable lever than anything aimed at how clinicians feel about the work itself. The more useful question for practices isn't why clinicians care. It's what's currently standing in their way.
Most do still want to. 77% plan to stay in clinical care. What varies is whether their specific practice gives them a schedule, culture, and leadership that make staying sustainable.
Clinical autonomy, schedule flexibility, team culture, and supportive leadership all outrank compensation as reasons clinicians name for staying at their current practice.
Not usually. 1 in 3 clinicians are unsure about staying at their current practice, while 1 in 4 are unsure about staying in a clinical role at all, a smaller share.
It appears to, though less strongly than schedule and culture. Clinicians likely to leave their practice chart 5 or more nights a week more often than clinicians likely to stay, 20% versus 14%.
About 6 in 10 would, including more than 2 in 10 who'd recommend it strongly. About 4 in 10 would not.
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