Acute care, outpatient, skilled nursing and school based · Paid weekly · You can start work 60 days before your California license issues
| Weekly pay | Up to $3,200 on a 40-hour week |
|---|---|
| Settings | Acute rehab, outpatient clinics, skilled nursing, home health and school districts |
| Contract length | 13 weeks is typical |
| License | California OT license required. California is NOT in the OT Compact. But you may work for 60 calendar days from the date the Board receives your application. |
| What sets it apart | One of the few states that lets a licensed out of state OT start work before the new license issues |
| Extras | Weekly pay and a dedicated recruiter. Call (866) 680-2920. |
| Pay updated | October 2026 |
Explore immediate travel contracts and direct facility placements available in California with competitive weekly pay and comprehensive benefits.
Filter by shift (Day/Night), duration, facility setting, and city across CA.
Search occupational therapist jobs California and the license question comes up fast. California occupational therapy license applications are not quick, and California is not in the OT Compact, so there is no privilege to buy and no shortcut through another state's license.
What California does have is unusual. If you hold a current, active and unrestricted OT license in another state, you may work in California for 60 calendar days counted from the day the California Board of Occupational Therapy receives your application. Not from the day it is approved. From the day it lands.
That changes the planning entirely. Most states make you wait for the license before you can accept anything. Here the application date is the starting gun, which means a contract can begin while the paperwork moves.
Two things to watch. The 60 days is a hard stop rather than a rolling permit, so the application genuinely needs to be in before you plan around it. And the out of state license has to be unrestricted.
60 days
Work window from application receipt
No compact
California is not an OT Compact member
Unrestricted
Out-of-state license must be clean
60-day provision and compact status verified against the California Board of Occupational Therapy and independent licensing guides. Last reviewed October 2026.
No state pays occupational therapists better. California sits at a $124,510 median, $59.86 an hour, in the May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release. Put that against the $100,330 national figure and it is 24 percent clear. Half the state falls between $103,950 and $136,380.
Treat that as staff pay. Contract rates are built differently, and once rent is accounted for the gap between California and a cheaper state narrows a long way.
$124,510 CA median
BLS OEWS, May 2025
$103,950 – $136,380
Middle half of the state
24% above national
Against $100,330 nationally
California is four job markets, not one, and the pay gap between them is smaller than the rent gap.
Occupational therapist San Diego roles carry a BLS metro median of $121,680, just under the state figure. Strong pediatric and outpatient presence, a large military adjacent sector, and rent that is high but not Bay Area high, which is why the slightly lower median often goes further here.
Occupational therapist jobs Los Angeles span acute rehab, school districts and private clinics. Occupational therapist jobs Orange County lean outpatient and pediatric. Distances here are measured in hours, not miles.
Occupational therapy jobs San Francisco, and San Jose alongside it. The state's best rates sit here, and so does the rent that swallows them.
Occupational therapy jobs Sacramento, with Fresno and the Central Valley behind it. Rates drop, costs drop further, and the work tilts towards long term care and visiting caseloads.
As an occupational therapist on contract with We Care Staffing, you evaluate patients and build treatment plans that restore the everyday function that matters to them: helping people regain independence in daily activities after injury, surgery, stroke, or illness, adapting tasks and environments, recommending assistive equipment, and documenting outcomes that facilities and payers depend on. California contracts span acute rehab, outpatient clinics, skilled nursing, home health and school districts across the state.
Five California markets have their own dedicated pages with local detail, pay, and how to apply:
Start by telling us where you hold a license. Current and unrestricted, and the 60 day route usually puts you on a California floor sooner than you would expect.