Maricopa, AZ (population: 53,723) has two occupational therapy assistant schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. GateWay Community College, the highest ranked school in this group with an occupational therapy assistant program, has a total student population of 7,863. It is the 5133rd highest ranked school in the USA and the 78th highest in the state of Arizona (#1 is Northern Arizona University).
Occupational Therapy Assistant students from Maricopa schools who go on to become occupational therapy assistants, medical assistants, medical office assistants, registered occupational therapists, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 26,680 people working as occupational therapist assistants alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $50,830. Also, Occupational therapist aides make on average $28,890 per year and there are about 8,040 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area alone, there are 100 employed occupational therapist aides earning an average salary of $25,320. Occupational therapist assistants in this area earn $51,170/yr and there are 60 employed.
Maricopa lies in Pinal county, which is one of the 15 counties in Arizona. Overall, the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area has 1,763,410 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1% unemployment rate, $20/hr average worker wage, and a $41,930 average annual salary. Thus, about 0 out of every 1000 jobs in Maricopa are held by occupational therapist assistants, and 0/1000 are held by occupational therapist aides.
Of the 2 occupational therapy assistant schools with a 100-mile radius of Maricopa, none have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, GateWay Community College comes out as the most expensive ($9,194/yr) for occupational therapy assistant students, with GateWay Community College as the lowest, reported at only $9,194/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Maricopa |
| Chandler | AZ | 258,122 | 5 | 22.1433 | 88 | 19.6 miles |
| Casa Grande | AZ | 47,388 | 1 | 16.7022 | 3 | 21.5 miles |
| Tempe | AZ | 181,658 | 9 | 21.5079 | 137 | 23.9 miles |
| Gilbert | AZ | 243,090 | 0 | - | 0 | 25.1 miles |
| Avondale | AZ | 89,387 | 5 | 24.8339 | 71 | 29.4 miles |
| Mesa | AZ | 474,115 | 6 | 20.6791 | 210 | 30.7 miles |
| Phoenix | AZ | 1,635,783 | 32 | 17.3678 | 810 | 33.2 miles |
| Glendale | AZ | 255,662 | 10 | 18.0628 | 241 | 37.0 miles |
| Buckeye | AZ | 61,572 | 0 | - | 0 | 40.8 miles |
| Scottsdale | AZ | 241,464 | 7 | 18.4016 | 124 | 44.8 miles |
| Peoria | AZ | 168,424 | 5 | 16.2489 | 161 | 44.9 miles |
| Surprise | AZ | 104,876 | 0 | - | 0 | 48.1 miles |
| Tucson | AZ | 551,067 | 19 | 23.0062 | 495 | 90.0 miles |