Respiratory Therapists salary

SOC 29-1126 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$82,280

per year, nationally

Middle half

$74,520–$98,730

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

139,790

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+12.1%

8,800 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$63,660$118,050

10th: $63,660
25th: $74,520
Median: $82,280
75th: $98,730
90th: $118,050

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Associate's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where respiratory therapists earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	District of Columbia	$111,950	109.9	430	0.69×
2	New York	$107,810	107.9	7,010	0.81×
3	California	$104,820	110.7	18,650	1.14×
4	Massachusetts	$102,170	105.8	2,220	0.68×
5	Washington	$101,130	107.0	1,860	0.58×
6	New Jersey	$100,810	108.8	3,350	0.87×
7	Oregon	$100,560	103.4	1,340	0.76×
8	Minnesota	$98,710	98.6	1,250	0.47×
9	Alaska	$97,950	102.4	180	0.62×
10	New Hampshire	$95,940	104.2	360	0.59×
11	Hawaii	$94,210	110.0	510	0.91×
12	Delaware	$91,080	99.8	500	1.15×
13	Maryland	$88,960	105.0	1,800	0.72×
14	Rhode Island	$86,900	102.3	260	0.57×
15	Colorado	$86,220	103.1	2,110	0.82×
16	Nevada	$85,480	100.0	1,270	0.91×
17	Connecticut	$85,230	103.6	1,370	0.90×
18	Wisconsin	$84,210	94.1	1,940	0.74×
19	Illinois	$84,090	100.0	4,880	0.89×
20	Vermont	$83,820	98.0	210	0.79×
21	Georgia	$83,700	96.3	5,150	1.17×
22	Virginia	$82,910	101.1	3,340	0.90×
23	Maine	$82,470	97.0	520	0.90×
24	Nebraska	$81,590	90.1	840	0.91×
25	North Dakota	$81,230	89.0	270	0.71×
26	Montana	$81,190	94.6	390	0.85×
27	Florida	$81,160	103.4	8,820	0.99×
28	Utah	$80,650	98.9	1,170	0.75×
29	North Carolina	$80,090	94.3	4,630	1.04×
30	Ohio	$79,920	92.8	6,640	1.33×
31	Michigan	$79,850	96.2	4,520	1.14×
32	Arizona	$79,780	100.7	3,500	1.20×
33	Indiana	$79,730	93.3	3,170	1.10×
34	Texas	$79,540	97.1	12,130	0.96×
35	Wyoming	$79,330	92.7	160	0.64×
36	Oklahoma	$78,800	87.8	2,000	1.30×
37	Pennsylvania	$78,490	97.6	6,530	1.20×
38	Idaho	$78,460	95.5	820	1.06×
39	Missouri	$78,390	90.8	3,030	1.15×
40	South Carolina	$77,740	93.7	1,960	0.94×
41	Kansas	$76,970	90.1	1,450	1.13×
42	Louisiana	$75,240	88.2	2,520	1.45×
43	Iowa	$74,760	87.8	910	0.65×
44	Arkansas	$73,870	86.9	1,400	1.19×
45	Kentucky	$72,750	90.2	2,530	1.41×
46	Tennessee	$72,140	91.9	3,440	1.17×
47	New Mexico	$68,870	92.2	840	1.08×
48	West Virginia	$68,670	89.5	1,140	1.80×
49	South Dakota	$68,240	88.6	430	1.04×
50	Alabama	$66,150	88.8	2,350	1.24×
51	Mississippi	$63,270	87.0	1,670	1.60×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where respiratory therapists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for respiratory therapists

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$149,680	110.4	1,060	1.04×
2	Vallejo, CA	$136,200	108.5	190	1.46×
3	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$134,880	109.9	70	0.77×
4	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$134,430	106.7	1,140	1.18×
5	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$130,220	115.6	2,010	0.94×
6	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$123,220	107.8	200	1.07×
7	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$112,430	108.6	90	0.78×
8	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$110,490	112.6	7,010	0.82×
9	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$108,600	108.8	130	0.71×
10	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$106,910	109.4	240	0.97×
11	Reno, NV	$105,140	101.0	180	0.74×
12	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$105,040	111.9	1,430	1.03×
13	Napa, CA	$104,670	112.6	60	0.79×
14	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$104,640	113.6	7,010	1.24×
15	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$104,580	108.3	1,560	0.64×
16	Salem, OR	$104,360	103.6	130	0.77×
17	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$104,350	98.9	110	0.72×
18	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$104,220	111.1	1,130	0.60×
19	Modesto, CA	$103,870	104.1	270	1.54×
20	Redding, CA	$103,830	100.7	90	1.34×
21	Binghamton, NY	$103,200	92.9	100	1.18×
22	Medford, OR	$102,780	101.4	90	1.16×
23	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$102,760	100.9	370	1.22×
24	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$102,250	110.5	310	1.08×
25	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$102,050	105.1	350	1.36×
26	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$101,990	108.9	1,850	0.66×
27	Merced, CA	$101,810	98.3	40	0.62×
28	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$100,920	104.8	820	0.47×
29	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$100,480	106.4	2,200	1.43×
30	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$100,030	105.4	760	0.70×
31	Rome, GA	$98,720	90.2	120	2.90×
32	Rochester, MN	$98,700	90.8	160	1.44×
33	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$98,320	100.1	60	0.54×
34	Worcester, MA	$98,120	102.5	250	0.80×
35	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$98,010	106.9	260	0.71×
36	Anchorage, AK	$97,950	105.4	130	0.79×
37	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$95,520	100.1	2,670	1.03×
38	Kingston, NY	$95,170	100.7	60	1.10×
39	Urban Honolulu, HI	$94,210	111.0	440	1.09×
40	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$93,300	105.7	100	0.55×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where respiratory therapists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.