Respiratory Therapist Salary in 2026: National, by State, City, Specialty & Real Value

A respiratory therapist in the United States earns a median of $82,280 a year, about $39.56 an hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025). Pay runs from roughly $63,660 at the 10th percentile to $118,050 at the 90th, and it swings further once you account for state, metro, setting, specialty, cost of living, and tax. About 139,790 respiratory therapists work nationwide. This guide is the complete picture: national and percentile pay, all 50 states ranked by real (cost-adjusted) value, top metros, settings, specialties, take-home after tax, the path in, the return on the degree, and answers to the questions people ask most.

National pay overview

The national median for respiratory therapists is $82,280 a year ($39.56 an hour), with a mean of $87,300. The full wage curve, from entry to senior:

Percentile	Annual	Hourly
10th (entry)	$63,660	$30.61
25th	$74,520	$35.83
50th (median)	$82,280	$39.56
75th	$98,730	$47.47
90th (senior)	$118,050	$56.75

The gap from the 10th to the 90th percentile is about $54,390. A single national number hides that range, which is why the rest of this guide breaks pay down by every factor that moves it, and then translates the headline into cost-adjusted, after-tax dollars.

The mean of $87,300 sits above the median, which tells you the top of the field pulls the average up: a meaningful share of respiratory therapists earn well into the upper percentiles through specialty, setting, geography, and seniority. The practical question is what you can earn given where you work, what you specialize in, and how you structure your hours, which matters far more than the field-wide average. Each section below answers one piece of that.

Pay by experience

BLS does not publish pay by years of experience, but the percentiles map closely to a career arc:

Stage	Typical percentile	Annual
New graduate	10th to 25th	$63,660 to $74,520
Mid-career	~50th	around $82,280
Experienced	~75th	around $98,730
Senior / specialized / lead	90th+	$118,050 and up

The climb from new graduate to senior is roughly $54,390. Early raises tend to come fastest as you move off new-grad pay; by mid-career the curve flattens, and the people who keep climbing usually do so by specializing, switching to a higher-paying setting or state, taking on lead and management duties, or adding hours through PRN and overtime. Geography and setting can outweigh experience entirely: an experienced RT in a low-paying state can earn less than a new graduate in a top-paying one.

Salary by state: all 50 states ranked by real value

This is the table most respiratory therapist salary pages leave out. Below are every state and Washington, D.C., ranked by real value (the median adjusted for that state’s cost of living (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024)) rather than by sticker pay. A high-paying state with high costs can leave you worse off than a moderate-paying, low-cost one. Tap a linked state for the full local breakdown.

#	State	Median (nominal)	Cost level (US=100)	Real value	Employed
1	District of Columbia	$111,950	109.9	$101,864	430
2	Minnesota	$98,710	98.6	$100,090	1,250
3	New York	$107,810	107.9	$99,897	7,010
4	Oregon	$100,560	103.4	$97,290	1,340
5	Massachusetts	$102,170	105.8	$96,608	2,220
6	Alaska	$97,950	102.4	$95,693	180
7	California	$104,820	110.7	$94,671	18,650
8	Washington	$101,130	107.0	$94,503	1,860
9	New Jersey	$100,810	108.8	$92,652	3,350
10	New Hampshire	$95,940	104.2	$92,104	360
11	North Dakota	$81,230	89.0	$91,312	270
12	Delaware	$91,080	99.8	$91,255	500
13	Nebraska	$81,590	90.1	$90,552	840
14	Oklahoma	$78,800	87.8	$89,705	2,000
15	Wisconsin	$84,210	94.1	$89,495	1,940
16	Georgia	$83,700	96.3	$86,922	5,150
17	Missouri	$78,390	90.8	$86,316	3,030
18	Ohio	$79,920	92.8	$86,145	6,640
19	Montana	$81,190	94.6	$85,784	390
20	Hawaii	$94,210	110.0	$85,684	510
21	Wyoming	$79,330	92.7	$85,585	160
22	Vermont	$83,820	98.0	$85,567	210
23	Nevada	$85,480	100.0	$85,498	1,270
24	Kansas	$76,970	90.1	$85,458	1,450
25	Indiana	$79,730	93.3	$85,429	3,170
26	Louisiana	$75,240	88.2	$85,299	2,520
27	Iowa	$74,760	87.8	$85,185	910
28	Maine	$82,470	97.0	$84,977	520
29	Arkansas	$73,870	86.9	$84,970	1,400
30	Rhode Island	$86,900	102.3	$84,963	260
31	North Carolina	$80,090	94.3	$84,908	4,630
32	Maryland	$88,960	105.0	$84,757	1,800
33	Illinois	$84,090	100.0	$84,125	4,880
34	Colorado	$86,220	103.1	$83,666	2,110
35	Michigan	$79,850	96.2	$82,989	4,520
36	South Carolina	$77,740	93.7	$82,924	1,960
37	Connecticut	$85,230	103.6	$82,260	1,370
38	Idaho	$78,460	95.5	$82,162	820
39	Virginia	$82,910	101.1	$82,005	3,340
40	Texas	$79,540	97.1	$81,952	12,130
41	Utah	$80,650	98.9	$81,577	1,170
42	Kentucky	$72,750	90.2	$80,691	2,530
43	Pennsylvania	$78,490	97.6	$80,443	6,530
44	Arizona	$79,780	100.7	$79,244	3,500
45	Tennessee	$72,140	91.9	$78,524	3,440
46	Florida	$81,160	103.4	$78,481	8,820
47	South Dakota	$68,240	88.6	$77,032	430
48	West Virginia	$68,670	89.5	$76,729	1,140
49	New Mexico	$68,870	92.2	$74,687	840
50	Alabama	$66,150	88.8	$74,474	2,350
51	Mississippi	$63,270	87.0	$72,763	1,670

On real, cost-adjusted value, District of Columbia leads at $101,864, while Mississippi trails at $72,763. By raw sticker pay the order is different: District of Columbia ($111,950), New York ($107,810), and California ($104,820) pay the most nominally, but several of them slide down the list once high housing and prices are counted. That reordering is the single most useful thing this page does, and it is why national averages and sticker rankings can steer you wrong.

Concrete example of the flip: Connecticut ranks #17 by sticker pay ($85,230) but only #37 once its cost level of 104 is applied, because high prices eat the higher salary. Meanwhile Oklahoma looks middling on sticker (#36) yet climbs to #14 on real value, since a 78,800-dollar median goes much further at a cost level of 88. If you are willing to relocate, the real-value column, not the sticker column, is the one that should guide the decision.

The geographic pattern: the highest sticker pay clusters on the West Coast and in the Northeast, while the best real value often shows up in lower-cost states in the South, Midwest, and Mountain West where a strong salary meets cheap housing. There is no single best state, only the best fit for where you want to live and what your money will buy there.

Highest-paying metros

Within states, metros drive pay further. The largest RT job markets by employment, with median pay:

Metro	Median	Employed
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$104,640	7,010
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY	$110,490	7,010
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$80,450	3,630
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL	$87,060	3,620
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$84,080	3,010
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA	$88,790	2,990
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$95,520	2,670
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$80,880	2,620
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$79,760	2,600
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$100,480	2,200

The same cost-of-living rule applies inside a state: a higher-paying big metro can lose to a cheaper mid-size city once housing is counted. Big metros also hold the deepest job markets, so they pair the most pay with the most openings, while rural and smaller markets sometimes pay premiums to attract candidates. The state pages work the metro and cost math out city by city.

Salary by work setting

Where respiratory therapists work changes pay as much as geography. National medians by employer type:

Setting	Employed (U.S.)	Median
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	103,830	$82,730
Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals	8,160	$82,690
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities)	5,480	$79,270
Offices of Other Health Practitioners	3,880	$88,020
Offices of Physicians	3,710	$77,890
Employment Services	3,530	$80,120
Outpatient Care Centers	2,160	$135,000

The gap between the highest- and lowest-paying settings is real money over a career, and it usually comes with trade-offs in pace, caseload, autonomy, and schedule rather than in difficulty alone. The largest employer is not always the best payer, so it is worth weighing where the volume of jobs is against where the pay is when you choose a setting.

How it compares to related careers

It helps to see a respiratory therapist beside the roles people weigh against it, with pay set next to the education each requires:

Role	National median	Education
Licensed Practical Nurse	$64,400	Varies
Respiratory Therapist (this role)	$82,280	Associate degree
Registered Nurse	$97,550	Varies
Nurse Practitioner	$132,300	Master’s or doctorate

Against licensed practical nurse at $64,400, this role pays about $17,880 more for the added schooling. The higher-paid registered nurse ($97,550) sits $15,270 above, but on a longer or different training path. The right comparison is always pay set against the time, cost, and debt of the credential, not pay alone.

Scope of practice and licensing

Respiratory therapists evaluate and treat patients with breathing and cardiopulmonary problems, from chronic conditions to emergency and critical care, carrying significant clinical responsibility on hospital and ICU teams. Every state except Alaska licenses the role, and the NBRC credential (the CRT, then the registered RRT) is the standard. The RRT and specialty credentials are the main pay levers within the field.

Licensing is not just a hurdle, it shapes pay. Where a role can practice more independently or bill for more services, it tends to command more, and license portability between states affects how easily you can chase a higher-paying market. Always confirm the current rules with the relevant state board, since scope and requirements change and vary widely.

Specialties and where the pay is

Pay rises with the registered RRT credential and specialty certifications in areas such as neonatal and pediatric (NPS), adult critical care (ACCS), and sleep. ICU, neonatal, and travel respiratory roles pay above general floor work, and lead, supervisory, and education roles raise pay further. A bachelor’s degree increasingly opens management and specialty tracks.

The practical takeaway: within respiratory therapists, specialty and setting usually move pay more than another year of general experience. The top earners are rarely just the most tenured, they are the ones in the higher-paying focus areas, settings, or leadership and ownership roles.

If you are early in the field, the decisions with the biggest long-run payoff are which specialty to pursue and which setting to enter, because both compound over a career and are easier to choose early than to switch later. A credential that takes a year to earn can pay for itself many times over through higher pay and more job options, which is the same logic the ROI section applies to the degree itself.

What moves the pay

• State and metro, and crucially the cost of living that goes with them, which the real-value table reorders.
• Experience, which lifts pay steadily and then plateaus without a specialty or a step up.
• Work setting, with home health, hospital, and specialty roles often paying above clinic or school settings.
• Specialty and board certification, a clear premium in most of these fields.
• Hours and structure, since overtime, PRN, and travel work can push total pay well above base.

Salary, hourly, and total compensation

The $82,280 median is base pay. Real total compensation often runs higher: at an hourly equivalent of $39.56, overtime runs about $59.34, so one extra eight-hour shift a week adds on the order of $24,685 a year in gross. PRN and travel roles trade benefits for higher hourly rates, and many employers add signing bonuses, productivity bonuses, and strong benefits. When comparing offers, weigh the whole package: base, bonus structure, shift and call differentials, retirement match, paid time off, and continuing-education support. Two offers with the same base can differ by thousands once the rest is counted.

Take-home pay after tax

Two respiratory therapists on the same $82,280 salary keep very different amounts depending on the state. Worked examples on the national median, single filer, 2026 federal plus FICA plus state:

State	Gross	Est. take-home	Effective rate
Texas (no state income tax)	$82,280	$66,270	19.5%
New York	$82,280	$62,350	24.2%
California	$82,280	$62,591	23.9%

That is roughly $3,679 a year more in take-home in no-tax Texas than in California on an identical salary, before cost of living is even counted. Nine states levy no income tax.

Take-home also scales with where you sit on the pay curve. In Texas, an entry-level RT earning $74,520 nets about $60,811, while a senior one at $118,050 keeps about $91,434, since higher pay pushes more income into higher federal brackets. The effective rate climbs with income, so a raise is worth somewhat less on take-home than on the headline. Every state page includes a full breakdown and a paycheck calculator to run your own number.

How to maximize earnings

• Target a high-real-value state or metro using the table above, not the highest sticker.
• Move into the higher-paying setting and specialty for your field.
• Add board certification or a specialty credential, which pays a clear premium.
• Use PRN, travel, or overtime to lift total pay, and negotiate the full package.
• Consider leadership or ownership for the higher ceiling.

How pay is changing

Wages for respiratory therapists have broadly risen with healthcare demand and inflation, but the real story is in the mix: pay grows fastest where labor is scarce and where the role takes on more responsibility. Watch three things if you are planning a career here, the spread between settings (which keeps widening as specialized and hospital roles pull ahead), the value of cost-of-living arbitrage (a strong salary in a cheap state has rarely been worth more relative to expensive coastal markets), and the premium on specialty credentials. The figures on this page are the May 2025 BLS estimates, the most recent national data, and the state pages carry the same detail locally.

Job outlook

Employment of respiratory therapists is projected to grow about 12% from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations, with roughly 8,800 openings a year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. An aging population and the rising prevalence of COPD, asthma, and other respiratory conditions drive demand, concentrated mostly in hospitals, and the field gained lasting visibility and demand from the respiratory-illness surges of recent years.

For context, the average growth rate across all U.S. occupations through 2034 is about 3%. A large share of yearly openings also comes from replacing workers who retire or move on, so real hiring tends to run ahead of the net-growth figure, and shortage and rural areas often pay the most to attract candidates.

How to become a respiratory therapist

Respiratory therapy is a two-year clinical path with strong pay and responsibility:

1. Earn an accredited degree. An associate degree in respiratory therapy is the minimum (CoARC-accredited); bachelor’s programs are increasingly common.
2. Earn the NBRC credential, starting with the CRT and advancing to the registered RRT that most employers expect.
3. Get state licensure (required in every state except Alaska).
4. Add specialty certifications in critical care, neonatal and pediatric, or sleep for more pay.

Is it worth it? The return on the degree

An associate degree keeps the upfront cost moderate against a median near $82,280, a strong return for two years of training. The RRT credential and a specialty or critical-care focus are where the pay climbs, so the return improves markedly for those who credential up rather than staying at the entry level. Weigh program cost, your starting state and setting, and the specialties you can reach against the debt. The pay tables above, set next to the education column in the comparison section, are the honest way to run that math before committing.

Two levers change the answer most: the price of the program you choose, since cost varies enormously between public and private schools, and the state and setting you start in, since the same degree pays very differently across the by-state and settings tables above. A graduate who controls program cost and starts in a high-real-value state can clear the debt years faster than one who does neither, on the identical credential.

Frequently asked questions

State guides and tools

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 and Occupational Outlook Handbook (SOC 29-1126 and related codes); national, state, and metro estimates. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024. Take-home figures are 2026 estimates (federal, FICA, and state) for a single filer and will vary with deductions and filing status. See our methodology.