Official annual estimates for the whole country, mapped to the closest published occupation.
United States · annual wage estimate
25th percentile
$74,520
Median
$82,280
75th percentile
$98,730
BLS covers wage and salary employees, including part-time workers, but excludes self-employed workers and owners or partners in unincorporated firms. Wages include commissions and production bonuses, but exclude overtime premiums, employer benefits, and non-production bonuses; this is not a base-pay-only or total-compensation measure. Annual wage estimates generally convert hourly rates using a full-time, year-round schedule of 2,080 hours. Actual annual earnings on a shorter schedule can be lower.
This is a country-level occupation benchmark, not a local offer estimate. Pay can differ by location, employer, duties, and working pattern.
National median with 25th–75th percentile band, 2003–2025.
Source: BLS, 2025-05-01. Mapped to Respiratory therapists; the occupation is broader than the page role. Figures are estimates, not advertised salaries.
Quick interpretation
The national Respiratory Therapist benchmark fits this role because the mapped occupation covers assessing, treating, and caring for patients with breathing disorders, including respiratory-care procedures and equipment. Use it to compare an employee offer for this occupation, then check the duties, schedule, and cash-pay terms attached to the specific job.
Benchmark fit
Why this benchmark applies to Respiratory Therapist
Respiratory Therapist is a close match to the mapped national occupation of respiratory therapists. The occupation includes patient assessment and respiratory care, therapeutic procedures, patient records, and equipment operation.
Overlapping responsibilities
Assessing, treating, and caring for patients with breathing disorders.
Initiating and conducting respiratory therapeutic procedures and operating respiratory equipment.
What the occupation combines
The national occupation includes responsibility for respiratory-care modalities, patient records, and selecting, assembling, checking, and operating equipment.
Nearby titles: Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT), Registered Respiratory Practitioner, Respiratory Care Practitioner (RCP), and Licensed Respiratory Therapist are reported job titles within the occupation..
The benchmark describes the broad occupation, not every assignment. Duties such as emergency care, treatment planning, or supervising technicians can depend on the setting, orders, protocols, credentials, and applicable scope-of-practice rules. Respiratory therapy technicians are a distinct role, even though therapists may supervise them.
Role scope
What Respiratory Therapist work usually includes
Respiratory therapists assess, treat, and care for patients with breathing disorders. They carry out respiratory-care procedures, maintain patient records, and select, check, and operate equipment.
Responsibilities
Assess patients with breathing or cardiopulmonary disorders and review patient information, prescriptions, and arterial blood gases where assigned. · Administer oxygen therapy and breathing treatments. · Set up and operate respiratory devices, including mechanical ventilators and aerosol generators, according to treatment parameters. · Monitor physiological responses to therapy and consult a physician if adverse reactions occur. · Educate patients about managing chronic respiratory conditions.
Typical outputs
Respiratory treatments and therapeutic procedures delivered within the role's assigned parameters. · Patient records and monitoring information related to respiratory care.
Respiratory therapy technician
This is a distinct occupational role. Respiratory therapists may supervise technicians, students, or assistants in some assignments.
Read the range
Three points, one pay distribution
A useful scope check is whether the offer is for respiratory-therapist work: assessing respiratory conditions, delivering treatments, monitoring response, maintaining records, and operating respiratory equipment. Some assignments may also involve ventilator management, pulmonary testing, emergency care, or supervision; those tasks should be confirmed in the job description rather than assumed.
25th percentile
One quarter of employees earn below this figure.
Median
Half of employees earn below this figure and half above it; it is not the arithmetic midpoint of the displayed range.
75th percentile
One quarter of employees earn above this figure.
Beyond salary
Salary versus total compensation
Compare the offer's stated cash pay with the benchmark on a like-for-like basis. Separate fixed pay from conditional payments, and review benefits on their own terms rather than treating them as part of the wage figure.
Fixed cash pay
Ask whether the quoted rate is the regular wage or whether it depends on conditions not included in the stated fixed rate.
Commissions and production bonuses
If offered, ask how the payment is calculated and whether it is included in the quoted cash-pay comparison.
Overtime premiums and non-production bonuses
Keep these separate when comparing the offer because the benchmark wage definition excludes them.
Benefits
Ask for the terms of any health coverage, retirement contribution, paid leave, or equity separately; employer benefits are excluded from the benchmark wage definition.
Offer review
How to evaluate your Respiratory Therapist offer
Confirm that the role is a Respiratory Therapist position rather than a respiratory therapy technician position.The roles are distinct, although therapists may supervise technicians in some assignments.
Ask which respiratory-care duties the assignment includes, such as ventilator operation, pulmonary testing, monitoring, or emergency care.Those duties can vary by assignment, patient needs, orders, protocols, credentials, and applicable rules.
Compare the offered work schedule with the schedule behind an annualized wage figure.Annual estimates generally use a full-time, year-round schedule; actual annual earnings can be lower on a shorter schedule.
Get the rules for any commissions, production bonuses, overtime premiums, non-production bonuses, and benefits in writing.These items do not all receive the same treatment in the benchmark wage definition, so they should not be folded into one number without checking the terms.
Questions
Respiratory Therapist salary FAQs
Source
About this salary benchmark
Source: BLS, 2025-05-01. The figures cover Respiratory therapists (29-1126) and all employment. Updated October 11, 2026. This broad occupation benchmark may not match every Respiratory Therapist vacancy.
Put the benchmark to work
Build your Respiratory Therapist resume for the roles you want.
Use the salary range as context. Tailor your resume around the experience that supports your target level.
