Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Above-baseline growth SOC 29-1126

Respiratory Therapists

Projected +12% employment change leads this card; pay sits next to Surgeons, All Other, Physicians, All Other, Orthodontists, Dermatologists.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Respiratory Therapists: Surgeons, All Other ($414K) , Physicians, All Other ($266K) , Orthodontists ($289K) , Dermatologists ($329K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Respiratory Therapists publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 29-1126 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Perform endotracheal intubation to maintain open airways for patients who are unable to breathe on their own
  2. 2. Provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation
  3. 3. Monitor patient's physiological responses to therapy, such as vital signs, arterial blood gases, or blood chemistry changes, and consult…
  4. 4. Set up and operate devices, such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or a…
  5. 5. Work as part of a team of physicians, nurses, or other healthcare professionals to manage patient care by assisting with medical procedur…
  6. 6. Maintain charts that contain patients' pertinent identification and therapy information
  7. 7. Read prescription, measure arterial blood gases, and review patient information to assess patient condition
  8. 8. Relay blood analysis results to a physician
  9. 9. Inspect, clean, test, and maintain respiratory therapy equipment to ensure equipment is functioning safely and efficiently, ordering repa…
  10. 10. Explain treatment procedures to patients to gain cooperation and allay fears
  11. 11. Make emergency visits to resolve equipment problems
  12. 12. Determine requirements for treatment, such as type, method and duration of therapy, precautions to be taken, or medication and dosages, c…

Respiratory Therapists: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 29-1126 - lead skill Active Listening at 3.9 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 3.9
  2. 2. Critical Thinking 3.9
  3. 3. Monitoring 3.9
  4. 4. Speaking 3.8
  5. 5. Reading Comprehension 3.6
  6. 6. Active Learning 3.6
  7. 7. Social Perceptiveness 3.6
  8. 8. Service Orientation 3.6

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.3
  2. 2. Medicine and Dentistry 4.3
  3. 3. English Language 3.9
  4. 4. Education and Training 3.7
  5. 5. Psychology 3.4
  6. 6. Biology 3.3
Projected employment change 2024-2034
↑ +12%
much faster than average (3.1%)
National median $82,280/yr
$82K
National median
8,800
Annual openings
139,790
Estimated US jobs
Surgeons, All Other
Highest-pay peer · $414K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Associate's degree

Top Paying States for Respiratory Therapists

1. New Jersey $100,810
2. Massachusetts $102,170
3. New York $107,810
4. Oregon $100,560
5. Minnesota $98,710
6. Alaska $97,950
7. District of Columbia $111,950
8. New Hampshire $95,940
9. California $104,820
10. Washington $101,130

Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations titles

  1. 1. Orthodontists $289,140
  2. 2. Dermatologists $328,730
  3. 3. Physicians, All Other $265,930
  4. 4. Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric $358,550
  5. 5. Obstetricians and Gynecologists $292,910
  6. 6. Surgeons, All Other $414,010

BLS projects +12% employment change for Respiratory Therapists (2024-2034), much faster than average vs the all-occupations baseline of 3.1%. Published median pay is $82,280.

BLS assigns Associate's degree as typical entry education. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal employer rules. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: New Jersey at $100,810. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Surgeons, All Other at $414,010. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Respiratory Therapists pay-rank #44 in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations

Respiratory Therapists sits at pay-rank #44 of 71 detailed Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, the middle third of the major-group median table. ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.

Other mid-table titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

Projected change +12.1% puts Respiratory Therapists ahead of most peers. Open the state map or compare it directly against a slower-growing role.

Respiratory Therapists salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 29-1126

New Jersey · top state for Respiratory Therapists

$101K published median

Massachusetts · #2 state pay

$102K · behind New Jersey

Surgeons, All Other

Highest-pay peer vs Respiratory Therapists · $414K

Physicians, All Other

Lower-pay peer beside Respiratory Therapists · $266K

Compare Respiratory Therapists

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Respiratory Therapists with another occupation →

Growth and outlook next reads

Fastest-Growing Rankings

National projection leaders

Highest-Paying Careers

Where growth meets pay

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Respiratory Therapists mid-table among Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #44 of 71 detailed Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Orthotists and Prosthetists ($81K), Radiologic Technologists and Technicians ($80K), Chiropractors ($79K), Therapists, All Other ($78K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do respiratory therapists do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Respiratory Therapists. Leading ones include: Perform endotracheal intubation to maintain open airways for patients who are unable to breathe on their own; Provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Monitor patient's physiological responses to therapy, such as vital signs, arterial blood gases, or blood chemistry changes, and consult…; Set up and operate devices, such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or a…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for respiratory therapists? ▼
For SOC 29-1126, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (3.9), Critical Thinking (3.9), Monitoring (3.9), Speaking (3.8). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Respiratory Therapists? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $82,280 as the national median for Respiratory Therapists. The published 10th-90th range is $63,660 to $118,050. Beside Surgeons, All Other ($414,010), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
How fast is Respiratory Therapists projected to grow? ▼
BLS Employment Projections put Respiratory Therapists at +12% change for 2024-2034, with about 8,800 annual openings. Versus the all-occupations baseline (3.1%): much faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Respiratory Therapists? ▼
BLS assigns Associate's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Respiratory Therapists. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Respiratory Therapists? ▼
New Jersey ($100,810), Massachusetts ($102,170), New York ($107,810) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Respiratory Therapists card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 29-1126. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Respiratory Therapists. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics