What Is the Average Respiratory Therapist Salary?

The highest respiratory therapist is earned in Australia, with AU$86,723 (US$64,391). Australia is followed at a distance by the United States where professionals earn $58,670 per year, the United Kingdom with £32,268 (US$42,101), Canada with C$55,509 (US$40,627), and New Zealand with NZ$56,495 (US$39,144). The lowest salaries for respiratory therapists are registered in India where professionals earn Rs443,000 (US$6,846) and in South Africa with ZAR180,000 (US$13,332).

How Much Does a Respiratory Therapist Make per Year?

wdt_ID	Country	Hourly Wage	Annual Wage
1	US	$28.21	$58,670
2	Canada	C$26.69 (US$19.56)	C$55,509 (US$40,627)
3	UK	£15.51 (US$20.23)	£32,268 (US$42,101)
4	Australia	AU$41.69 (US$30.98)	AU$86,723 (US$64,391)
5	New Zealand	NZ$27.16 (US$18.82)	NZ$56,495 (US$39,144)
6	India	Rs115.38 (US$1.78)	Rs240,000 (US$3,701)
7	South Africa	ZAR86.54 (US6.42)	ZAR180,000 (US$13,332)

As one can deduce from the job title, respiratory therapists usually care for those patients that have trouble with their breathing. This includes patients with emphysema, asthma, or any other form of chronic or acute respiratory disease. Their patients’ ages usually range from prematurely born to the elderly. With most respiratory therapists working in hospitals and other medical care centers, their employment rate is estimated to grow 12% by 2024 according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most need just an associate’s degree, while some opt to get their bachelor’s degrees as well.

Factors that Influence the Respiratory Therapist Salary

There are three main factors that usually influence the salary of a respiratory therapist. The geographic location of the employer, the level of experience of each employee, and the industry to which the job belongs. Of course, there are also other factors that influence the salary of respiratory therapist, but they are not as relevant as the three factors about which we’re going to talk about.

Geographic Area

The geographic area where the job is located has perhaps the biggest influence on the respiratory therapist salary.

Respiratory Therapist Salary in the US

A respiratory therapist earns, on average, $58,670 per year, which translates to $28.21 per hour. A beginner in this field can expect a yearly salary of $36,970 for the first years, but bonuses can add about $300 to that amount. After about 10-15 years in this field, an experienced professional can expect to earn about $73,851 per year.

Below, you will be able to find a series of tables documenting the states, metropolitan, and non-metropolitan areas. We will analyze the highest levels of employment and the highest salaries for anyone looking to get any respiratory therapist jobs.

Highest Levels of Employment for Respiratory Therapists

The states offering the highest levels of employment for respiratory therapists are as follows:

wdt_ID	State	Employment	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage
1	California	14.690	0,95	1,09	$38.16	$79,370
2	Texas	10.890	0,94	1,08	$27.14	$56,450
3	Florida	7.800	0,98	1,13	$26.30	$54,700
4	Ohio	5.860	1,11	1,27	$25.83	$53,720
5	New York	5.830	0,65	0,74	$33.46	$69,590

For those interested in more vaguely distributed information about the respiratory therapist salary, below you can find a list of the metropolitan areas offering the highest levels of employment for the profession:

wdt_ID	Metropolitan area	Employment	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage
1	Los Angeles – Long Beach – Glendale	4.350	1,06	1,21	$35.99	$74,850
2	New York – Jersey City – White Plains	4.310	0,66	0,76	$35.63	$74,100
3	Chicago – Naperville – Arlington Heights	3.190	0,89	1,02	$26.64	$55,410
4	Houston – The Woodlands – Sugar Land	2.350	0,80	0,92	$27.96	$58,150
5	Dallas – Plano – Irving	2.100	0,90	1,03	$28.26	$58,780
6	Atlanta – Sandy Springs – Roswell	1.890	0,76	0,87	$26.73	$55,600
7	Phoenix – Mesa – Scottsdale	1.600	0,85	0,98	$26.99	$56,130
8	San Diego – Carlsbad	1.360	1,01	1,15	$35.20	$73,220
9	Pittsburgh	1.350	1,19	1,37	$25.44	$52,920
10	Riverside – San Bernardino – Ontario	1.340	1,03	1,18	$34.05	$70,830

The non-metropolitan areas with the highest employment rates for the occupation are as follows:

wdt_ID	Nonmetropolitan area	Employment	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage
1	North – Northeastern Ohio	340	1,03	1,18	$24.38	$50,700
2	Northeast Mississippi	270	1,22	1,39	$23.29	$48,450
3	South Central Kentucky	270	1,63	1,87	$21.55	$44,820
4	Southeast Mississippi	260	1,68	1,93	$21.26	$44,220
5	South Georgia	260	1,39	1,60	$22.30	$46,380

Highest Respiratory Therapist Salaries in the US

Meanwhile, the states which offer the highest salary for respiratory therapist are the following:

wdt_ID	State	Employment	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage
1	California	14.690	0,95	1,09	$38.16	$79,370
2	New Jersey	3.050	0,78	0,89	$34.21	$71,160
3	Alaska	170	0,53	0,61	$34.11	$70,950
4	Nevada	990	0,80	0,92	$33.71	$70,120
5	Massachusetts	2.540	0,75	0,86	$33.64	$69,970

Of course, the areas which offer the most employment opportunities for the profession aren’t the same ones offering the highest salaries. The metropolitan areas with the top respiratory therapist salary are as follows:

wdt_ID	Metropolitan area	Employment	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage
1	San Francisco – Redwood City – South San Francisco	480	0,47	0,54	$47.41	$98,610
2	San Rafael	90	0,80	0,92	$46.76	$97,260
3	Vallejo – Fairfield	130	1,04	1,19	$45.81	$95,280
4	San Jose – Sunnyvale – Santa Clara	890	0,88	1,01	$44.31	$92,170
5	Santa Cruz – Watsonville	80	0,90	1,04	$44.30	$92,140
6	Sacramento – Roseville – Arden – Arcade	750	0,85	0,98	$42.55	$88,510
7	Oakland – Hayward – Berkeley	1.210	1,15	1,32	$42.47	$88,330
8	Salinas, CA	110	0,70	0,80	$42.20	$87,780
9	Stockton – Lodi	220	1,00	1,15	$40.35	$83,930
10	Oxnard – Thousand Oaks – Ventura	290	0,99	1,14	$40.16	$83,540

Last but not least, the nonmetropolitan areas with the highest respiratory therapist salary are the following:

wdt_ID	Nonmetropolitan area	Employment	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage
1	California Northern Mountains	80	1,35	1,55	$40.37	$83,970
2	California North Coast	110	1,15	1,32	$39.12	$81,370
3	Lower Savannah South Carolina	60	1,11	1,27	$31.52	$65,570
4	Southwest Washington	40	0,65	0,74	$31.39	$65,290
5	Northwest Colorado	70	0,65	0,74	$30.94	$64,360

Of course, just because cities like San Antonio, TX, and Charlotte, NC, and states like Louisiana and Indiana aren’t on the list, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t employment opportunities or decent salaries in the area. It just means that places like Michigan and NYC are better off.

Respiratory Therapist Salary in Canada

A respiratory therapist working in Canada earns about C$63,000, or the equivalent of US$46,160. A beginner in this field earns about C$36,766 (US$26,939) per year and can reach the national average for this profession in about 5 to 10 years. After more than 15 years in this field, a professional can get to earn C$87,239, or US$63,913. Bonuses can account for up to C$6,100, or US$4,465 per year.

Respiratory Therapist Salary in the UK

According to plotr.co.uk, a respiratory therapist working in Canada earns about C$63,000 (US$46,160) per year. A beginner in this field can take home around £23,747, or US$30,925. With time and experience, however, a respiratory therapist can earn up to £43,453 per year, or US$56,587.

Respiratory Therapist Salary in Australia

A registered respiratory therapist working in Australia earns about AU$86,723 (US$64,391) per year, which translates to AU$41.69 (US$30.98) per hour. Unregistered professionals or beginners in this field can expect wages around AU$53,000 (US$39,660). Nevertheless, those working as respiratory therapists in Australia for more than 10-15 years and are in a management position can expect yearly salaries around AU$142,000, or US$106,260.

Respiratory Therapist Salary in New Zealand

Although no info is available on the respiratory therapist salary in New Zealand, we can take the physiotherapist salary as a reference. Therefore, a beginner physiotherapist working in New Zealand will earn about NZ$45,238 (US$31,854), while a professional working in this field for more than 10-15 years will take home NZ$70,409 (US$49,564). Bonuses can add up to NZ$10,067 (US$7,086), and commission another NZ$15,075 (US$10,611) per year for those eligible.

Respiratory Therapist Salary in India

According to SalaryExpert, the average salary for a clinical coordinator in respiratory therapy working in India is Rs443,000, or US39,144. This translates to Rs212.98 (US$3.29) per hour.

Respiratory Therapist Salary in South Africa

Even though no info is available on the respiratory therapist salary in South Africa, we can take the physical therapist salary and the registered nurse salary as references. Therefore, a healthcare employee with respiratory therapy skills working in South Africa will earn about ZAR180,000 or US$13,332 per year.

Experience

Aside from the certified or registered respiratory therapist salary, which would automatically be higher because of the extra effort and qualifications, the amount of time spent in the profession also greatly influences the respiratory therapist salary. The average respiratory therapist salary usually grows by about $15,000 over the course of one’s professional experience.

According to payscale.com, the estimated salary path for a respiratory therapist, with the respiratory therapist starting salary estimated at $46,000, goes as follows:

$46,000 – $52,000 after the first five to ten years of experience
$52,000 – $56,000 after the first ten to twenty years of experience
$56,000 – $60,000 after more than twenty years on the job

Understandably, the respiratory therapist assistant salary is always going to be lower than that of someone with more responsibilities in their job description.

Industry

Depending on the industry in which each job candidate is employed, the respiratory therapist salary can change by as much as $14,000. Sadly, however, the industries offering the highest pay for the occupation are seldom the same ones offering the largest amount of job opportunities. This is a common occurrence throughout pretty much all job sectors.

The industries with the highest levels of employment for respiratory therapists are as follows:

wdt_ID	Industry	Employment	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage
1	General Surgical and Medical Hospitals	91.200	1,73	$28.65	$59,590
2	Specialty (minus Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals	7.170	2,88	$29.05	$60,420
3	Nursing Care Facilities (Experienced Nursing Facilities)	5.010	0,30	$28.94	$60,200
4	Offices of Physicians	3.380	0,13	$29.12	$60,570
5	Consumer Goods Rentals	2.480	1,57	$26.21	$54,510

On the other hand, the industries offering the highest respiratory therapist salary are the following:

wdt_ID	Industry	Employment	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage
1	Outpatient Care Centers	1320	0.18	$33.02	$68,680
2	Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools	Not released	Not released	$32.75	$68,120
3	Local Government (OES Designation)	120	Less than .005	$32.07	$66,710
4	Employment Services	1560	0.04	$31.63	$65,800
5	Home Health Care Services	1640	0.13	$29.28	$60,900

It’s only natural for the respiratory therapist salary to vary depending on the industry of the position. For example, a starting technician will make less per hour than a pediatric or neonatal respiratory therapist. Similarly, a traveling respiratory therapist that offers consultancy on how to use the tech they employ for their jobs. While to travel from state to state may seem like more work, it’s the practicing respiratory therapist that make more money.

Working Hours

As with most jobs in the healthcare industry, the working hours of a respiratory therapist are very chaotic. The average RT usually works about three twelve-hour shifts per week, as well as other regular shifts. This makes the average respiratory therapist work week anywhere between 50 to 70 hours long.

Add to this the fact that most respiratory therapists work nights, weekends, and holidays, as well as the fact that they usually go on call, and their schedule can get pretty full most of the times. Of course, it all depends on the industry and the place of employment of the job opening.

If you are interested in other healthcare jobs with similar working hours, you can also check out our guide to the radiation therapist salary.

Bonuses and Benefits Packages

According to payscale.com, the average respiratory therapist salary is often improved by other factors, such as bonuses, commissions, and profit sharing. The three of these can, in theory, bring a maximum addition of about $7,000 a year.

As for the benefits packages, they usually are the same as for any other profession in the healthcare industry – life, health, and malpractice insurance, a decent number of sick and paid leaves, and even a 401(K) plan.

Job Outlook

The employment rate for respiratory therapists is estimated to grow 12% by 2024. This is faster than the average for all occupations in the United States. The growth is owed to the permanent increase of the elderly population, as well as to an increase in the incidence of most respiratory conditions.

us respiratory therapist salary evolution

Conclusion

With the moderate amount of education required for the position and with the highly optimistic job outlook for the profession, most people hoping for a respiratory therapist salary are satisfied with their jobs. While the long work hours would make some reconsider their career choices, the rest of the benefits provided by the job make it worth their while.

The Respiratory Therapist Salary in 2018