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Respiratory Therapist: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of respiratory therapists earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$82,280
Hourly
$39.56
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Respiratory Therapists assess, treat, and care for patients with breathing disorders. The median pay is $82,280 a year ($39.56 an hour) (BLS, May 2025).

Median pay
$82,280
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
139,790
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 3 of 5
medium preparation
Explore the role

Every page for Respiratory Therapists

SalaryRespiratory Therapist salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →ResumeRespiratory Therapist resume

Keywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.

Open →Career changeRespiratory Therapist career change

Where these skills transfer, with skill match and pay change.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

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The work

What respiratory therapists do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Set up and operate devices, such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or aerosol generators, following specified parameters of treatment.
  2. Monitor patient's physiological responses to therapy, such as vital signs, arterial blood gases, or blood chemistry changes, and consult with physician if adverse reactions occur.
  3. Read prescription, measure arterial blood gases, and review patient information to assess patient condition.
  4. Relay blood analysis results to a physician.
  5. Provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
  6. Enforce safety rules and ensure careful adherence to physicians' orders.
  7. Work as part of a team of physicians, nurses, or other healthcare professionals to manage patient care by assisting with medical procedures or related duties.
  8. Maintain charts that contain patients' pertinent identification and therapy information.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Active ListeningcoreCritical ThinkingcoreMonitoringcoreSocial PerceptivenessReading ComprehensionSpeakingService OrientationComplex Problem SolvingJudgment and Decision Making

Knowledge areas: Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry, Public Safety and Security, English Language, Psychology, Mechanical.

Tools and technology

Software respiratory therapists use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • MEDITECH softwareMedical softwareHot technology
  • eClinicalWorks EHR softwareMedical softwareHot technology
  • Electronic medical record EMR softwareMedical software
  • HMSMedical software
  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft OutlookElectronic mail softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft PowerPointPresentation softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft WordWord processing softwareHot technology
  • Database softwareData base user interface and query software

Also called: CRRT (Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Respiratory Therapist), CRT (Certified Respiratory Therapist), Diagnostics RRT (Diagnostics Registered Respiratory Therapist), Infant RT (Infant Respiratory Therapist), Licensed CRT (Licensed Certified Respiratory Therapist), Licensed RT (Licensed Respiratory Therapist).

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).