How to become a Respiratory Therapist: education, training and skills.
What workers in the job actually report about their education, experience and training, the skills to build first, and the stepping-stone roles that lead in.
- 99% Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree
BLS typical entry-level education: an associate's degree
BLS lists an associate's degree as the typical entry-level education for respiratory therapists in the United States (Employment Projections, 2025–35). Most respiratory therapists report needing an associate's degree (99% of workers surveyed by O*NET). O*NET places the job in Job Zone 3 of 5 (medium preparation). The most common answer for on-the-job training was “over 1 month, up to and including 3 months” (69%).
What BLS lists for respiratory therapists
According to BLS 2025–35 projections data, respiratory therapists in the United States typically need no work experience in a related occupation to enter the occupation.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Once hired, respiratory therapists in the United States typically need no on-the-job training to become fully competent, according to BLS 2025–35 projections data.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Six steps to becoming a Respiratory Therapist
Data Steps 1 to 5 summarise BLS and O*NET data for the role; step 6 is advice.
- EducationPlan for an associate's degree
BLS typical entry-level education, 2025–35 projections. In O*NET's worker survey, 99% report an associate's degree.
- TrainingExpect on-the-job training
Most common: over 1 month, up to and including 3 months.
- ExperienceRelated experience
O*NET's estimates are too imprecise to name a most common answer.
- SkillsBuild the core skills
Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Monitoring are rated most important.
- ToolsLearn the tools
MEDITECH software, eClinicalWorks EHR software, Microsoft Excel.
- CredentialsCheck licensing where you live
Many occupations need a state license or certification. Requirements vary by state, so confirm with your state's licensing board.
What workers report
Data Share of workers giving each answer, O*NET.
Answers with low-precision O*NET estimates are not shown, so a card's shares can add to less than 100%.
Answers with low-precision O*NET estimates are not shown, so a card's shares can add to less than 100%.
O*NET Job Zone 3 (Medium Preparation Needed): Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Data Pay once you are in the job: the BLS median is $82,280; the lowest-paid quarter earn $74,520 or less. See the full Respiratory Therapist salary data.
How this page is built
Education, experience, training and Job Zone come from O*NET 31.0 survey data for the occupation. The typical entry-level education, work experience and on-the-job training lines come from BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35. O*NET answers with low-precision estimates are not shown, and an answer is called the most common only when no hidden answer could be larger. Stepping-stone roles use our skill-match score: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- Licensing rules in your state.
- Requirements at a specific employer.
- How long the path will take you personally.
- 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.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.
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