As of August 01, 2026, the average hourly rate for a Registered Respiratory Therapist in the United States is $36, which translates to an annual salary of about $73,890.
However, the hourly wage can vary significantly based on several factors. Here’s a detailed look at the typical pay range per hour:
Registered Respiratory Therapist Salaries by Percentile
| Annual Salary |
Monthly Pay |
Weekly Pay |
Hourly Wage |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75th Percentile | $80,095 | $6,675 | $1,540 | $39 |
| Average | $73,890 | $6,158 | $1,421 | $36 |
| 25th Percentile | $66,006 | $5,501 | $1,269 | $32 |
A Registered Respiratory Therapist's salary isn't a fixed number. It's shaped by several important factors. Below, we'll explore how your years of experience, geographic location, education and company size can directly affect your earning potential.
Experience is a primary driver of a Registered Respiratory Therapist's salary. As you build your skills and take on more complex tasks, your compensation generally increases. Here's how the average salary grows at different career stages:
| Levels | Salary |
|---|---|
| Entry Level Registered Respiratory Therapist | $70,713 |
| Intermediate Level Registered Respiratory Therapist | $71,301 |
| Senior Level Registered Respiratory Therapist | $74,075 |
| Specialist Level Registered Respiratory Therapist | $76,668 |
| Expert Level Registered Respiratory Therapist | $77,131 |
Demanded Skills for the Role:
| Skills | Demand Percentage |
|---|---|
| Analysis | 2.06% |
| Critical Care | 2.67% |
| Patient Safety | 1.33% |
Mastering certain specialized skills can lead to a significant increase in pay. Here are examples of skills and the potential impact they can have on a Registered Respiratory Therapist's salary.
| Skill | Salary | Salary % Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Quality Control | $76,107 | |
| Coordination | $76,107 | |
| Time Management | $76,107 |
Registered Respiratory Therapist salary potential scales significantly with company size. Data shows that Enterprise companies (5,000+ employees) pay the highest average salary at around $78,377. While startup companies pay approximate $66,788.
| Company Size | Employees | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Startup | 1~50 | $66,788 |
| Growth Stage | 51~500 | $70,504 |
| Established | 501~5000 | $75,814 |
| Enterprise | 5000+ | $78,377 |
Your level of education can impact your salary potential. While many Registered Respiratory Therapist enter the field with a Bachelor's Degree, higher education can lead to more specialized and higher-paying roles.
According to our 100% employer-reported salary data, the median salary for an Registered Respiratory Therapist with a Bachelor's Degree is between $74,591 and $78,451.
| Typical Education for Registered Respiratory Therapist | |
|---|---|
| Degree Level | % of user with this level of education |
| No Diploma | 4.3% |
| High School | 4.3% |
| Associates | 64.0% |
| Bachelors | 29.0% |
| Masters | 2.4% |
| Doctorate | 0.4% |
Understanding how a Registered Respiratory Therapist's annual salary breaks down can help with budgeting. Below, you can see the average hourly rate, weekly pay, and monthly pay for this role. Use the buttons to switch between different pay periods.
| Annual Salary | Monthly Pay | Weekly Pay | Hourly Wage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75th Percentile | $80,095 | $6,675 | $1,540 | $39 |
| Average | $73,890 | $6,158 | $1,421 | $36 |
| 25th Percentile | $66,006 | $5,501 | $1,269 | $32 |
Salaries for a Registered Respiratory Therapist can change over time, reflecting shifts in market demand and the overall economy. The median salary decreased from $67,397 in 2023 to around $66,236 in 2025, reflecting changes in demand, location, experience, and the wider economy. For a detailed analysis of Registered Respiratory Therapist salary trends, .
| Year | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| 2022 | View More |
| 2023 | $67,397 |
| 2024 | $67,043 |
| 2025 | $66,236 |
| 2026 |
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| 2027 |
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Assumes primary responsibility for respiratory care treatment. Specializes in diagnosing, treating, and managing patients with pulmonary disorders. Implements and manages respiratory therapy treatment plans. Collects and analyzes sputum, blood, and breath specimens to determine levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other gases. May also measure the lung capacity of a patient to determine if there is impaired function. Requires an associate degree. Requires Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) certification. Requires State License to practice. Typically reports to a supervisor. Years of experience may be unspecified. Certification and/or licensing in the position's specialty is the main requirement.
Specify the abilities and skills that a person needs in order to carry out the specified job duties. Each competency has five to ten behavioral assertions that can be observed, each with a corresponding performance level (from one to five) that is required for a particular job.
Analysis: Analysis is the process of considering something carefully or using statistical methods in order to understand it or explain it.
Critical Care: Critical care is sometimes referred as intensive care. Intensive care medicine, or critical care medicine, is a branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis and management of life-threatening conditions that may require sophisticated life support and intensive monitoring. An intensivist is a physician who specializes in the care of critically ill patients, most often in the intensive care unit (ICU). Intensivists can be internists or internal medicine sub-specialists (most often pulmonologists), anesthesiologists, emergency medicine physicians, pediatricians (including neonatologists), or surgeons who have completed a fellowship in critical care medicine.
Patient Safety: Patient safety is a discipline and responsibility that emphasizes safety in health care through the prevention, reduction, reporting, and analysis of medical error that often leads to adverse effects. The frequency and magnitude of avoidable adverse events experienced by patients was not well known until the 1990s, when multiple countries reported staggering numbers of patients harmed and killed by medical errors. Recognizing that healthcare errors impact 1 in every 10 patients around the world, the World Health Organization calls patient safety an endemic concern. Indeed, patient safety has emerged as a distinct healthcare discipline supported by an immature yet developing scientific framework. There is a significant transdisciplinary body of theoretical and research literature that informs the science of patient safety. At the same time, efforts are being made to anchor patient safety more firmly in medical education. The resulting patient safety knowledge continually informs improvement efforts such as: applying lessons learned from business and industry, adopting innovative technologies, educating providers and consumers, enhancing error reporting systems, and developing new economic incentives.
Salary.com salary estimates, histograms, trends, and comparisons are derived from both employer job postings and third-party data sources. We also provide multiple percentiles of salary information for your reference, click here to know Why the Salary Midpoint Formula Is Crucial to Getting Pay Equity Right. With more online, real-time compensation data than any other website, Salary.com helps you determine your exact pay target.
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