Respiratory Therapist Salary by State (2026)

Name: Respiratory Therapist annual wages by US state, May 2025
Creator: NueCareer
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Respiratory Therapists earn the most in District of Columbia at $111,950 a year and the least in Puerto Rico at $35,000 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The national median is $82,280. All 52 states and territories with reported data are ranked below, with a cost-of-living adjusted column.

Highest median: $111,950
National median: $82,280
Lowest median: $35,000
States reporting: 52

Top 5 states for Respiratory Therapists

1. District of Columbia$111,950 median · $101,864 adjusted · 430 employed
2. New York$107,810 median · $99,897 adjusted · 7,010 employed
3. California$104,820 median · $94,671 adjusted · 18,650 employed
4. Massachusetts$102,170 median · $96,608 adjusted · 2,220 employed
5. Washington$101,130 median · $94,503 adjusted · 1,860 employed

Lowest-paying states for Respiratory Therapists

52. Puerto Rico$35,000 median · no price parity · 800 employed
51. Mississippi$63,270 median · $72,763 adjusted · 1,670 employed
50. Alabama$66,150 median · $74,474 adjusted · 2,350 employed
49. South Dakota$68,240 median · $77,032 adjusted · 430 employed
48. West Virginia$68,670 median · $76,729 adjusted · 1,140 employed

Respiratory Therapist salary in every state

Sort by any column. Employment is the number of respiratory therapists OEWS estimates in that state; blank cells are estimates BLS suppressed because the sample was too small.

Annual wages by state, sortable by median, quartiles, employment and cost-of-living adjusted median
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1	District of Columbia	$111,950	$98,900	$127,400	430	$101,864
2	New York	$107,810	$95,690	$126,880	7,010	$99,897
3	California	$104,820	$87,750	$129,010	18,650	$94,671
4	Massachusetts	$102,170	$86,120	$107,930	2,220	$96,608
5	Washington	$101,130	$84,870	$106,150	1,860	$94,503
6	New Jersey	$100,810	$87,560	$106,320	3,350	$92,652
7	Oregon	$100,560	$85,310	$104,360	1,340	$97,290
8	Minnesota	$98,710	$86,440	$103,010	1,250	$100,090
9	Alaska	$97,950	$84,560	$101,280	180	$95,693
10	New Hampshire	$95,940	$84,300	$101,180	360	$92,104
11	Hawaii	$94,210	$86,150	$102,170	510	$85,684
12	Delaware	$91,080	$82,880	$97,000	500	$91,255
13	Maryland	$88,960	$82,920	$101,340	1,800	$84,757
14	Rhode Island	$86,900	$83,040	$102,500	260	$84,963
15	Colorado	$86,220	$78,980	$100,130	2,110	$83,666
16	Nevada	$85,480	$75,310	$106,820	1,270	$85,498
17	Connecticut	$85,230	$80,570	$98,010	1,370	$82,260
18	Wisconsin	$84,210	$78,800	$96,510	1,940	$89,495
19	Illinois	$84,090	$77,440	$96,260	4,880	$84,125
20	Vermont	$83,820	$79,390	$98,220	210	$85,567
21	Georgia	$83,700	$74,400	$101,690	5,150	$86,922
22	Virginia	$82,910	$78,820	$94,770	3,340	$82,005
23	Maine	$82,470	$72,540	$86,530	520	$84,977
24	Nebraska	$81,590	$73,600	$86,140	840	$90,552
25	North Dakota	$81,230	$66,820	$84,570	270	$91,312
26	Montana	$81,190	$67,360	$85,320	390	$85,784
27	Florida	$81,160	$75,210	$87,990	8,820	$78,481
28	Utah	$80,650	$70,230	$85,790	1,170	$81,577
29	North Carolina	$80,090	$68,010	$87,820	4,630	$84,908
30	Ohio	$79,920	$75,280	$90,380	6,640	$86,145
31	Michigan	$79,850	$71,740	$83,020	4,520	$82,989
32	Arizona	$79,780	$70,680	$86,070	3,500	$79,244
33	Indiana	$79,730	$67,760	$84,960	3,170	$85,429
34	Texas	$79,540	$69,670	$93,680	12,130	$81,952
35	Wyoming	$79,330	$68,180	$82,240	160	$85,585
36	Oklahoma	$78,800	$67,110	$83,610	2,000	$89,705
37	Pennsylvania	$78,490	$66,940	$87,620	6,530	$80,443
38	Idaho	$78,460	$72,640	$80,040	820	$82,162
39	Missouri	$78,390	$64,800	$83,030	3,030	$86,316
40	South Carolina	$77,740	$67,410	$82,400	1,960	$82,924
41	Kansas	$76,970	$64,680	$81,240	1,450	$85,458
42	Louisiana	$75,240	$64,440	$80,150	2,520	$85,299
43	Iowa	$74,760	$64,670	$80,730	910	$85,185
44	Arkansas	$73,870	$63,120	$78,520	1,400	$84,970
45	Kentucky	$72,750	$63,110	$79,730	2,530	$80,691
46	Tennessee	$72,140	$63,660	$78,640	3,440	$78,524
47	New Mexico	$68,870	$63,020	$77,810	840	$74,687
48	West Virginia	$68,670	$63,870	$77,350	1,140	$76,729
49	South Dakota	$68,240	$62,010	$79,370	430	$77,032
50	Alabama	$66,150	$57,480	$76,920	2,350	$74,474
51	Mississippi	$63,270	$57,150	$75,850	1,670	$72,763
52	Puerto Rico	$35,000	$30,200	$71,010	800	N/A

How the cost-of-living adjustment works

The adjusted column divides each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity (RPP) and multiplies by 100. RPPs measure how much a fixed basket of goods, services and rents costs in one state relative to the national average, so the result restates local pay in national-average dollars.

For Respiratory Therapists, that changes the ranking: District of Columbia leads on raw pay at $111,950, while District of Columbia leads once prices are taken into account at $101,864.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024 (public domain). The adjustment is NueCareer's calculation, not a BLS or BEA published statistic.

Respiratory Therapist pay by state: FAQ

Which state pays Respiratory Therapists the most?

District of Columbia reports the highest median wage for Respiratory Therapists at $111,950 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), followed by New York ($107,810) and California ($104,820).

Which state pays Respiratory Therapists the least?

Puerto Rico reports the lowest median for Respiratory Therapists at $35,000 a year, $76,950 below the highest-paying state (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

Where do Respiratory Therapists earn the most after cost of living?

Dividing each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity puts District of Columbia first at $101,864 in national-average dollars, from a raw median of $111,950. BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024.

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