Pay by state · 52 areas

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 Mississippi at $63,270 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The national median is $82,280. The table below covers all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico, with a cost-of-living adjusted column.

Highest median: $111,950District of Columbia
National median: $82,280BLS OEWS, May 2025
Lowest median: $63,270Mississippi
Areas reporting: 52of 54 OEWS areas

Top and bottom

Highest- and lowest-paying states for respiratory therapists

Ranked on the state median among the 50 states and DC. Territories are in the full table but not ranked here.

Highest median pay

1District of Columbia$111,950
2New York$107,810
3California$104,820
4Massachusetts$102,170
5Washington$101,130

Lowest median pay

1Mississippi$63,270
2Alabama$66,150
3South Dakota$68,240
4West Virginia$68,670
5New Mexico$68,870

All states

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
#
1	DCDistrict of Columbia	$111,950	$98,900	$127,400	430	$101,864
2	NYNew York	$107,810	$95,690	$126,880	7,010	$99,897
3	CACalifornia	$104,820	$87,750	$129,010	18,650	$94,671
4	MAMassachusetts	$102,170	$86,120	$107,930	2,220	$96,608
5	WAWashington	$101,130	$84,870	$106,150	1,860	$94,503
6	NJNew Jersey	$100,810	$87,560	$106,320	3,350	$92,652
7	OROregon	$100,560	$85,310	$104,360	1,340	$97,290
8	MNMinnesota	$98,710	$86,440	$103,010	1,250	$100,090
9	AKAlaska	$97,950	$84,560	$101,280	180	$95,693
10	NHNew Hampshire	$95,940	$84,300	$101,180	360	$92,104
11	HIHawaii	$94,210	$86,150	$102,170	510	$85,684
12	DEDelaware	$91,080	$82,880	$97,000	500	$91,255
13	MDMaryland	$88,960	$82,920	$101,340	1,800	$84,757
14	RIRhode Island	$86,900	$83,040	$102,500	260	$84,963
15	COColorado	$86,220	$78,980	$100,130	2,110	$83,666
16	NVNevada	$85,480	$75,310	$106,820	1,270	$85,498
17	CTConnecticut	$85,230	$80,570	$98,010	1,370	$82,260
18	WIWisconsin	$84,210	$78,800	$96,510	1,940	$89,495
19	ILIllinois	$84,090	$77,440	$96,260	4,880	$84,125
20	VTVermont	$83,820	$79,390	$98,220	210	$85,567
21	GAGeorgia	$83,700	$74,400	$101,690	5,150	$86,922
22	VAVirginia	$82,910	$78,820	$94,770	3,340	$82,005
23	MEMaine	$82,470	$72,540	$86,530	520	$84,977
24	NENebraska	$81,590	$73,600	$86,140	840	$90,552
25	NDNorth Dakota	$81,230	$66,820	$84,570	270	$91,312
26	MTMontana	$81,190	$67,360	$85,320	390	$85,784
27	FLFlorida	$81,160	$75,210	$87,990	8,820	$78,481
28	UTUtah	$80,650	$70,230	$85,790	1,170	$81,577
29	NCNorth Carolina	$80,090	$68,010	$87,820	4,630	$84,908
30	OHOhio	$79,920	$75,280	$90,380	6,640	$86,145
31	MIMichigan	$79,850	$71,740	$83,020	4,520	$82,989
32	AZArizona	$79,780	$70,680	$86,070	3,500	$79,244
33	INIndiana	$79,730	$67,760	$84,960	3,170	$85,429
34	TXTexas	$79,540	$69,670	$93,680	12,130	$81,952
35	WYWyoming	$79,330	$68,180	$82,240	160	$85,585
36	OKOklahoma	$78,800	$67,110	$83,610	2,000	$89,705
37	PAPennsylvania	$78,490	$66,940	$87,620	6,530	$80,443
38	IDIdaho	$78,460	$72,640	$80,040	820	$82,162
39	MOMissouri	$78,390	$64,800	$83,030	3,030	$86,316
40	SCSouth Carolina	$77,740	$67,410	$82,400	1,960	$82,924
41	KSKansas	$76,970	$64,680	$81,240	1,450	$85,458
42	LALouisiana	$75,240	$64,440	$80,150	2,520	$85,299
43	IAIowa	$74,760	$64,670	$80,730	910	$85,185
44	ARArkansas	$73,870	$63,120	$78,520	1,400	$84,970
45	KYKentucky	$72,750	$63,110	$79,730	2,530	$80,691
46	TNTennessee	$72,140	$63,660	$78,640	3,440	$78,524
47	NMNew Mexico	$68,870	$63,020	$77,810	840	$74,687
48	WVWest Virginia	$68,670	$63,870	$77,350	1,140	$76,729
49	SDSouth Dakota	$68,240	$62,010	$79,370	430	$77,032
50	ALAlabama	$66,150	$57,480	$76,920	2,350	$74,474
51	MSMississippi	$63,270	$57,150	$75,850	1,670	$72,763
52	PRPuerto Rico	$35,000	$30,200	$71,010	800	N/A

Method

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, the adjustment does not change the leader: District of Columbia is first on raw pay and still first 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.

Questions

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?

Among the 50 states and DC, Mississippi reports the lowest median for respiratory therapists at $63,270 a year, $48,680 below the highest-paying state (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Among the territories, Puerto Rico reports $35,000.

In which states do respiratory therapists earn over $100,000?

7 of the 50 states and DC have a median of $100,000 or more: District of Columbia ($111,950), New York ($107,810), California ($104,820), Massachusetts ($102,170), Washington ($101,130), New Jersey ($100,810) and Oregon ($100,560) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

Is the highest-paying state the best for respiratory therapists after cost of living?

Yes. District of Columbia stays first after dividing each state median by its BEA Regional Price Parity, at $101,864 in national-average dollars from a raw $111,950. BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024; the adjustment is NueCareer's calculation.

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