Salary Outlook for Respiratory Therapists

Respiratory therapists salaries are keeping pace with the demand for respiratory care specialists.

As the population of middle-aged and senior health care patients grows, a healthy demand for respiratory therapists grows with it.

Your salary as a respiratory therapists may depend on education, experience and other factors like your choice of working environment.

Although all respiratory therapists in the U.S. are required to be certified except in Alaska and Hawaii, many therapist are often classified as home therapists, certified therapists, and registered therapists.

Below are the salaries outlook for respiratory therapists according to Salary.com.

1. Respiratory Therapists – Home Care

As a respiratory therapy practitioner, you may choose to provide more personal care to patients by working in a home environment. You role will be to work closely with doctors, patients and their families to assist patients who may be limited to their homes with special respiratory and pulmonary conditions that require special monitoring using in home respiratory equipment. Your job may also include administering medicines to the lungs and monitoring the condition of the lungs.

According to Salary.com the median salary for a respiratory therapist providing in home care is $46,854 per year.

Respiratory therapists salaries for the bottom 10% of earners choosing to work within homes can expect to earn about $41,199 per year. The top 10% of earners earn an average of $52,917 per year. The middle 50% of home care respiratory therapist salaries range from $43,894 to $50,028 per year.

2. Certified Respiratory Therapists Salaries

Except for in Alaska and Hawaii all respiratory therapists are required to be certified. After passing their certification exams from the National Board for Respiratory Care, the typical certified respiratory therapist can expect to earn a median salary of $49,382 per year.

Certified respiratory therapists salaries in the bottom 10% of earners in this field are about $40,871 annually.

The top 10% of earners get paid an average of $57,834 per year, with salaries that can reach over $61,000 each year.

The middle 50% of certified respiratory therapists are paid from $44,927 to $53,806 per year, which is a solid middle income for any individual in the U.S.

3. Registered Respiratory Therapists

As a registered respiratory therapists you can expect earnings near the top of your field.

According to Salary.com the median salary for a registered respiratory therapist is $58,438 per year.

Registered respiratory therapist are most often found in a hospital or surgical setting.

Registered respiratory therapists salaries for the bottom 10% of earners in this area can expect to be about $50,233 per year.

The top 10% of earners make an average of $67,122 per year. The middle 50% of registered respiratory therapists earn salaries from $54,143 to $62,983 annually.

Respiratory therapists salaries are very competitive across the healthcare industry. As a growing population of seniors and middle-aged patients begin to require treatment for respiratory and pulmonary illnesses, the demand for respiratory health care professionals continues to grow.

As up to 80% of hospital staffs require respiratory, anesthesiology and pulmonary care, expect the salaries for respiratory therapy practitioners to continue to rise.