Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of respiratory therapist salary by state for the United States:
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California has the highest respiratory therapist salary of $76,450
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Maine has the lowest respiratory therapist salary of $40,166
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The national average salary for respiratory therapists is $55,617
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The national hourly pay for respiratory therapists is $26.74
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do respiratory therapists get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for respiratory therapist by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for respiratory therapists after this adjustment? That would be California.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for respiratory therapist salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Respiratory Therapists By State
| Rank | State | Average Respiratory Therapist Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $76,450 | $46,000 | $126,000 |
| 2 | Alaska | $69,991 | $63,000 | $77,000 |
| 3 | New York | $69,597 | $36,000 | $133,000 |
| 4 | Hawaii | $68,702 | $61,000 | $76,000 |
| 5 | Nevada | $67,530 | $40,000 | $111,000 |
| 6 | Washington | $66,040 | $47,000 | $92,000 |
| 7 | Oregon | $63,168 | $42,000 | $93,000 |
| 8 | New Jersey | $62,836 | $32,000 | $119,000 |
| 9 | Maryland | $61,159 | $33,000 | $112,000 |
| 10 | Idaho | $60,735 | $40,000 | $90,000 |
| 11 | South Carolina | $60,096 | $33,000 | $108,000 |
| 12 | Minnesota | $57,802 | $35,000 | $92,000 |
| 13 | Virginia | $56,991 | $31,000 | $103,000 |
| 14 | Louisiana | $56,865 | $31,000 | $102,000 |
| 15 | Colorado | $55,749 | $34,000 | $88,000 |
| 16 | Illinois | $55,689 | $32,000 | $94,000 |
| 17 | Connecticut | $55,309 | $28,000 | $107,000 |
| 18 | Wisconsin | $54,653 | $32,000 | $91,000 |
| 19 | Montana | $54,648 | $37,000 | $78,000 |
| 20 | Texas | $54,638 | $30,000 | $97,000 |
| 21 | Oklahoma | $54,494 | $31,000 | $93,000 |
| 22 | Tennessee | $54,431 | $30,000 | $95,000 |
| 23 | Florida | $54,422 | $29,000 | $100,000 |
| 24 | North Carolina | $54,347 | $30,000 | $97,000 |
| 25 | Utah | $54,331 | $34,000 | $84,000 |
| 26 | Georgia | $54,302 | $30,000 | $97,000 |
| 27 | Michigan | $54,026 | $30,000 | $94,000 |
| 28 | Indiana | $53,749 | $31,000 | $92,000 |
| 29 | Kansas | $53,246 | $31,000 | $88,000 |
| 30 | Arizona | $52,822 | $31,000 | $89,000 |
| 31 | South Dakota | $52,720 | $33,000 | $83,000 |
| 32 | Delaware | $52,691 | $28,000 | $98,000 |
| 33 | North Dakota | $52,466 | $34,000 | $79,000 |
| 34 | West Virginia | $52,006 | $29,000 | $92,000 |
| 35 | Massachusetts | $51,960 | $26,000 | $103,000 |
| 36 | Missouri | $51,921 | $30,000 | $87,000 |
| 37 | Mississippi | $51,753 | $28,000 | $92,000 |
| 38 | Alabama | $51,746 | $28,000 | $92,000 |
| 39 | Ohio | $51,552 | $29,000 | $90,000 |
| 40 | Pennsylvania | $50,377 | $26,000 | $94,000 |
| 41 | Nebraska | $50,007 | $30,000 | $81,000 |
| 42 | Iowa | $48,798 | $29,000 | $80,000 |
| 43 | Wyoming | $48,604 | $31,000 | $74,000 |
| 44 | New Hampshire | $48,050 | $24,000 | $96,000 |
| 45 | Vermont | $47,914 | $24,000 | $95,000 |
| 46 | Kentucky | $46,570 | $26,000 | $80,000 |
| 47 | New Mexico | $46,001 | $26,000 | $78,000 |
| 48 | Rhode Island | $43,015 | $21,000 | $85,000 |
| 49 | Arkansas | $41,765 | $24,000 | $72,000 |
| 50 | Maine | $40,166 | $19,000 | $81,000 |
Methodology: Respiratory Therapist Salary By State
To better understand respiratory therapist pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for respiratory therapists by state.
We took the average annual salary data for respiratory therapists from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for respiratory therapists.
Respiratory Therapist Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for respiratory therapists?
The highest-paid state for respiratory therapists is California with an average salary of $76,450 per year.
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What city pays respiratory therapists the most?
Lancaster, CA pays respiratory therapists the most with an average salary of $76,431 per year.
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What is the worst state for respiratory therapists?
The worst state for respiratory therapists is Maine with an average salary of $40,166 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
