Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2019

29-1126 Respiratory Therapists

Assess, treat, and care for patients with breathing disorders. Assume primary responsibility for all respiratory care modalities, including the supervision of respiratory therapy technicians. Initiate and conduct therapeutic procedures; maintain patient records; and select, assemble, check, and operate equipment.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
Geographic profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
132,090	1.1 %	$30.75	$63,950	0.3 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$21.56	$25.39	$29.48	$35.65	$41.82
Annual Wage (2)	$44,850	$52,820	$61,330	$74,160	$86,980

Industry profile for this occupation:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	101,060	1.81	$30.83	$64,120
Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals	7,220	2.72	$31.37	$65,260
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities)	5,250	0.33	$29.90	$62,190
Offices of Physicians	3,040	0.11	$29.97	$62,330
Rental and Leasing Services (5322, 5323, and 5324 only)	2,490	0.72	$26.62	$55,370

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals	7,220	2.72	$31.37	$65,260
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	101,060	1.81	$30.83	$64,120
Rental and Leasing Services (5322, 5323, and 5324 only)	2,490	0.72	$26.62	$55,370
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities)	5,250	0.33	$29.90	$62,190
Professional and Commercial Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers	1,450	0.22	$29.91	$62,200

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Outpatient Care Centers	2,000	0.21	$39.45	$82,050
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation)	320	0.01	$36.49	$75,910
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools	720	0.02	$33.40	$69,460
Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals	7,220	2.72	$31.37	$65,260
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	101,060	1.81	$30.83	$64,120

Geographic profile for this occupation:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	16,650	0.96	1.06	$40.35	$83,920
Texas	11,730	0.94	1.05	$29.11	$60,560
Florida	8,080	0.92	1.02	$28.22	$58,700
Ohio	6,190	1.14	1.26	$27.93	$58,090
Pennsylvania	5,930	1.00	1.12	$27.69	$57,600

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
West Virginia	1,130	1.61	1.79	$24.76	$51,510
Mississippi	1,530	1.36	1.51	$23.94	$49,790
Louisiana	2,470	1.28	1.43	$26.20	$54,490
Indiana	3,860	1.26	1.40	$27.66	$57,520
Kentucky	2,250	1.18	1.32	$24.11	$50,150

Top paying States for this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	16,650	0.96	1.06	$40.35	$83,920
District of Columbia	320	0.44	0.49	$38.52	$80,130
Nevada	1,410	1.02	1.13	$37.38	$77,760
New York	5,860	0.62	0.68	$37.01	$76,990
Hawaii	350	0.55	0.61	$36.83	$76,610

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in this occupation:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	6,650	0.69	0.77	$38.05	$79,150
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	6,640	1.06	1.18	$38.42	$79,910
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	3,460	0.95	1.05	$30.94	$64,350
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	3,110	0.67	0.74	$30.33	$63,100
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	3,060	1.06	1.18	$30.15	$62,720
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	3,000	0.98	1.09	$29.54	$61,450
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	2,350	0.89	0.99	$28.22	$58,700
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	2,340	0.85	0.95	$29.26	$60,850
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	2,220	1.05	1.16	$28.94	$60,190
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	1,990	0.81	0.90	$47.09	$97,950