Occupations · Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
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.
O*NET 30.3 Database (USDOL/ETA) · occupation code 29-1126.00
What it pays
A single “average salary” hides the spread. This is the whole distribution — the gap between the bottom and top bar is usually the number that matters.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 · national, cross-industry · annual wage
These are national figures, identical for every reader. The report recuts them for your metro area and ranks it among all of them.
Get yours →Pay over time
Median up 96% between 2003 and 2024, before inflation. The band shows the 10th to 90th percentile.
BLS OEWS, one release per year. Before May 2011 only national estimates were published, so geography detail starts there.
Where the jobs are
| Metro area | Median wage | Employed |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $101,250 | 7,010 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | $104,840 | 6,570 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | $82,900 | 4,040 |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | $77,680 | 3,380 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $81,640 | 2,950 |
BLS OEWS May 2024, metropolitan estimates · the 5 areas with the most people in this occupation
Your metro area, and where it ranks
LockedAll metropolitan areas BLS publishes for this occupation, with your own city's median and its rank among them.
Open in your report →Typical education to enter: Associate's degree · BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
What people in this job actually do
Ordered by how important the work is rated.
- Perform endotracheal intubation to maintain open airways for patients who are unable to breathe on their own.
- Provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
- Monitor patient's physiological responses to therapy, such as vital signs, arterial blood gases, or blood chemistry changes, and consult with physician if adverse reactions occur.
- Set up and operate devices, such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or aerosol generators, following specified parameters of treatment.
- Maintain charts that contain patients' pertinent identification and therapy information.
- Work as part of a team of physicians, nurses, or other healthcare professionals to manage patient care by assisting with medical procedures or related duties.
- Read prescription, measure arterial blood gases, and review patient information to assess patient condition.
- Relay blood analysis results to a physician.
- Inspect, clean, test, and maintain respiratory therapy equipment to ensure equipment is functioning safely and efficiently, ordering repairs when necessary.
- Explain treatment procedures to patients to gain cooperation and allay fears.
- Make emergency visits to resolve equipment problems.
- Determine requirements for treatment, such as type, method and duration of therapy, precautions to be taken, or medication and dosages, compatible with physicians' orders.
O*NET 30.3 task ratings, importance scale
Skills that matter most
Importance, rated 1 to 5.
O*NET 30.3 skills, importance scale
Software and tools
A dot marks what O*NET flags as in demand.
O*NET 30.3 software skills · hot-technology flag
What your tools are worth
Occupation-based, not posting-based: how much employment, pay and projected growth sit behind each tool. It is not a count of job ads.
| Tool | Value | Spread across occupations |
|---|---|---|
| eClinicalWorks EHR software | 73 | 48 occupations; absent from the 2015 catalogue |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | 69 | 400 → 629 occupations since 2015 |
| Microsoft Outlook | 68 | 348 → 642 occupations since 2015 |
What your tools are worth
LockedThe same score for every tool in this occupation, plus the ones you ticked and the ones you did not.
Open in your report →What this work is actually like
Conditions rated against the average across all occupations — only what makes this job different is listed.
O*NET 30.3 Job Zones
Working conditions that stand out
O*NET 30.3 work context, frequency scale · observed 2013-07
How people actually get in
Share of workers by the education they hold.
O*NET 30.2 education, training and experience · observed 2013-07
What kind of person the work suits
Occupational interest profile, rated 1 to 7.
O*NET 30.2 occupational interests (RIASEC)
Tasks O*NET flags as emerging
- Attend high-risk and caesarian section infant deliveries to provide neonatal respiratory care as needed.
O*NET 30.3 emerging tasks
What you take with you
Skills rated for how well they transfer into other occupations.
O*NET 30.3 transferable skills, importance scale
Knowledge the work draws on
Abilities it leans on
O*NET 30.3 abilities and knowledge, importance scale
How this job is advertised
The same work is posted under many titles — this is what to search for.
O*NET 30.3 job titles reported for this occupation
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What changed since 2015
Comparing O*NET release 20.1 (2015-10-01) with 30.3 (2026-05-01). Signs, not colour alone, carry the meaning. 1 entries that were only relabelled between releases are left out.
Now listed 1
No longer listed 2
Diff across the O*NET releases held here in full since October 2015, following occupations through merges and retirements. O*NET re-surveys occupations on a rolling cycle, so “no change” can also mean “not re-surveyed”.
Related jobs
O*NET 30.3 related occupations
Also called
O*NET 30.3 alternative titles
The same work in Europe
| ESCO occupation | ISCO | Match |
|---|---|---|
| respiratory therapy technician | 3259.5 | broader |
| clinical perfusion scientist | 3211.1 | broader |
Official ESCO ↔ O*NET crosswalk (ESCO Secretariat with USDOL/ETA)
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