Respiratory Therapists
SOC 29-1126 · 2024-2034
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.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $107,754per year
- Projected openings
- 14,350
- Projected change
- +22.2%
- Usually needs
- Associate's degree
Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth
The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Service Orientation
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $140,805 | 670 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $139,728 | 430 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $137,453 | 70 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $136,122 | 130 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $133,163 | 110 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $132,691 | 770 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $132,159 | 710 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $122,809 | 50 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $108,429 | 50 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $108,182 | 30 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $107,741 | 70 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $105,378 | 920 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $104,625 | 2,920 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $104,007 | 1,840 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $103,714 | 190 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $101,269 | 210 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $100,817 | 30 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $100,817 | 190 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $99,924 | 250 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $99,718 | 1,480 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $98,383 | 70 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $86,951 | 380 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $79,166
- A quarter earn under
- $90,206
- Half earn under
- $107,754
- Three quarters earn under
- $132,621
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $149,583
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paramedics | $76,678 | 3,120 | +15.7% |
| Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians | $80,358 | 4,280 | +15.5% |
| Registered Nurses | $144,197 | 228,840 | +13.5% |
| Radiation Therapists | $171,109 | 1,000 | +11.8% |
| Physical Therapists | $127,666 | 17,850 | +26% |
| Physical Therapist Assistants | $85,215 | 18,930 | +41.1% |
Programs that train for this job — 2
Respiratory Therapy
San Joaquin Valley College - Central Administration Office · Visalia · $57,265
Respiratory Care (AS Degree)
Butte College · Oroville · $7,411