Respiratory Therapists
National median $82,280 / yr · 139,790 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
| Rank | Area | Annual Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $149,680 | $140,699 | 6.0% | — | — | 79 |
| #2 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $104,220 | $104,220 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 74 |
| #3 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $134,430 | $126,364 | 6.0% | — | — | 74 |
| #4 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $130,220 | $122,407 | 6.0% | — | — | 74 |
| #5 | Washington | $101,130 | $101,130 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 72 |
| #6 | North Dakota | $81,230 | $79,605 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 71 |
| #7 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $95,520 | $90,362 | 5.4% | — | ✓ | 71 |
| #8 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $88,020 | $83,619 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 71 |
| #9 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | $87,820 | $84,088 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 71 |
| #10 | Wyoming | $79,330 | $79,330 | 0.0% | 93 | ✓ | 70 |
Active travel assignments by state
1,175 active travel listings for this occupation right now — top 10 states. Best-effort counts from public staffing-platform listings (Vivian); a breadth signal of where the work is, not an exact requisition count.
National wage distribution
How pay spreads across the workforce — from the 10th percentile (entry / low-COL settings) to the 90th (highest-paying environments).
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 446 scored areas total.
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | CA | $149,680 | $140,699 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 79 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $104,220 | $104,220 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 74 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | CA | $134,430 | $126,364 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 74 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $130,220 | $122,407 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 74 |
| Washington | WA | $101,130 | $101,130 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 72 |
| North Dakota | ND | $81,230 | $79,605 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | GA | $95,520 | $90,362 | 5.4% | — | ✓ | 24 | 71 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $88,020 | $83,619 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 71 |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC | NC | $87,820 | $84,088 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 24 | 71 |
| Wyoming | WY | $79,330 | $79,330 | 0.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | TX | $82,760 | $82,760 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | PA | $88,790 | $86,064 | 3.1% | — | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | CO | $85,870 | $82,092 | 4.4% | — | ✓ | 22 | 70 |
| Ohio | OH | $79,920 | $77,522 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Missouri | MO | $78,390 | $74,862 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | NC | $82,020 | $78,534 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $84,080 | $84,080 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | OH | $81,600 | $79,152 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Columbus, OH | OH | $81,860 | $79,404 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Wisconsin | WI | $84,210 | $79,747 | 5.3% | 94 | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Texas | TX | $79,540 | $79,540 | 0.0% | 97 | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Delaware | DE | $91,080 | $86,344 | 5.2% | 100 | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Indiana | IN | $79,730 | $77,298 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Jacksonville, FL | FL | $81,760 | $81,760 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Maryland | MD | $88,960 | $84,512 | 5.0% | 105 | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
Download the full national benchmark (PDF)
National percentile wages, 51-state ranking by WageBench Score, top-25 metros, and methodology footer — formatted for HR / compensation review.
WageBench Score blends pay, taxes, COL, demand, license access and livability into one 0-100 number.
How we calculate it →