Health
What Can You Do With a Respiratory Therapy Degree?
Treating patients who cannot breathe well, from premature infants to ICU adults. Graduates earn a median $50,000 early in their careers and $70,000 by mid-career. We track 1 career that a Respiratory Therapy degree commonly leads to, with median pay around $82,280.
How these numbers work: A major does not have its own salary. Early and mid-career pay is what people who hold this degree earn at the start of their careers and midway through them. Career pay comes from the 1 career a Respiratory Therapy degree commonly leads to, and counts everyone in those jobs, including people who have been doing them for thirty years. The two answer different questions, which is why they do not match.
The New York Fed does not report Respiratory Therapy on its own. Its early and mid-career figures here are for Treatment Therapy, the broader group it places this major in.
53% of people with this degree go on to a graduate degree, so the higher-paying careers below usually mean more school after the bachelor's.
Careers this major leads to
Related majors
Frequently asked questions
What can you do with a Respiratory Therapy degree?
A Respiratory Therapy degree commonly leads to 1 careers we track, including Respiratory Therapist. Graduates earn a median $50,000 early in their careers.
How much do Respiratory Therapy majors make?
Graduates with a Respiratory Therapy degree earn a median of $50,000 a year early in their careers, and $70,000 by mid-career (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2024 data). Those figures are reported for Treatment Therapy, the broader group this major sits in.
What jobs can a Respiratory Therapy major get?
Common roles include Respiratory Therapist. Respiratory Therapist is among the higher-paying, at $82,280 median.
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Take the major quizWhere these pay figures come from
Early and mid-career pay is the median annual wage of full-time workers who hold a bachelor's degree in that major, ages 22 to 27 and ages 35 to 45, from 2024 data. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (IPUMS). Published as Outcomes by Major by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Career pay is the annual wage of everyone working in that occupation, not only recent graduates, so it includes people who have done the job for decades. The middle half is the 25th to the 75th percentile. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET OnLine (median and percentile annual wages May 2025; employment projections 2024-2034).
All figures are national. What you earn depends on where you work, who you work for, and how far you take the degree.
Job-growth figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET OnLine (median and percentile annual wages May 2025; employment projections 2024-2034).