The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry named respiratory therapists among its 2014 Statewide High–Priority Occupations, with this allied health profession reporting 196 annual job openings. The Department also reported that as of 2014, respiratory therapists in Pennsylvania earned an average salary of $56,190.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor’s 2013 Employment Wage Statistics found that respiratory therapists in the state earned an average entry level salary of $44,120, or $21.21 per hour. The mean salary for respiratory therapists in Pennsylvania was $56,190, or $27.01 per hour, and experienced respiratory therapists earned an average salary of $62,230, or $29.92 per hour.
The projected number of respiratory therapists licensed in Pennsylvania by 2020 is expected to be 6,030, an increase of more than 1,000 from 2010 employment numbers.
The Department of Labor and Industry also detailed the counties in Pennsylvania that had the highest number of advertised job openings, as of August 2014:
- Allegheny County: 76
- Cumberland County: 7
- Lackawanna County: 17
- Montgomery County: 8
- Philadelphia County: 14
- Westmoreland County: 5
- York County: 9
During the same period, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry reported the following mean, annual salaries, according to county:
- Delaware County: $64,770
- Bucks County: $64,340
- Dauphin County: $64,340
- Philadelphia County: $61,050
- Lehigh County: $59,790
- Cumberland County: $59,270
- Montgomery County: $59,270
- York County: $58,910
- Northampton County: $58,790
- Lancaster County: $56,990
- Allegheny County: $51,720
- Lackawanna County: $51,410
- Westmoreland County: $51,320
As of August 28, 2014, 87.1 percent of all job openings for respiratory therapists in Pennsylvania required a vocational school certificate/associate’s degree, while 12.9 percent required a bachelor’s degree.
As of 2010, 69.4 percent of all respiratory therapists in Pennsylvania were employed in general medical and surgical hospitals.
Additional statistical information on respiratory therapist salaries in Pennsylvania can be found in the Bureau of Labor Statistics table below: