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Boston Career Explorer

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.

Also called: CRRT (Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Respiratory Therapist), CRT (Certified Respiratory Therapist), Diagnostics RRT (Diagnostics Registered Respiratory Therapist), Infant RT (Infant Respiratory Therapist), Licensed CRT (Licensed Certified Respiratory Therapist), Licensed RT (Licensed Respiratory Therapist)

Compare with my current job (Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary)
Median pay in Greater Boston
$104,580
$50.28/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
1,560
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+10.4%
140 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Associate's degree

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$82,620$96,190$104,580$112,020$125,120

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Set up and operate devices, such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or aerosol generators, following specified parameters of treatment.
  • 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.
  • Read prescription, measure arterial blood gases, and review patient information to assess patient condition.
  • Relay blood analysis results to a physician.
  • Provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
  • Enforce safety rules and ensure careful adherence to physicians' orders.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Moderate exposure39 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 41
  • Language-model AIOE 40
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 36

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for respiratory therapists is moderate, and observed AI use is little or none so far. AI tools may help with reviewing patient information and tracking test results. Setting up equipment, responding to emergencies, and caring for patients at the bedside still rely on people. Federal projections expect demand to grow in hospitals and other settings.

Likely to change

  • Reviewing patient data and lab results
  • Charting and relaying test results

Still relies on people

  • Operating ventilators and emergency breathing care
  • Judging how a patient is responding

What federal projections say

“Demand change - share increases as the demand for respiratory care services grows. Respiratory therapists will be increasingly needed across hospital and non-hospital settings to treat a wide variety of conditions and patients.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

3 programs near Boston (plus 1 graduate)

Related occupations

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