Respiratory Therapists in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,638
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$16,852
21.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,219
Pennsylvania costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Pennsylvania — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$78,490
Kept after tax
$61,638
Worth in national money
$63,219
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for respiratory therapists is on the low side in Pennsylvania. The middle earner gets $78,490. That is 37 of 51 states, and about 4.61% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Pennsylvania, this sits in the middle: 128 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $78,490, tax leaves $61,638, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $63,219 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $78,180.
- For respiratory therapists, Pennsylvania sits in the lower band at $78,490, ranking 37 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 4.61%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Respiratory therapists ranks 128 of 492 occupations in Pennsylvania by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for respiratory therapists — median $78,490 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $61,638 retained, $63,219 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $78,180 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Respiratory Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,520 |
| This salary | $78,490 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Pennsylvania | $61,638 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,048 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,691 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $75,065 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,717 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of respiratory therapists in Pennsylvania earn under $78,490 and half over. The published range runs $62,440 at the tenth percentile to $95,520 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $61,638 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $78,490. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 128 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $63,219 uses one figure for the whole of Pennsylvania. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 128.
- Figures are distribution medians for respiratory therapists in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $62,440 to $95,520; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $61,638, from $78,490, assumes a single Pennsylvania filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 128 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 37 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $63,219, worked from $78,490, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Pennsylvania address, on work sitting at 128 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $62,440 at the bottom tenth to $95,520 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Pennsylvania is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $63,219 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Pennsylvania's own levy, $61,638 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($62,440 to $95,520) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Pennsylvania rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Pennsylvania's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $63,219 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $61,638 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Pennsylvania income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.