Most Louisville respiratory therapists earn at least $39,000 per year.
Respiratory therapists treat individuals with breathing difficulties, ranging from premature babies to patients with asthma or emphysema to persons who have been in a drowning accident. Kentucky, like nearly all states, requires respiratory therapists to be licensed. Respiratory therapists must have a minimum of an associate degree and be certified or registered with the National Board for Respiratory Care. The effort to become a respiratory therapist pays off with high salaries.
Employment
Of the estimated 107,270 respiratory therapists working in the United States in 2009, about 2,030 were employed in Kentucky, as determined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Kentucky, in fact, had the third-highest number of respiratory therapists per capita by state, with only Delaware and Mississippi ranking higher. Bowling Green had the fifth-highest number of respiratory therapists per capita by metro area, with an estimated 120 there. About 640 respiratory therapists were working in Louisville and the surrounding Jefferson County area in 2009.
Averages
Respiratory therapists in Kentucky had an average salary of $21.43 per hour in 2009, or $44,580 per year. In Louisville and Jefferson County, the average pay was higher, at $22.60 per hour, or $47,000 per year. The Kentucky statewide average pay for respiratory therapists ranked in the bottom 25 percent nationwide, but Louisville ranked in the middle 50 percent.
Salary Range
The middle 50 percent of Louisville respiratory therapists on the earnings scale were making $39,750 to $53,260 per year in 2009, according to the BLS. The bottom 10 percent had salaries of $34,920 and below, and the top 10 percent were making at least $60,530 per year. In comparison, the middle 50-percent range statewide in Kentucky was $37,240 to $51,330, with the top 10 percent earning $33,640 and less, and the top 10 percent making $58,280 and higher.
Comparisons
The Louisville metro area was the second-highest paying area on average in Kentucky for respiratory therapists in 2009, but the average salary of $47,000 was nearly the same as that in the top-ranking Kentucky area of Lexington-Fayette area, at $47,110. Average pay for respiratory therapists was higher in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio, at $51,950 per year, and slightly higher in nearby Evansville, Indiana, at $47,410 per year. Respiratory therapists were earning $45,680 per year on average in Bowling Green and $46,700 in Owensboro.
Tags: respiratory therapists, Respiratory therapists, average salary, bottom percent, Bowling Green
