Most important takeaways…
- BLS 2025 shows registered nurses outearn respiratory therapists at the median.
- Respiratory therapy associate degrees and ADN programs both take about two years.
- Licensed practical nurses earned a median $64,400 in May 2025.
Respiratory Therapist or Nurse? How the Two Careers Really Compare
Pay, schooling, licensure, daily work and burnout, side by side so you can choose
Respiratory therapy gets you into a licensed hospital role faster, while nursing offers more entry points, more jobs, and a higher median wage. Both are hands-on, bedside careers, but training length, scope of practice, and pay diverge in ways that matter once you're choosing a program.
The comparison covers salary, time to entry, licensure, difficulty and burnout, and job outlook. Wage figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2025 release, so treat them as approximate rather than exact.
The real question is rarely which career is better. It's whether you want deep expertise in breathing and ventilation or a broader clinical role with more routes to advance.
Respiratory Therapist vs Nurse at a Glance
What actually separates a respiratory therapist from a registered nurse on a hospital floor? The short answer: depth versus breadth. Respiratory therapists specialize in breathing, treating patients with asthma, COPD, and other conditions that compromise the airway, and managing ventilators and oxygen therapy. Registered nurses cover a wider territory: assessing patients, coordinating care across the treatment team, administering medications, educating patients and families, and supporting recovery from admission to discharge.
Pay and job growth
In 2025, the national median wage for registered nurses was $97,550 a year ($46.90 an hour), compared with $82,280 ($39.56 an hour) for respiratory therapists. That is a gap of $15,270, which puts RT median pay at roughly 84 percent of RN median pay.1
Growth runs the other direction. Federal projections for 2025 to 2035 put respiratory therapy at 9 percent, versus 6 percent for registered nursing. Respiratory therapy is expected to add about 12,100 jobs over the decade with roughly 8,600 openings per year on average. Keep the scale in mind, though: respiratory therapy is a much smaller field, with about 142,000 jobs nationally, so a higher percentage does not mean more total opportunities.
Entry point
Respiratory therapy has a clearly defined front door. Federal data describes typical entry with an associate's degree in respiratory therapy and no prior related work experience required. Nursing is less uniform, since RNs enter through more than one educational route, and the national data does not point to a single minimum credential the way it does for respiratory therapy. The next sections break both paths down in detail.
Respiratory Therapist vs Nurse Salary: What BLS Data Shows
The latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data (2025) shows that registered nurses earn more on average and at the median than respiratory therapists, while also holding far more jobs nationwide. Respiratory therapists still earn a strong salary, with a median near $82,000, but RNs have a wider salary distribution that reaches higher at the top end. These figures are national estimates and actual pay varies by location, experience, and employer.
| Occupation | Total Employment | Mean Annual Wage | 25th Percentile | Median Annual Wage | 75th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Respiratory Therapists | 139,790 | $87,300 | $74,520 | $82,280 | $98,730 |
| Registered Nurses | 3,379,720 | $101,420 | $80,330 | $97,550 | $112,350 |
Why Salary Figures Conflict, and How LPN Pay Compares
The median annual wage for licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses is $64,400 as of May 2025, and that single figure explains a lot about why salary articles disagree.
Median vs. Average
When two articles quote different pay for the same job, they are usually measuring different things. Median is the middle: half of workers earn more, half earn less. Average (or mean) adds everyone's wages together and divides by the number of workers, so a handful of very high earners can pull it upward. Government data on these careers reports the median, which is why it often looks lower than the "average" numbers you see elsewhere. Neither is wrong, but comparing a median to a mean across two sources will always produce a gap that isn't real.
Do RTs Out-Earn Nurses?
Using the federal medians in the table above: respiratory therapists and registered nurses sit close together, with RNs typically a bit higher, while respiratory therapists clearly out-earn LPNs and LVNs, whose median is $64,400. That LPN gap is notable because the training timelines are similar. Respiratory therapists work in a narrower, more technical scope, and that specialization tends to lift pay above the broader LPN role.
One caveat: these figures don't track pay by years of experience. The government doesn't publish an experience curve, so treat any "after five years you'll earn X" claim with skepticism. Use the median as a starting point, not a promise.
Education and Training: How Long Each Path Takes and What It Costs
For readers weighing Medical Assistant vs Respiratory Therapist, respiratory therapy is the faster route into a licensed hospital role, while nursing asks for more time upfront and offers more entry options. Treat the figures as examples, not national averages, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not publish a national minimum for clinical hours or a typical tuition for either field.
Entry Routes
- Respiratory therapist: An accredited associate degree is the usual entry point, though employers may prefer a bachelor's.
- Registered nurse: An associate degree in nursing (ADN), a bachelor's (BSN), or a diploma.
- LPN: A certificate or diploma program, typically shorter than either RN route.
Length, Clinical Hours, and Cost
The core respiratory therapy sequence at the schools reviewed here runs about 17 to 24 months. Concorde lists 17 months,1 American Career College 20,2 and Pima Medical Institute 24.3 Some programs require prerequisites first, such as Francis Tuttle's 38 credits.4
Clinical hours are disclosed differently by each school, so don't compare them directly. Concorde reports 900 hours1 and American Career College 720.2 Pima doesn't separate clinical from lab time.3
Tuition depends heavily on residency and school type. Delta College totals $15,718 in-district and about $25,669 out-of-state.5 Chippewa Valley Technical College estimates $14,967,6 and Reynolds Community College charges $187.60 per credit hour.7
BLS says ADN and BSN programs typically take four years. That figure may include prerequisites and general education, not just the nursing sequence. There is no defensible national nursing tuition number, so ask each school for its public or private rate, residency pricing, and fees.
Accreditation and Competition
Look for CoARC accreditation for respiratory therapy and ACEN or CCNE for nursing. Check the status carefully, since at least one Los Angeles program is only provisionally accredited.
Nursing programs often have competitive waitlists. Respiratory therapy programs are smaller with fewer seats, so plan applications early for either path.
So how long does each take? Roughly two years for an RT associate program, versus up to four for an RN, depending on prerequisites and the route you choose.
RT Associate vs ADN vs BSN: How Long Does Each Path Take?
Respiratory therapy associate programs and ADN programs both typically take about two years of full-time study, while a traditional BSN adds roughly two more years. All three paths include supervised clinical rotations, but the degree earned and licensing exam differ.
Licensure and Certification: CRT/RRT vs NCLEX
Respiratory therapy and nursing both separate national certification or examination from state-level licensure. Respiratory credentials come from the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC), while nursing candidates take the NCLEX through state boards of nursing. Renewal and continuing education requirements are not uniform and depend on the state where you practice.
| Credential | Issuing Body | Exam | Eligibility | State License and Renewal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT) | National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) | Therapist Multiple-Choice Examination (TMC); achieving the low cut score earns the CRT credential. | Candidates must meet the applicable NBRC eligibility requirements. The low TMC cut score earns CRT, while the high cut score also creates eligibility for the Clinical Simulation Examination if RRT eligibility requirements are met. | The CRT credential is national certification, not a state license. State licensing and renewal requirements vary; for example, Alabama requires 24 contact hours of continuing education over each two-year licensure period, and awards five contact hours for successful NBRC recredentialing. |
| Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) | National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) | Pass the Therapist Multiple-Choice Examination (TMC) at the high cut score (92 or above), then pass the Clinical Simulation Examination (CSE). Both exams are required to earn the RRT credential. | A candidate must be eligible for the RRT credential, achieve the high TMC cut score, and meet all CSE eligibility requirements. Achieving the high score alone does not waive CSE eligibility requirements. | The RRT credential is national certification, not a state license. State licensing and renewal are administered under each state's law; Pennsylvania requires renewal every two years with at least 30 hours of continuing education, including two hours on recognizing and reporting child abuse. |
| NCLEX-RN | State boards of nursing, with the Nurse Licensure Compact recognizing successful passage for a multistate license | National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) | For a Nurse Licensure Compact multistate license, the applicant must meet the home state's licensure or renewal qualifications, pass the NCLEX-RN or recognized predecessor, and be eligible for or hold an active, unencumbered license. | State boards of nursing issue and renew RN licenses under state law. A compact multistate license requires meeting the home state's qualifications for licensure or renewal and other applicable laws. |
| NCLEX-PN | State boards of nursing, with the Nurse Licensure Compact recognizing successful passage for a multistate license | National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN) | For a Nurse Licensure Compact multistate license, the applicant must meet the home state's licensure or renewal qualifications, pass the NCLEX-PN or recognized predecessor, and be eligible for or hold an active, unencumbered license. | State boards of nursing issue and renew practical nurse licenses under state law. A compact multistate license requires meeting the home state's qualifications for licensure or renewal and other applicable laws. |
| Licensed Respiratory Care Practitioner | State respiratory-care licensing authority or board; Tennessee identifies a Board of Respiratory Care responsible for respiratory-care license administration | N/A | Eligibility is determined by the applicable state's respiratory-care licensing law and board rules; requirements are not uniform nationally. | Renewal is state-specific. In Tennessee, licensees may renew online beginning 120 days before expiration; after the first renewal, licenses expire every 24 months, and licensees must complete 12 contact hours of continuing education each calendar year. |
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Questions to Ask Yourself
Do you want deep expertise in breathing and critical-care equipment, or broad patient care across many specialties?
Respiratory therapy keeps you focused on airways, ventilators, and pulmonary function, while nursing spreads across medications, wound care, and dozens of specialties. One rewards mastery of a niche; the other rewards versatility.
Is getting licensed in about two years more important than keeping options open for APRN or CRNA later?
An associate degree can launch either career in roughly two years, but advanced roles like nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist require a nursing foundation and graduate study that respiratory therapy does not lead to.
Can you handle high-acuity emergencies like codes and ventilator crises, or do you prefer longer-term patient relationships?
Respiratory therapists are often first to a code and manage life-support equipment under pressure. Nurses also face emergencies but frequently build ongoing relationships with patients over a shift or stay.
