Respiratory therapists job market in Pennsylvania

Name: Respiratory therapists in Pennsylvania: occupation-weighted industry context
Creator: JobMarketHealth

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

Pennsylvania industry employment tracked close to the U.S. benchmark

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Respiratory therapists in Pennsylvania.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 100% · BLS QCEWCitation Evidence record

Occupation pay

What Respiratory therapists earn in Pennsylvania

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$78,490Pennsylvania

Middle 50% of published wages: $66,940 – $87,620
U.S. median annual wage: $82,280
Reference period: May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around Pennsylvania

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Respiratory therapists, compared with the Pennsylvania median of $78,490.

Pennsylvania median$78,490

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD$88,790+13.1% vs. state

Middle 50%$75,520 – $97,000Published employment2,990

Reading, PA$84,330+7.4% vs. state

Middle 50%$79,990 – $105,820Published employment130

Lancaster, PA$80,060+2.0% vs. state

Middle 50%$64,770 – $83,960Published employment230

Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ$79,960+1.9% vs. state

Middle 50%$74,380 – $92,680Published employment490

Chambersburg, PA$79,910+1.8% vs. state

Middle 50%$68,070 – $101,430Published employment40

York-Hanover, PA$79,540+1.3% vs. state

Middle 50%$75,560 – $93,970Published employment230

View 8 more published metro areas

Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA$78,750+0.3% vs. state

Middle 50%$64,070 – $81,230Published employment410

Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA$78,380−0.1% vs. state

Middle 50%$63,350 – $79,800Published employment230

Williamsport, PA$78,300−0.2% vs. state

Middle 50%$78,300 – $82,740Published employment50

Pittsburgh, PA$75,470−3.8% vs. state

Middle 50%$64,270 – $79,910Published employment1,220

State College, PA$73,690−6.1% vs. state

Middle 50%$63,070 – $77,810Published employment60

Johnstown, PA$71,210−9.3% vs. state

Middle 50%$60,070 – $72,200Published employment80

Erie, PA$62,480−20.4% vs. state

Middle 50%$59,140 – $77,130Published employment110

Altoona, PA$59,980−23.6% vs. state

Middle 50%$59,980 – $76,960Published employment40

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Pennsylvania median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in Pennsylvania’s weighted industry mix.

+1.8%Industry employmentPennsylvania industry employmentU.S. +2.0%vs. +2.0% U.S.

+2.2%Establishments in weighted industriesPennsylvania establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +6.7%vs. +6.7% U.S.

+2.4%Avg. weekly industry wagePennsylvania avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +2.5% · not occupation payvs. +2.5% U.S. · not occupation pay

-0.3 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 59,621 represented establishments, 93.52% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for respiratory therapists in Pennsylvania

Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.

Private education and health services has the largest positive weighted contribution

The largest positive weighted contribution to the industry employment-growth proxy in Pennsylvania comes from Private education and health services in January to March 2026. Its share of positive weighted contributions is 100.0%, and its own year-over-year employment change is +1.9%. Each leading industry group is weighted using this occupation's national industry mix, of which the groups examined cover 99.9%. This is a proxy comparison, not a count of occupation jobs created.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Pay differs widely between metro areas

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD's median wage of $88,790 is 48.0% higher than Altoona, PA's $59,980 in OEWS May 2025. Those are the high and low published estimates among 14 metro areas associated with Pennsylvania on the same wage basis. The comparison does not account for living costs or job availability.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Metro estimates may include areas in neighboring states. The comparison covers published metro estimates, not every part of the state.

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology

Employment trends

Pennsylvania industry employment over time

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values

Pennsylvania · 2026 Q1+1.8%
U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+2.0%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value

Quarterly Pennsylvania industry employment changes and coverage
Quarter	Pennsylvania	Coverage
2024 Q2	+3.9%	100%
2024 Q3	+3.5%	100%
2024 Q4	+3.1%	100%
2025 Q1	+2.8%	100%
2025 Q2	+2.3%	100%
2025 Q3	+2.2%	100%
2025 Q4	+2.1%	100%
2026 Q1	+1.8%	100%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Pennsylvania’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters: 8
Earliest quarter: 2024 Q2
Latest quarter: 2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark: +2.0%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Respiratory therapists Work

The occupation mix determines which Pennsylvania industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Pennsylvania Respiratory therapists context
Industry group	Occupation mix	Employment change	Establishments	Avg. weekly industry wage
Private education and health services	93.5%	+1.9%	59,621	$1,294
Professional and business services	2.5%	-0.5%	83,388	$2,370
Trade, transportation, and utilities	2.3%	-1.3%	74,006	$1,221
Financial activities	1.2%	-0.2%	33,781	$3,184
Federal	0.2%	-7.8%	2,664	$2,141
State and local	0.2%	+0.3%	10,459	$1,356

Which industries are growing?

2 weighted industries are growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive Pennsylvania employment change are listed.

Private education and health services+1.9%
State and local+0.3%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Current Pennsylvania context

Current Pennsylvania Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Pennsylvania. They are not Respiratory therapists demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · Pennsylvania

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

98.3Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026

-1.7%Versus the February 2020 baseline

-0.5%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index

Indeed postings index
Observation date	Index (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 2026	98.11
Jul 31, 2026	97.59
Aug 7, 2026	97.16
Aug 14, 2026	97.19
Aug 21, 2026	97.51
Aug 28, 2026	97.55
Sep 4, 2026	97.44
Sep 11, 2026	97.87
Sep 18, 2026	98.49
Sep 25, 2026	98.87
Oct 2, 2026	99.45
Oct 9, 2026	99.93
Oct 16, 2026	99.14
Oct 23, 2026	98.33

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Statewide layoff notices

Monthly WARN notices in Pennsylvania

Monthly measurement

Month received in the official state listing. Exact notice days are not published. Effective layoff dates are not used as notice dates.

Latest three completed calendar months
Month	Notice entries
Aug 2026	9
Sep 2026	6
Oct 2026	7
Three-month total	22

Nov 2026: not listed in the source — unavailable, not zero; excluded from the total.

Counts describe published notice entries, not unique employers or confirmed job losses. Explicit revisions are excluded as new notices. Missing months remain unavailable; source revisions may change counts.

Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry

Source last checked 2026-11-02 07:03 UTC. This check does not certify a newly published report.

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Respiratory therapists in Pennsylvania FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Respiratory therapists in Pennsylvania?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Pennsylvania industries weighted to Respiratory therapists changed +1.8% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +2.0% nationwide.

Are wages for Respiratory therapists rising in Pennsylvania?

QCEW does not publish pay for Respiratory therapists in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +2.4% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Pennsylvania industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Respiratory therapists openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation: Respiratory therapists
SOC code: 29-1126
State: Pennsylvania
QCEW release label: QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period: 2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year: +1.8%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year: +2.0%
Difference from U.S. benchmark: -0.3 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year: +2.2%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year: +2.4%State data coverage 100%
Industry mix vintage: EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date: Aug 28, 2026
Source verification: Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL: https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/respiratory-therapists/pennsylvania#evidence-record
Derived by: JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Methodology BLS QCEW How to cite QCEW state context release, 2026 Q1

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.