Care & Presence
Respiratory Therapist
Clinical care where precision and trust meet.
AI Risk Score: 3/10
Score is our body/liability/scarcity rubric, calibrated against public AI-exposure research.
Data last reviewed: 2026-07-21
What you actually do
Evaluate and treat patients with cardiopulmonary disorders in hospital and acute-care settings.
Why AI does not easily replace it
Bedside intervention, patient-specific response, and licensed clinical judgment are core.
What it pays
$75,000 - $99,000
BLS OOH: Respiratory Therapists (May 2025 pay, OEWS)
Salary benchmark year: 2025
How to get in
Accredited respiratory program + state licensure and credentialing.
Estimated time to entry: ~24 months (path-dependent).
State-by-state training and licensing links
Where demand is growing
Aging population and chronic respiratory conditions keep demand elevated.
Ready to explore?
Compare this career in the full directory, or run the exposure calculator against your current role.
"The moat is not a prompt. It is responsibility in the real world."
AI risk evidence
- Anthropic Economic Index (2025-26): measured AI usage and task coverage by occupation
- IMF, "New Skills and AI Are Reshaping the Future of Work" (Jan 2026): ~40% of global jobs exposed to AI-driven change
- Stanford HAI AI Index Report 2026 (labor chapters)
- Oxford Martin: The Future of Employment (2013), kept for historical grounding