Iowa Respiratory Therapist Salaries

Iowa’s Labor Market & Workforce Information Division projects that the number of respiratory therapists in the state will increase 15.8% from 2012 to 2022.

This agency predicts that 30 respiratory therapy jobs a year will become available in Iowa. Half are expected to come from growth in the field with the remaining jobs coming from respiratory therapists who leave the workforce.

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They also indicated that 960 respiratory therapists were employed throughout Iowa in 2013. Over 30% of these professionals were located in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA):

  • Des Moines – 20.8%
  • Cedar Rapids – 10.4%

The Labor Market & Workforce Information Division presents 2014 salary data for respiratory therapists in Iowa:

Entry-level
Average
Experienced
$41437
$51113
$55952

2013 average salaries are available for some of Iowa’s cities. In the Cedar Rapids area, respiratory therapists earned $49,106 on average, while those in Des Moines made an average of $48,358 a year.

A breakdown of 2013 hourly wages is available for respiratory therapists in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines:

Iowa City
Entry-level
Median
Cedar Rapids
$19.65
$22.59
Des Moines
$19.40
$23.34

In addition to jobs in cities, nonmetropolitan areas can be good places to work as respiratory therapies. The nonmetropolitan area of northwest Iowa had the top average salary of any such area in the country. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), respiratory therapists in this area made an average of $83,730 a year in 2013.

The BLS provides a detailed breakdown of 2013 respiratory therapy salaries throughout Iowa shown in the following table:

Area Name
Employment
Annual Median Salary
Cedar Rapids IA
110
46520
Des Moines-West Des Moines IA
190
48270
Omaha-Council Bluffs NE-IA
580
49830
Sioux City IA-NE-SD
40
44210
Northeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area
40
48050
Northwest Iowa nonmetropolitan area
70
47330
Southwest Iowa nonmetropolitan area
50
51290
Southeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area
90
45040