By Amanda Pierce, healthcare labor reporter and compensation analyst with 11 years covering respiratory care, hospital staffing, and allied-health wages
Last reviewed: July 19, 2026
Current Johns Hopkins Medicine postings list $34.62 to $57.19 an hour for several regular Registered Respiratory Therapist positions in Maryland. Separate PRN vacancies show fixed rates from $44 to $48 an hour, while at least one weekend position advertises a 20% differential. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an $80,450 national median annual wage for respiratory therapists in May 2024.
myJH is an institutional portal used to reach Johns Hopkins employment and clinical systems. It does not set respiratory-therapy wages, schedules, differentials, licensing requirements, or benefit eligibility.
The current Johns Hopkins RRT range
Several current Maryland postings use the same broad salary band.
A regular Registered Respiratory Therapist position at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center lists $34.62 to $57.19 an hour. A weekend-alternate RRT vacancy at Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center displays the same minimum and maximum and explicitly encourages new graduates to apply.
At a conventional 40-hour schedule, the published range annualizes to:
- $34.62 an hour: approximately $72,010 a year
- $57.19 an hour: approximately $118,955 a year
Those are mathematical conversions from the official hourly figures. They are not annual salaries quoted by Johns Hopkins.
| Johns Hopkins respiratory role | Published compensation | Employment structure |
|---|---|---|
| Registered Respiratory Therapist | $34.62–$57.19 hourly | Regular position |
| Adult RRT, weekends only | $34.62–$57.19 hourly | Weekend schedule |
| Johns Hopkins Hospital RRT | Fixed rate shown around $44–$47 hourly | Position-specific posting |
| Bayview RRT, PRN | Fixed rate shown around $44–$47 hourly | PRN |
| Howard County RRT, PRN | $48 hourly | PRN |
| Weekend RRT listing | Base range plus 20% differential | Part-time weekend nights |
Sources: Johns Hopkins Medicine respiratory-care postings reviewed July 19, 2026.
The regular range is wider than the PRN rates because the figures answer different questions.
A normal hiring range allows Johns Hopkins to position candidates according to experience and internal equity. A PRN posting may instead publish one fixed hourly amount for workers covering shifts according to operational need.
How Hopkins compares with the national median
BLS reported that respiratory therapists earned a median of $80,450 annually in May 2024.
The reviewed Johns Hopkins regular range begins below that benchmark and ends well above it.
A $34.62 hourly rate annualizes to approximately $72,010, around $8,440 below the national median. The $57.19 maximum annualizes to approximately $118,955, about $38,505 above it.
That does not establish that Johns Hopkins pays below market at the low end or above market at the high end.
BLS reports the middle wage across respiratory therapists working for many employers, in many regions, with different experience levels and schedules. Johns Hopkins publishes the boundaries available for specific vacancies.
A national median and an employer range are complementary statistics, not interchangeable ones.
Older BLS data shows the wage distribution
BLS May 2023 wage data placed the respiratory-therapist median at $77,960, or $37.48 an hour. The 75th-percentile wage was $88,820, and the 90th-percentile wage was $104,480.
The current Hopkins maximum annualizes above that older national 90th-percentile figure.
Again, this does not mean most Hopkins therapists are top-decile earners. It means one published range extends beyond an earlier national percentile threshold.
The lower Hopkins rate of $34.62 sat between the BLS 25th-percentile hourly wage of $31.50 and the 2023 median of $37.48.
This is a more useful interpretation than simply stating that Johns Hopkins pays up to $118,955.
The vacancy band spans a large portion of the national occupational distribution.
Where the $118,955 headline misleads
“Johns Hopkins respiratory therapists earn nearly $119,000” is based on a real calculation and remains incomplete.
That number assumes:
- placement at the maximum of the regular range;
- 40 paid hours every week;
- employment for all 52 weeks;
- no unpaid time;
- no schedule reduction;
- no distinction between base pay and premiums.
Johns Hopkins says compensation is determined according to equity and experience for roles with comparable scope and responsibility.
A new graduate who meets the minimum qualifications should not assume immediate placement near $57.19. The Howard County posting welcomes new graduates but retains the full $34.62 to $57.19 range.
The published maximum demonstrates earning capacity inside the classification. It does not disclose the normal offer.
PRN pay is not annual salary
Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center lists a fixed $48 hourly rate for one PRN Registered Respiratory Therapist position.
At 40 hours a week, $48 would equal $99,840 annually. A PRN job does not guarantee that schedule.
PRN workers are generally scheduled according to hospital demand, employee availability, staffing shortages, leave coverage, and census. Their weekly hours may rise, fall, or disappear temporarily.
A fixed PRN rate can look competitive with the regular range while producing less predictable annual income.
The reviewed Johns Hopkins Hospital and Bayview PRN search results displayed fixed rates around $44 to $47 an hour, although the indexed text showed inconsistent versions of the exact rate for certain pages.
That inconsistency is itself a data warning.
Job pages may be updated while search indexes retain an earlier version. The live posting viewed during an application should control over an older search snippet.
Weekend differentials can materially change pay
The Johns Hopkins Maryland respiratory-care results include a part-time weekend night position advertising a 20% differential.
A 20% premium applied to the minimum regular rate of $34.62 would produce approximately $41.54 an hour. Applied to the $57.19 maximum, it would produce roughly $68.63.
Those figures are illustrations based on the published percentage. They should not be treated as confirmed offers unless the differential applies to the entire base range under the exact vacancy’s rules.
Differentials can be limited by:
- qualifying shift hours;
- weekend definitions;
- employment status;
- scheduled versus unscheduled work;
- stacking restrictions with other premiums;
- facility-specific policy.
The existence of a 20% differential is verified for the listed weekend role. Its application to every Johns Hopkins respiratory position is not.
What respiratory therapists actually do
BLS describes respiratory therapists as clinicians who assess and treat patients with breathing or cardiopulmonary disorders. Their work may include diagnostic testing, treatment administration, ventilator management, blood analysis, airway care, and patient education.
Johns Hopkins describes its respiratory workforce as caring for patients with cardiopulmonary compromise across academic medical centers, community hospitals, and other care settings.
The work can range from routine aerosol treatments to emergency airway support.
A respiratory therapist may care for:
- premature infants with underdeveloped lungs;
- children with asthma or respiratory infections;
- adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease;
- surgical patients requiring ventilatory support;
- trauma patients;
- people with neurological conditions affecting breathing;
- critically ill patients in intensive care.
The same credential can therefore lead to jobs with very different acuity, schedule demands, and clinical pressure.
New graduates enter the same broad range
The Howard County weekend-alternate RRT vacancy says no prior experience is required and encourages new graduates to apply. Its published range remains $34.62 to $57.19 an hour.
This does not mean a new graduate is equally likely to receive every rate inside the band.
A broad range can include:
- newly credentialed therapists;
- experienced staff therapists;
- candidates with critical-care expertise;
- therapists with neonatal or pediatric experience;
- workers transferring from another Hopkins entity;
- candidates with prior leadership or specialist responsibilities.
The posting does not disclose where a first-time therapist would normally be placed.
It does establish that Johns Hopkins recruits new graduates into a classification whose upper boundary is substantially higher than its starting point.
The path between those numbers remains unpublished.
Credentialing creates the entry barrier
Respiratory therapy is a licensed clinical occupation.
BLS says respiratory therapists typically need at least an associate degree, although some employers prefer a bachelor’s degree. Every state except Alaska requires licensing, and professional certification is commonly connected to that process.
The Johns Hopkins vacancies use the Registered Respiratory Therapist title, commonly abbreviated RRT.
The RRT credential reflects a higher professional examination level than entry-level certification alone. Employers may also require current cardiopulmonary-resuscitation credentials and additional training for specialty populations or procedures.
This separates respiratory therapy from support positions that can be entered with brief workplace training.
A candidate cannot reach the Johns Hopkins pay range solely by having hospital experience. The educational, credentialing, and licensing requirements must be met.
Respiratory therapy and nursing overlap without being interchangeable
A current Johns Hopkins RN posting lists $39.64 to $61.45 an hour, compared with the reviewed RRT band of $34.62 to $57.19.
The RN range is higher at both boundaries:
- RN minimum premium: $5.02 an hour
- RN maximum premium: $4.26 an hour
Those are comparisons between selected postings, not universal Johns Hopkins occupational gaps.
Registered nurses and respiratory therapists collaborate closely, especially in emergency departments, critical-care units, operating rooms, and neonatal care. Their scopes remain distinct.
Nurses manage broader patient assessments, medications, care coordination, and treatment plans. Respiratory therapists focus more narrowly on breathing, airways, ventilatory support, pulmonary diagnostics, and cardiopulmonary treatment.
One occupation is not a higher level of the other.
A respiratory therapist seeking nursing pay would need to complete nursing education and licensing rather than simply accumulate respiratory-care experience.
Respiratory therapy sits above patient-care support pay
A Johns Hopkins Hospital Patient Care Technician I posting lists $18.41 to $27.70 an hour.
The RRT minimum is $6.92 higher than the PCT maximum. The RRT maximum is more than double the PCT minimum.
The gap reflects differences in education, licensing, independent clinical responsibility, and technical specialization.
Patient-care technicians provide valuable bedside support but do not independently manage mechanical ventilation or perform the same cardiopulmonary assessments as licensed respiratory therapists.
Grouping both roles under “patient care” would conceal a substantial credential and compensation divide.
Job growth is faster than average
BLS projects respiratory-therapist employment to grow faster than the average for all occupations over the 2024–34 period. The current Occupational Outlook Handbook reports the May 2024 median of $80,450 and describes continuing demand associated with an aging population and respiratory illness.
The occupation benefits from several long-term pressures:
- older patients with chronic lung and heart disease;
- intensive-care demand;
- neonatal respiratory care;
- emergency and trauma treatment;
- home respiratory equipment;
- diagnostic pulmonary testing.
Growth does not guarantee that every Johns Hopkins facility will expand its respiratory department.
Hospitals can change staffing models, automate selected tasks, redesign care teams, or use PRN and weekend programs to cover shortages without adding identical full-time positions.
National demand and employer headcount are different measures.
Vacancy counts do not prove expansion
Johns Hopkins maintains dedicated respiratory-care job pages for Maryland, Baltimore, Florida, and Washington, D.C.
The geographic spread shows that respiratory roles exist across the wider Hopkins system.
A live opening can represent:
- replacement of a departing therapist;
- expansion of a unit;
- a hard-to-cover weekend schedule;
- temporary staffing pressure;
- increased patient volume;
- creation of a PRN pool.
The posting alone does not reveal which explanation applies.
The large number of nursing vacancies compared with respiratory listings also should not be used as a direct measure of occupational demand because the total nursing workforce is much larger. The Hopkins nursing page displayed 183 openings during the review period, while the respiratory category was considerably smaller.
Counts need denominators.
Third-party estimates broadly match the middle of the range
Indeed estimated Johns Hopkins Health System Respiratory Therapist pay at approximately $40.20 an hour, based on 17 past and present job postings.
That estimate falls inside the official $34.62 to $57.19 range.
Glassdoor estimated Baltimore respiratory-therapist pay at around $100,159 annually, or approximately $48 an hour, based on 71 anonymously submitted salaries as of June 2026. It displayed a typical range from roughly $81,901 to $123,914.
Glassdoor’s data cover respiratory therapists across Baltimore, not only Johns Hopkins.
Both third-party figures suggest a market somewhere around the middle or upper-middle of the official Hopkins range. Neither proves the actual Johns Hopkins median.
Indeed relies on postings and other submissions. Glassdoor relies on anonymous salary reports. Samples, schedules, experience, employers, and job levels may differ.
The official vacancy remains the controlling source for an application.
Schedule burden is part of the compensation
Respiratory care is a round-the-clock hospital service.
The reviewed Johns Hopkins opportunities include:
- weekend-only work;
- night shifts;
- alternating weekends;
- part-time schedules;
- casual positions;
- PRN coverage.
These arrangements can raise the hourly rate through differentials or fixed PRN pricing while reducing schedule predictability.
A weekday day-shift employee and a weekend-night therapist may sit in the same occupational classification but experience very different working conditions.
Base pay does not capture:
- sleep disruption;
- holiday obligations;
- call coverage;
- fluctuating PRN hours;
- intensive-care workload;
- physical demands;
- emotional strain during emergencies.
The schedule should be evaluated beside the hourly figure, not after it.
What public data cannot establish
The reviewed sources do not provide one consolidated Johns Hopkins respiratory-care dataset showing:
- median actual RRT pay;
- average placement inside the regular range;
- standard new-graduate offer;
- night and holiday differential amounts;
- overtime earnings;
- turnover by hospital;
- vacancy rates;
- promotion into lead or supervisory roles;
- average time from entry rate to the upper range;
- total compensation by full-time, part-time, or PRN status.
Official postings provide exact ranges or fixed vacancy rates. BLS provides national occupational benchmarks. Indeed and Glassdoor provide estimates with mixed samples.
None provides the full internal wage distribution.
Frequently asked questions
Does myJH determine respiratory-therapist pay?
No. The employing Johns Hopkins entity and position do.
What is the regular Johns Hopkins RRT range?
Several current Maryland postings list $34.62 to $57.19 an hour.
How much does a Johns Hopkins PRN respiratory therapist earn?
One Howard County PRN posting lists a fixed $48 an hour. Other reviewed Johns Hopkins Hospital and Bayview PRN results displayed rates around $44 to $47, subject to the current live posting.
Is there a weekend differential?
At least one Johns Hopkins Maryland respiratory position advertises a 20% weekend differential. That should not be assumed for every role.
What is the national respiratory-therapist median?
BLS reported $80,450 annually in May 2024.
Does Johns Hopkins hire new graduates?
Yes. A reviewed Howard County RRT posting says no prior experience is required and encourages new graduates to apply.
Do RRTs earn the same as registered nurses?
Not in the reviewed postings. The RN range was $39.64 to $61.45, compared with $34.62 to $57.19 for several RRT roles. The comparison is vacancy-specific.
Is PRN pay better than full-time pay?
The hourly rate may be competitive, but PRN work does not guarantee full-time hours and may provide a different benefit structure. Annual income depends on actual scheduling.
The strongest compensation estimate comes from the current Johns Hopkins vacancy for the exact facility, shift, employment status, and experience level, compared with the BLS respiratory-therapist benchmark rather than a generic myJH salary estimate.
