How to transfer your Respiratory therapist licence to Tennessee (2026)

Respiratory therapist work in Tennessee is licensed at state level, by the Tennessee respiratory care board or licensing program. This page says what a respiratory therapist licensed or working in another state has to do to work in Tennessee, in the order to do it, and what goes wrong when the order is reversed.

How the transfer works

Every state licenses respiratory therapists and every one accepts NBRC credentials as the basis for licensure by endorsement. Apply to Tennessee's board with your NBRC credential, verification of your current licence, a background check and the fee.

Exam: NBRC (CRT or RRT).

How long: two to eight weeks. Fee: $50 to $250; the current figure is on the licensing body's own site.

What to have ready before you move

• NBRC credential
• Licence verification from your current state
• Continuing education record

Start the paperwork before you give notice. Every week the licence is not done is a week you are not paid, and nothing in the process needs you to be in Tennessee already.

What people get wrong

• Starting the application after accepting the job; a month of waiting is normal
• Letting the NBRC credential lapse

Who hires respiratory therapists in Tennessee

Respiratory therapists in Tennessee are hired by hospitals, long-term acute care, home oxygen and sleep labs. The metros with the most of that work are Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the Tennessee openings page.

For the money side: the median respiratory therapist in Tennessee earned $65,000 a year ($31 an hour) in May 2024 across 3,070 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Tennessee has no state income tax on wages. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about Tennessee, on one page

The Tennessee page has the registries and boards, the income tax table, the programs that pay you to come and the openings filed this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Tennessee employers hiring from out of state.