How to transfer your Respiratory therapist licence to South Carolina (2026)

Respiratory therapist work in South Carolina is licensed at state level, by the South Carolina 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 South Carolina, 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 South Carolina'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 South Carolina 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 South Carolina

Respiratory therapists in South Carolina are hired by hospitals, long-term acute care, home oxygen and sleep labs. The metros with the most of that work are Charleston, Columbia, North Charleston and Greenville. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the South Carolina openings page.

For the money side: the median respiratory therapist in South Carolina earned $75,960 a year ($37 an hour) in May 2024 across 1,930 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and South Carolina has a progressive state income tax with a top rate of 6.2%. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about South Carolina, on one page

The South Carolina 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 South Carolina employers hiring from out of state.