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

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

Respiratory therapists in California are hired by hospitals, long-term acute care, home oxygen and sleep labs. The metros with the most of that work are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco and Sacramento. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the California openings page.

For the money side: the median respiratory therapist in California earned $102,120 a year ($49 an hour) in May 2024 across 18,310 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and California has a progressive state income tax with a top rate of 13.3%. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about California, on one page

The California 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 California employers hiring from out of state.