USA · Healthcare · Salary

Registered nurses: pay by state and city

What registered nurses — the main job for this pathway — earn across the U.S., from the latest BLS wage survey (May 2025).

U.S. median$97,550
BLS OEWS · May 2025
Occupational Employment and Wage StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Period
May 2025
SOC
29-1141 Registered nurses
File
oe.data.0.Current (download.bls.gov)
View official data
U.S. average (mean)$101,420
Jobs in the survey3,379,720
Most jobsCalifornia338,940 jobs · median $140,270

Pay where you want to work

Pick a state or search a metro area. The bar shows the spread from the lowest-paid 10% to the top 10% in that place.

United States

Registered nurses · annual wages, May 2025
BLS OEWS · May 2025
Occupational Employment and Wage StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Period
May 2025
SOC
29-1141 Registered nurses
File
oe.data.0.Current (download.bls.gov)
View official data
Lowest 10% below
$68,940
25th percentile
$80,330
Median
$97,550
75th percentile
$112,350
Top 10% above
$137,470
Middle half of workersMedianMean $101,420Jobs 3,379,720

BLS publishes this occupation for 54 state-level areas (50 states, DC and territories where available) and 523 metro and nonmetro areas. Places it does not publish are not estimated here.

Where the jobs are, and where pay is highest

Median annual pay, May 2025. Highest-pay lists only include places with at least 500 jobs. BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs, which are usually higher where pay is higher.

States with the most jobs

  1. California338,940 jobs$140,270
  2. Texas271,380 jobs$95,970
  3. Florida229,940 jobs$84,190
  4. New York205,810 jobs$109,440
  5. Pennsylvania146,520 jobs$96,430

Highest-paying states

  1. California338,940 jobs$140,270
  2. Hawaii12,940 jobs$136,320
  3. Oregon39,730 jobs$129,010
  4. Washington69,260 jobs$124,200
  5. Alaska7,510 jobs$109,480

Metro areas with the most jobs

  1. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ197,740 jobs$119,720
  2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA109,360 jobs$135,560
  3. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN100,240 jobs$100,490
  4. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX76,680 jobs$101,420
  5. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD73,790 jobs$101,180

Highest-paying metro areas

  1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA22,930 jobs$216,740
  2. Vallejo, CA4,120 jobs$203,290
  3. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA41,750 jobs$186,610
  4. Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA3,720 jobs$174,550
  5. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA23,590 jobs$171,460
All 54 state-level areas (sortable)
Pay by state; select a column heading to sort
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Every job in this pathway

National figures. A field of study leads to several occupations, each with its own pay.

OccupationLowest 10%MedianTop 10%Jobs
Registered nurses —$97,550——
Nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners —$134,920——

"Jobs" counts wage-and-salary jobs in the OEWS survey; it differs from the employment totals in BLS projections. "—": BLS publishes this group as separate occupations; the median shown is the group figure from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

Median pay by industry · registered nurses

  • Hospitals; state, local, and private$100,220
  • Ambulatory healthcare services$91,230
  • Nursing and residential care facilities$84,300
  • Government$110,780
  • Educational services$78,620
Data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national, state, metro and nonmetro estimates). How Margdarshan sources its data → · Back to Nursing (RN to Advanced Practice)