How Much Does a Registered Nurse Make?

National averages do not tell the full story for individual career planning. Geographical location, healthcare setting and specialty credentials drive major income differences across the nursing workforce.

All figures below are BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release, published August 2026. These are the most recent official figures available.

Median means half of all RNs earned more than $97,550 and half earned less. It is a more useful figure than "average," because averages get pulled upward by the highest earners.

Workplace setting is one of the single largest factors influencing nurse compensation. Government positions offer the highest median pay, whereas educational institutions offer the lowest.

That is a $32,160 spread between the highest and lowest-paying settings, for the same licence.

Ambulatory healthcare services include physicians' offices, home healthcare and outpatient care centres. Hospitals employ by far the largest share of RNs, at 59% of all positions.

Transitioning into an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) role creates the largest income increase in nursing.

• APRN median salary: advanced roles including nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetists and certified nurse-midwives earn a median annual wage of $134,920, roughly $37,000 above staff RNs.
• Highest-paying specialty: nurse anesthetists consistently rank as the highest-earning nursing professionals within that category.
• Education requirements: becoming an APRN requires a Master of Science in Nursing or a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

For staff RNs, specialty differentials such as ICU, emergency or perioperative care typically add a few dollars per hour to base pay rather than tens of thousands per year.

Employment for registered nurses is projected to grow 6% over the 2025 to 2035 decade, twice the national average for all occupations (3%). BLS projects about 180,800 openings per year over the decade, most arising from workers transferring to other occupations or leaving the workforce.

Base salary understates RN earnings, sometimes substantially.

• Shift differentials are the most reliable addition. Night, evening and weekend shifts pay higher hourly rates, and the structure varies by employer and region rather than following a national standard.
• Overtime is generally calculated at 1.5 times the base rate for hours worked beyond 40 per week, though rules vary by state and contract.
• Sign-on and retention bonuses are common in high-demand units. Always review clawback clauses requiring minimum employment periods.
• Benefits commonly include health, dental and vision cover, retirement contributions with employer matching, paid time off, tuition reimbursement and continuing education support. Employer retirement matching in particular is straightforward additional compensation and is frequently undervalued when comparing offers.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness deserves specific mention. RNs employed by government or qualifying non-profit organisations, including most non-profit hospitals, may be eligible after 120 qualifying payments. For nurses carrying significant education debt, this can be worth more than a higher nominal salary elsewhere.

Managing overnight schedules is how many nurses access the largest differentials, and it carries real health costs. Our guide to balancing night shift nursing covers the trade-off.

Not necessarily, and this is where most salary guides mislead.

States with the highest nominal RN wages are also, generally, states with the highest housing costs and state income tax. A nurse earning substantially more in a high-cost metropolitan area may retain less after housing, tax and cost of living than a colleague in a lower-nominal-wage state.

• Change setting before changing specialty. Moving from educational services to government or hospital employment is a larger step than most specialty changes, and it does not require new credentials.
• Work nights or weekends deliberately. Shift differentials are the fastest available increase and require no additional qualification.
• Pursue APRN qualification if the maths works. The median gap is around $37,000 annually, against the cost and time of a graduate programme, and the loan situation is currently in flux.
• Specialty certification such as CCRN, CEN or OCN is often tied to a pay differential by employer policy. Check what your specific employer pays before enrolling, since the value varies widely.
• Negotiate. Bring the BLS figure for your state and metro, not the national median. An employer can dismiss a national average; a regional OEWS figure is harder to argue with.
• Consider travel nursing carefully. Rates fluctuate with demand and the premium has compressed considerably since its pandemic peak. Compare total compensation including benefits, not just the headline rate.

Chart Less. Care More.

Pay is one number. The shift is the rest of it.

Setting, differentials and workload shape what a nursing job is actually worth. HosTalky works on the part that does not show up in a salary figure: the coordination and documentation load that determines what the day feels like.

Explore the Resources Hub