Registered Nurse salary
What a registered nurse actually earns, from 1,516 live job postings blended with the official US OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) wage anchor. Pick a market for its median and range, then read the seniority split, the trend, and the country comparison below. Updated 2026-07-23.
Switch the market above to see registered nurse pay in the 4 countries our sources cover, each with its own cost of living. The trend, seniority, and state detail below are United States data, where the official record runs deepest.
What the number means
Nursing pay is the most geography-dependent number on the board, and any single figure hides that. The US posted median sits near 97,000 dollars with an official OEWS median of 93,600, but the band from about 61,000 to 115,000 is driven less by seniority than by state: a California hospital and a rural clinic pay the same title very differently, and travel contracts distort the top. What the flat median does not show is the ladder. The single most common move for nurses who want a raise is to nurse practitioner, which lifts pay meaningfully but gates it behind a graduate degree and a license, a two-to-four-year credential rather than a skill gap. Nursing is also the clearest case of pay that a remote arrangement cannot unlock: the work is physical, so the compact that lets a nurse cross state lines moves the license, not the commute.
Open registered nurse roles
Live openings tagged to this occupation, from company career pages and remote boards. Apply at the source.
- Supervisory Assistant Nurse ManagerVeterans Health Administration · Atlanta, Georgia$125k–$220kJul 21
- RN Assistant Nurse Manager - Patient FlowVeterans Health Administration · Mather AFB, California$116k–$215kJul 21
- Float Pool Nurse ManagerVeterans Health Administration · Orlando, Florida$116k–$178kJul 21
- Nurse - Co-coordinator/Educator for Nurse Residency ProgramVeterans Health Administration · Birmingham, Alabama$75k–$142kJul 21
- Nurse Manager- Mental HealthVeterans Health Administration · Manchester, New Hampshire$94k–$156kJul 21
- Supervisory Assistant Nurse Manager (Mental Health Inpatient)Veterans Health Administration · Atlanta, Georgia$125k–$220kJul 21
By seniority
Posted-median pay by seniority signal in the title, from our corpus. Noisy at the edges where sample sizes are small.
By country
- United States$60,245 – $114,408 · median $94,467
- United Kingdom$55,353 – $73,939 · median $62,747
- Australia$55,887 – $80,419 · median $63,066
- Canada$62,459 – $81,649 · median $72,198
Top-paying US states
OEWS median by state, highest first.
- Californiamedian $142,909
- Hawaiimedian $136,320
- Oregonmedian $123,990
- Washingtonmedian $112,180
- Alaskamedian $110,690
- New Yorkmedian $105,600
Is your offer fair?
Run a specific number through FairElephant, which weighs it against this data, your location, and remote market rates.
Move into or out of registered nurse
- registered nurse → nurse practitionermeasured route
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Quick answers
How much do registered nurses make?
The live-posting US median is about 97,000 dollars, with the official BLS OEWS median at 93,600. The range from roughly 61,000 to 115,000 is driven mostly by state and by travel contracts rather than seniority.
How can a nurse increase their salary?
The most common move is to nurse practitioner, which raises pay but requires a graduate degree and an APRN license. See the registered-nurse-to-nurse-practitioner route.
Are there remote registered nurse jobs?
Very few: under 1 percent of postings. The work is hands-on, so licensure compacts expand where a nurse can work but not whether the job is remote.
Method: bands are the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of live US postings with stated pay, shrunk toward the official OEWS anchor by sample size (the “blended” figure). Trend is the OEWS annual median for SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code 29-1141. Unemployment is the 2025 BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) CPS (Current Population Survey) annual-average rate for “Registered nurses.” Live corpus 1,516 observations, 2026-07-23. Definitions in the glossary.