Registered Nurses
The national median wage for registered nurses is $86,070 across 3.2M jobs. After cost of living, San Francisco goes furthest at $139,711, and 41 of 78 metros beat the national median once prices are counted.
What the job pays, metro to metro
Each line runs from the lowest metro to the highest. The mark is the national median.
BLS OES, latest release
78 metro areas tracked
Best value: top metros by cost-adjusted wage
Wages adjusted for local cost of living. A longer blue bar means the salary goes further there.
All metro areas
Sorted by cost-adjusted wage. Tap a column head to re-sort; metro names link to the city page where we track one.
| # | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA | CA | $157,873 | $139,711 | 29,858 | 25.0 |
| 2 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | CA | $125,349 | $110,928 | 21,591 | 25.0 |
| 3 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | VA | $107,670 | $106,604 | 45,856 | 25.0 |
| 4 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | CA | $117,159 | $103,681 | 77,863 | 25.0 |
| 5 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | NY | $111,649 | $103,379 | 60,178 | 25.0 |
| 6 | Honolulu, HI | HI | $109,833 | $100,764 | 3,867 | 25.0 |
| 7 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $109,799 | $100,733 | 21,684 | 25.0 |
| 8 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | CT | $101,981 | $98,059 | 5,449 | 25.0 |
| 9 | Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX | TX | $94,555 | $97,479 | 17,913 | 25.0 |
| 10 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | CO | $98,164 | $97,192 | 23,376 | 25.0 |
| 11 | Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN | TN | $90,134 | $96,918 | 13,179 | 25.0 |
| 12 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | MN | $94,402 | $96,329 | 25,958 | 25.0 |
| 13 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA | GA | $93,262 | $96,146 | 40,506 | 25.0 |
| 14 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | IL | $95,044 | $96,004 | 56,819 | 25.0 |
| 15 | Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH | MA | $103,194 | $95,550 | 26,165 | 25.0 |
| 16 | Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ | DE | $94,461 | $95,415 | 2,305 | 25.0 |
| 17 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | TX | $91,865 | $94,706 | 44,503 | 25.0 |
| 18 | Kansas City, MO-KS | MO | $86,526 | $94,050 | 12,276 | 25.0 |
| 19 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | PA | $91,840 | $93,714 | 38,495 | 25.0 |
| 20 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | WI | $86,960 | $93,505 | 8,790 | 25.0 |
| 21 | Anchorage, AK | AK | $95,375 | $93,505 | 3,255 | 25.0 |
| 22 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH | OH | $85,753 | $93,210 | 9,936 | 25.0 |
| 23 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | OR | $97,203 | $92,574 | 11,502 | 25.0 |
| 24 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $89,641 | $92,413 | 47,357 | 25.0 |
| 25 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | LA | $81,089 | $92,147 | 7,726 | 25.0 |
| 26 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | KY | $82,428 | $91,587 | 11,716 | 25.0 |
| 27 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | NC | $85,507 | $90,965 | 7,536 | 25.0 |
| 28 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | IN | $83,509 | $90,771 | 14,652 | 25.0 |
| 29 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | IA | $80,495 | $90,444 | 5,723 | 25.0 |
| 30 | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | NE | $81,046 | $90,051 | 7,821 | 25.0 |
| 31 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | MI | $84,590 | $89,989 | 24,230 | 25.0 |
| 32 | Columbus, OH | OH | $82,593 | $89,775 | 15,413 | 25.0 |
| 33 | Madison, WI | WI | $83,166 | $89,426 | 3,642 | 25.0 |
| 34 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | NC | $83,716 | $89,060 | 12,544 | 25.0 |
| 35 | Salt Lake City, UT | UT | $84,052 | $88,476 | 11,374 | 25.0 |
| 36 | St. Louis, MO-IL | MO | $81,377 | $88,453 | 19,681 | 25.0 |
| 37 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | AL | $79,147 | $87,941 | 6,171 | 25.0 |
| 38 | Tulsa, OK | OK | $76,430 | $86,852 | 4,816 | 25.0 |
| 39 | Burlington-South Burlington, VT | VT | $84,183 | $86,787 | 1,415 | 25.0 |
| 40 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | OH | $79,650 | $86,576 | 12,183 | 25.0 |
| 41 | Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT | CT | $89,827 | $86,372 | 6,400 | 25.0 |
| 42 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | FL | $88,410 | $85,835 | 40,039 | 25.0 |
| 43 | Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI | MI | $80,453 | $85,588 | 6,828 | 25.0 |
| 44 | Pittsburgh, PA | PA | $83,395 | $85,097 | 14,891 | 25.0 |
| 45 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | RI | $85,824 | $84,974 | 11,715 | 25.0 |
| 46 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | TN | $79,022 | $84,970 | 7,456 | 25.0 |
| 47 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | AZ | $85,222 | $84,378 | 23,284 | 25.0 |
| 48 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $87,440 | $84,077 | 17,490 | 25.0 |
| 49 | Baton Rouge, LA | LA | $73,840 | $83,909 | 4,649 | 25.0 |
| 50 | Boise City, ID | ID | $76,186 | $83,721 | 3,884 | 25.0 |
| 51 | Richmond, VA | VA | $83,622 | $82,794 | 7,648 | 25.0 |
| 52 | Oklahoma City, OK | OK | $72,851 | $82,785 | 10,049 | 25.0 |
| 53 | Portland-South Portland, ME | ME | $80,086 | $82,563 | 1,893 | 25.0 |
| 54 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | NH | $86,520 | $82,400 | 3,630 | 25.0 |
| 55 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR | AR | $71,671 | $82,380 | 5,016 | 25.0 |
| 56 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | SC | $75,932 | $81,647 | 5,769 | 25.0 |
| 57 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | NV | $78,947 | $81,389 | 10,643 | 25.0 |
| 58 | Fargo, ND-MN | ND | $72,280 | $81,213 | 2,087 | 25.0 |
| 59 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | VA | $81,979 | $81,167 | 10,596 | 25.0 |
| 60 | Albuquerque, NM | NM | $72,904 | $81,004 | 7,337 | 25.0 |
| 61 | Wichita, KS | KS | $72,036 | $80,040 | 3,805 | 25.0 |
| 62 | Sioux Falls, SD | SD | $69,768 | $79,282 | 2,697 | 25.0 |
| 63 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | TX | $76,565 | $78,933 | 14,360 | 25.0 |
| 64 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | CA | $88,948 | $78,715 | 11,448 | 25.0 |
| 65 | Columbia, SC | SC | $73,200 | $78,710 | 5,274 | 25.0 |
| 66 | Cheyenne, WY | WY | $70,497 | $77,469 | 671 | 25.0 |
| 67 | Rochester, NY | NY | $82,550 | $76,435 | 6,883 | 25.0 |
| 68 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | FL | $78,517 | $76,230 | 17,251 | 25.0 |
| 69 | Knoxville, TN | TN | $70,566 | $75,877 | 5,765 | 25.0 |
| 70 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY | NY | $81,484 | $75,448 | 5,807 | 25.0 |
| 71 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | CA | $85,031 | $75,249 | 27,950 | 25.0 |
| 72 | Jackson, MS | MS | $65,234 | $74,982 | 3,097 | 25.0 |
| 73 | Billings, MT | MT | $67,447 | $74,941 | 1,262 | 25.0 |
| 74 | Tucson, AZ | AZ | $74,714 | $73,974 | 6,048 | 25.0 |
| 75 | Charleston, WV | WV | $66,384 | $73,760 | 1,833 | 25.0 |
| 76 | Jacksonville, FL | FL | $75,330 | $73,136 | 11,474 | 25.0 |
| 77 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | FL | $73,884 | $71,732 | 12,729 | 25.0 |
| 78 | El Paso, TX | TX | $68,066 | $70,171 | 4,278 | 25.0 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the median salary for Registered Nurses?
The national median annual wage for registered nurses is $86,070, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) data.
Where do registered nurses earn the most after adjusting for cost of living?
After adjusting for local cost of living, the top-paying metro areas for registered nurses are San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA ($139,711), San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA ($110,928), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ($106,604).
How many metro areas have data for registered nurses?
We show wage and employment estimates for registered nurses across 78 metro areas in the United States. The national median wage is the latest BLS OES figure; individual metro values are modeled from it using local cost of living and regional labor-market patterns rather than taken from the published metro-level OES tables.