Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of nurse salary by state for the United States:
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California has the highest nurse salary of $78,160
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Mississippi has the lowest nurse salary of $39,360
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The national average salary for nurses is $57,564
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The national hourly pay for nurses is $27.68
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do nurses get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for nurse by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for nurses after this adjustment? That would be California.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for nurse salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Nurses By State
| Rank | State | Average Nurse Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $78,160 | $50,000 | $120,000 |
| 2 | Oregon | $75,028 | $52,000 | $107,000 |
| 3 | Alaska | $74,932 | $64,000 | $86,000 |
| 4 | New York | $73,583 | $44,000 | $120,000 |
| 5 | Massachusetts | $73,241 | $44,000 | $120,000 |
| 6 | Hawaii | $72,133 | $47,000 | $109,000 |
| 7 | Washington | $70,448 | $50,000 | $97,000 |
| 8 | Connecticut | $68,129 | $41,000 | $112,000 |
| 9 | Rhode Island | $66,332 | $40,000 | $108,000 |
| 10 | Arizona | $66,219 | $42,000 | $102,000 |
| 11 | New Jersey | $64,932 | $39,000 | $107,000 |
| 12 | Maryland | $63,436 | $38,000 | $103,000 |
| 13 | Maine | $62,731 | $38,000 | $101,000 |
| 14 | Nevada | $62,108 | $41,000 | $93,000 |
| 15 | Pennsylvania | $61,525 | $37,000 | $100,000 |
| 16 | Virginia | $61,496 | $37,000 | $100,000 |
| 17 | New Hampshire | $60,307 | $36,000 | $98,000 |
| 18 | Michigan | $58,818 | $37,000 | $91,000 |
| 19 | Minnesota | $57,897 | $39,000 | $84,000 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | $57,866 | $38,000 | $87,000 |
| 21 | Illinois | $57,589 | $37,000 | $87,000 |
| 22 | Colorado | $56,929 | $38,000 | $84,000 |
| 23 | Vermont | $54,733 | $33,000 | $89,000 |
| 24 | Texas | $53,140 | $33,000 | $84,000 |
| 25 | Ohio | $53,012 | $33,000 | $83,000 |
| 26 | Idaho | $52,316 | $37,000 | $73,000 |
| 27 | Georgia | $52,248 | $32,000 | $83,000 |
| 28 | Utah | $52,184 | $36,000 | $75,000 |
| 29 | Delaware | $52,021 | $31,000 | $85,000 |
| 30 | Montana | $51,981 | $37,000 | $71,000 |
| 31 | Arkansas | $51,740 | $33,000 | $80,000 |
| 32 | North Dakota | $51,713 | $37,000 | $72,000 |
| 33 | Wyoming | $50,531 | $35,000 | $72,000 |
| 34 | New Mexico | $50,186 | $32,000 | $77,000 |
| 35 | Florida | $49,399 | $30,000 | $79,000 |
| 36 | Kentucky | $48,863 | $31,000 | $76,000 |
| 37 | North Carolina | $48,810 | $30,000 | $78,000 |
| 38 | Louisiana | $47,147 | $29,000 | $74,000 |
| 39 | Nebraska | $47,114 | $31,000 | $69,000 |
| 40 | Oklahoma | $45,934 | $29,000 | $70,000 |
| 41 | South Dakota | $45,775 | $31,000 | $66,000 |
| 42 | South Carolina | $45,705 | $28,000 | $73,000 |
| 43 | Missouri | $45,450 | $29,000 | $69,000 |
| 44 | Indiana | $45,404 | $29,000 | $70,000 |
| 45 | Kansas | $45,216 | $29,000 | $68,000 |
| 46 | Iowa | $44,959 | $30,000 | $67,000 |
| 47 | West Virginia | $42,117 | $26,000 | $67,000 |
| 48 | Tennessee | $41,725 | $26,000 | $65,000 |
| 49 | Alabama | $39,638 | $25,000 | $62,000 |
| 50 | Mississippi | $39,360 | $24,000 | $62,000 |
Methodology: Nurse Salary By State
To better understand nurse pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for nurses by state.
We took the average annual salary data for nurses from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for nurses.
Nurse Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for nurses?
The highest-paid state for nurses is California with an average salary of $78,160 per year.
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What city pays nurses the most?
San Francisco, CA pays nurses the most with an average salary of $81,015 per year.
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What is the worst state for nurses?
The worst state for nurses is Mississippi with an average salary of $39,360 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
