Nurse Pay Raises in 2025: What the Compensation Surveys Actually Show
By NurseCompensation Research Team · 2026-05-15 · 9 min read
Multiple compensation surveys from SullivanCotter, MGMA, and BLS show nurse pay growth is decelerating from pandemic peaks. Here are the actual numbers.
The Deceleration Is Real
After two years of aggressive wage growth driven by pandemic-era shortages and travel nursing competition, nurse pay increases are returning to more typical levels. The data from multiple sources confirms this trend.
SullivanCotter 2025 Registered Nursing Compensation Survey
Released December 2025, this survey of hospitals and health systems found:
- Median base pay increase (January-July 2025): 2.7% to 3.2% depending on organization size
- Medium-sized organizations ($250M-$750M revenue): 3.2% median increase, the highest among all size categories
- RN leaders and managers: 2.7-3.0% median increases, the largest among role types
- Key trend: Organizations are making targeted investments rather than across-the-board raises
MGMA Compensation Data
The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) reported in December 2024:
- 84% of medical group leaders budgeted the same or larger nurse pay increases for 2025 compared to 2024
- 34% budgeted a larger increase than 2024
- 50% budgeted the same increase
- 7% budgeted a smaller increase
- 10% reported no increase
Skilled Nursing Facility Data
For nurses working in long-term care (2025 data):
- RN wage growth: 3.59%, down from 5.28% in 2024
- Director of Nursing salary growth: 4.07%
- CNA wage growth: 3.96%, down from 5.03% in 2024
Hospital Union Contracts
Recent union contract negotiations provide another data point for what organized nurses are securing:
- Multiple contracts reported in 2025 included 4.25% increases for year one, stepping down to 3.5% in year two and 3% in years three and four
- These represent above-market rates achieved through collective bargaining
How to Interpret These Numbers
If you received less than 3%: Your raise was below the median for the industry. This does not necessarily mean you are underpaid, but it is worth benchmarking your total compensation against BLS data for your state and specialty.
If you received 3-4%: You are in line with the current market. Most health systems are targeting this range.
If you received more than 4%: You likely benefited from a market adjustment, promotion, certification differential, or are in a high-demand specialty or geographic area.
Important context: These percentages are nominal. With consumer price inflation running at approximately 2.5-3% in 2025, a 3% raise represents roughly 0-0.5% in real purchasing power gain. Nurses who received raises below the inflation rate experienced a real pay cut.
What This Means Going Forward
The era of 5-8% annual nurse pay growth (2021-2023) is over. The market is normalizing. This does not mean nurses are being underpaid — the BLS mean of $101,420 reflects significant cumulative gains. But it does mean that the easiest path to a major pay increase is no longer waiting for your annual review. Geographic moves, specialty changes, shift preference changes, and strategic negotiation will drive individual compensation growth more than market-wide increases.
Sources: SullivanCotter 2025 Registered Nursing Compensation Survey (December 2025), MGMA Stat poll (December 2024), Skilled Nursing News compensation analysis (July 2025), Becker's Hospital Review union contract reporting.