Nurse Practitioner Salary by State, May 2025: Every State Ranked, Plus How Much More NPs Earn Than RNs
By NurseCompensation Research Team · 2026-11-09 · 8 min read
The NP national median was $132,300, $34,750 more than RNs. NP pay ranges from $168,520 in California to $105,750 in Alabama, and the gap over RN pay is largest where RN pay is low.
Nurse practitioners earned a national median of $132,300 in May 2025, or $63.61 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 323,040 NPs employed, about 9.6 for every 100 registered nurses. The RN median was $97,550, so the typical NP earned $34,750 more, about 1.36 times RN pay.
Below is NP pay in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, along with how much more NPs earn than RNs in the same state.
NP median pay by state
| Rank | State | NP median | Hourly | 10th pct | 90th pct | NPs employed | Above RN median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $168,520 | $81.02 | $120,340 | $240,830 | 25,120 | $28,250 |
| 2 | New Jersey | $159,310 | $76.59 | $122,390 | $183,420 | 9,950 | $52,810 |
| 3 | Washington | $156,100 | $75.05 | $122,420 | $187,240 | 6,700 | $31,900 |
| 4 | Oregon | $155,680 | $74.85 | $124,660 | $194,070 | 2,820 | $26,670 |
| 5 | Alaska | $155,170 | $74.60 | $95,570 | $207,490 | 710 | $45,690 |
| 6 | New York | $153,510 | $73.80 | $112,730 | $198,060 | 22,890 | $44,070 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | $142,440 | $68.48 | $111,950 | $207,710 | 8,070 | $37,890 |
| 8 | Nevada | $140,670 | $67.63 | $85,380 | $172,170 | 1,930 | $37,000 |
| 9 | Connecticut | $138,470 | $66.57 | $109,930 | $173,810 | 3,750 | $35,730 |
| 10 | New Hampshire | $137,550 | $66.13 | $106,070 | $166,240 | 1,770 | $37,850 |
| 11 | New Mexico | $137,520 | $66.11 | $106,320 | $175,020 | 1,770 | $43,180 |
| 12 | Montana | $137,210 | $65.97 | $105,110 | $166,940 | 1,260 | $51,930 |
| 13 | Rhode Island | $135,970 | $65.37 | $111,420 | $176,410 | 1,180 | $35,330 |
| 14 | District of Columbia | $135,880 | $65.33 | $115,200 | $180,300 | 680 | $33,340 |
| 15 | Hawaii | $135,570 | $65.18 | $106,450 | $174,350 | 550 | -$750 |
| 16 | Vermont | $134,740 | $64.78 | $108,510 | $167,610 | 700 | $37,280 |
| 17 | Arizona | $134,420 | $64.63 | $104,400 | $173,270 | 7,220 | $34,920 |
| 18 | Oklahoma | $133,390 | $64.13 | $99,490 | $167,950 | 3,620 | $50,470 |
| 19 | Minnesota | $133,260 | $64.07 | $98,950 | $170,140 | 7,780 | $31,750 |
| 20 | Colorado | $132,930 | $63.91 | $87,770 | $170,310 | 4,270 | $32,670 |
| 21 | Idaho | $132,540 | $63.72 | $100,480 | $169,710 | 1,750 | $40,080 |
| 22 | Wyoming | $132,200 | $63.56 | $101,970 | $165,250 | 440 | $48,440 |
| 23 | Nebraska | $132,130 | $63.52 | $103,820 | $161,990 | 2,340 | $47,400 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | $131,980 | $63.45 | $106,320 | $166,260 | 5,160 | $36,450 |
| 25 | Texas | $131,670 | $63.31 | $96,880 | $161,980 | 25,970 | $35,700 |
| 26 | Michigan | $131,450 | $63.20 | $101,640 | $165,870 | 8,290 | $37,150 |
| 27 | Maryland | $131,110 | $63.03 | $99,920 | $169,330 | 6,710 | $31,320 |
| 28 | Delaware | $131,040 | $63.00 | $97,450 | $162,870 | 1,430 | $31,520 |
| 29 | Utah | $130,920 | $62.94 | $102,980 | $175,220 | 2,740 | $46,320 |
| 30 | Illinois | $130,680 | $62.83 | $102,440 | $161,470 | 9,270 | $34,690 |
| 31 | Maine | $130,260 | $62.62 | $107,820 | $166,740 | 1,650 | $43,270 |
| 32 | Iowa | $130,160 | $62.58 | $107,990 | $167,590 | 3,240 | $51,530 |
| 33 | Pennsylvania | $130,140 | $62.57 | $102,940 | $163,720 | 10,670 | $33,710 |
| 34 | North Dakota | $130,070 | $62.53 | $103,490 | $162,020 | 1,290 | $49,340 |
| 35 | Missouri | $129,930 | $62.47 | $100,650 | $162,060 | 7,710 | $48,150 |
| 36 | Florida | $129,510 | $62.26 | $101,920 | $163,600 | 21,790 | $45,320 |
| 37 | Georgia | $129,430 | $62.22 | $99,160 | $166,060 | 10,460 | $35,880 |
| 38 | North Carolina | $128,990 | $62.01 | $103,530 | $164,320 | 9,800 | $44,640 |
| 39 | South Dakota | $128,840 | $61.94 | $103,080 | $156,000 | 1,020 | $50,780 |
| 40 | Indiana | $128,830 | $61.94 | $101,790 | $155,260 | 7,450 | $45,330 |
| 41 | Virginia | $127,810 | $61.45 | $99,990 | $161,470 | 7,110 | $34,210 |
| 42 | West Virginia | $127,320 | $61.21 | $100,220 | $155,500 | 2,550 | $47,190 |
| 43 | Kansas | $126,650 | $60.89 | $98,330 | $158,080 | 3,780 | $47,330 |
| 44 | Arkansas | $125,660 | $60.41 | $99,420 | $205,810 | 3,970 | $46,720 |
| 45 | Louisiana | $125,600 | $60.38 | $99,050 | $159,570 | 5,380 | $45,370 |
| 46 | Ohio | $124,870 | $60.03 | $100,780 | $154,680 | 15,400 | $42,360 |
| 47 | Mississippi | $124,730 | $59.96 | $98,780 | $156,830 | 4,690 | $47,640 |
| 48 | South Carolina | $123,290 | $59.28 | $97,080 | $160,170 | 5,670 | $40,930 |
| 49 | Kentucky | $122,870 | $59.07 | $95,710 | $162,960 | 4,770 | $41,830 |
| 50 | Tennessee | $117,590 | $56.54 | $82,790 | $137,880 | 12,150 | $36,090 |
| 51 | Alabama | $105,750 | $50.84 | $86,300 | $134,650 | 5,640 | $28,670 |
California is at the top at $168,520, and its 90th percentile, $240,830, is the highest in the country. Next is New Jersey at $159,310. Alabama is at the bottom at $105,750, the only state below $110,000.
NP pay varies less by state than RN pay does
California aside, NP pay is surprisingly similar across the country. 43 of 51 states (counting DC) have an NP median within 10% of the national figure, and 35 are within 5%. For RNs, only 22 states are within 10% of the national median.
That has a practical effect: the extra pay for becoming an NP depends heavily on where you live, because RN pay moves a lot from state to state while NP pay mostly doesn't.
Where the NP premium over RN pay is largest
| State | RN median | NP median | Difference | NP pay as multiple of RN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | $106,500 | $159,310 | $52,810 | 1.50x |
| Montana | $85,280 | $137,210 | $51,930 | 1.61x |
| Iowa | $78,630 | $130,160 | $51,530 | 1.66x |
| South Dakota | $78,060 | $128,840 | $50,780 | 1.65x |
| Oklahoma | $82,920 | $133,390 | $50,470 | 1.61x |
| North Dakota | $80,730 | $130,070 | $49,340 | 1.61x |
| Wyoming | $83,760 | $132,200 | $48,440 | 1.58x |
| Missouri | $81,780 | $129,930 | $48,150 | 1.59x |
These are mostly states where RN pay is below the national median but NP pay is close to it. In Iowa, the NP median is 1.66 times the RN median, the highest ratio of any state. New Jersey is the exception: RN pay there is above average, and NP pay is the second-highest in the country.
Where it is smallest
| State | RN median | NP median | Difference | NP pay as multiple of RN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $136,320 | $135,570 | -$750 | 0.99x |
| Oregon | $129,010 | $155,680 | $26,670 | 1.21x |
| California | $140,270 | $168,520 | $28,250 | 1.20x |
| Alabama | $77,080 | $105,750 | $28,670 | 1.37x |
| Maryland | $99,790 | $131,110 | $31,320 | 1.31x |
| Delaware | $99,520 | $131,040 | $31,520 | 1.32x |
In two of the highest-paying RN states, California and Oregon, NP pay is also high, but the gap is smaller because RN pay is already so high. California NPs earn $28,250 more than California RNs. Alabama has a small gap for the opposite reason: both RN and NP pay are low.
Hawaii is the one state where the NP median, $135,570, is lower than the RN median, $136,320. BLS estimates Hawaii employs 550 NPs, a small group, so this figure is less precise than estimates for larger states. The BLS data doesn't explain the gap.
How many NPs there are compared with RNs
Nationally there are 9.6 NPs for every 100 RNs. The ratio is highest in Tennessee (16.8), Mississippi (16.1) and Arkansas (13.5). It's lowest in Hawaii (4.3), District of Columbia (5.9) and Illinois (6.7).
What these figures leave out
BLS reports nurse practitioners as one group. It doesn't break pay out by specialty (family, psychiatric, acute care and so on), by practice setting, or by whether a state allows NPs to practice without physician oversight. OEWS wages are straight-time pay. They include base pay, on-call pay and incentive pay, but they leave out overtime, shift differentials and one-time bonuses such as sign-on bonuses. For nurses who work nights or pick up extra shifts, actual earnings can be well above these figures. Annual figures are the hourly rate multiplied by 2,080 hours. Employment is counted where people work, not where they live, and the survey covers wage and salary workers only, so self-employed nurses are not included.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national and state data (SOC 29-1171 Nurse Practitioners; 29-1141 Registered Nurses). Differences, ratios and rankings calculated by NurseCompensation from the published BLS figures.