Nurse Salary by City
Median registered nurse pay in 32 major metro areas, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 release. Among these metros, pay runs from $186,610 in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA to $78,680 in Birmingham, AL. The national RN median is $97,550.
| Metro area | Median annual | Median hourly | Employed RNs | Rank of 380 metros |
|---|
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $186,610 | $89.71 | 41,750 | 3 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $171,460 | $82.43 | 23,590 | 5 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $139,520 | $67.08 | 28,680 | 9 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $135,560 | $65.18 | 109,360 | 13 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $130,310 | $62.65 | 24,220 | 23 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $128,260 | $61.66 | 39,900 | 25 |
| Fresno, CA | $125,420 | $60.30 | 11,030 | 29 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $106,180 | $51.05 | 64,240 | 44 |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | $103,940 | $49.97 | 20,410 | 51 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $101,420 | $48.76 | 76,680 | 67 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $101,180 | $48.64 | 73,790 | 72 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $101,130 | $48.62 | 30,380 | 73 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $100,830 | $48.48 | 53,700 | 75 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $100,490 | $48.31 | 56,460 | 78 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $100,490 | $48.31 | 100,240 | 78 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $99,830 | $48.00 | 65,910 | 85 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $99,550 | $47.86 | 30,930 | 86 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $97,890 | $47.06 | 18,920 | 98 |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | $97,360 | $46.81 | 22,400 | 103 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | $97,280 | $46.77 | 44,310 | 104 |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | $94,370 | $45.37 | 23,660 | 120 |
| Tucson, AZ | $94,110 | $45.25 | 10,120 | 124 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $91,380 | $43.93 | 61,670 | 139 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $90,620 | $43.57 | 27,010 | 141 |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | $84,850 | $40.79 | 18,180 | 178 |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC | $84,830 | $40.78 | 12,780 | 179 |
| Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | $84,040 | $40.40 | 25,100 | 193 |
| Columbus, OH | $83,900 | $40.34 | 30,510 | 197 |
| Jacksonville, FL | $83,520 | $40.15 | 18,940 | 206 |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | $83,040 | $39.92 | 29,650 | 216 |
| Memphis, TN-MS-AR | $81,500 | $39.18 | 13,760 | 256 |
| Birmingham, AL | $78,680 | $37.83 | 17,850 | 327 |
Figures are base wages from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. They exclude overtime, shift differentials and bonuses, so many nurses take home more than these numbers. Annual figures assume year-round, full-time hours.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 (SOC 29-1141 Registered Nurses, 29-1171 Nurse Practitioners, 29-2061 Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses, 31-1131 Nursing Assistants, 00-0000 All Occupations). Rankings and percentage comparisons calculated by NurseCompensation from the published BLS figures.
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