Occupation · SOC 29-1141
Registered Nurses Salary
Registered Nurses earn a median of $97,550 a year in the United States, which is $46.90 an hour. The mean is $101,420, and 3,379,720 people are employed in the occupation.
Also searched as NurseRNTravel NurseRegistered NurseICU Nurse
The full pay range
A single average hides most of what a reader wants to know. BLS publishes the whole distribution, so here it is: each row is the annual salary at that point in the pay range for registered nurses.
Annual salary by percentile May 2025
| Percentile | Annual salary | Typically |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $68,940 | entry level, or a lower-paying region |
| 25th percentile | $80,330 | early career |
| Median (50th) | $97,550 | half earn more, half earn less |
| 75th percentile | $112,350 | experienced |
| 90th percentile | $137,470 | top of the field |
Registered Nurses salary by state
These are the 12 states that employ enough registered nurses for BLS to report a reliable figure, ordered by median pay. A state missing here either employs too few to publish or falls below the threshold this site uses.
Median pay by state May 2025
| State | Median | Hourly | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $140,270 | $67.44 | 338,940 |
| New York | $109,440 | $52.62 | 205,810 |
| New Jersey | $106,500 | $51.20 | 92,680 |
| Massachusetts | $104,550 | $50.27 | 88,200 |
| Pennsylvania | $96,430 | $46.36 | 146,520 |
| Illinois | $95,990 | $46.15 | 138,910 |
| Texas | $95,970 | $46.14 | 271,380 |
| Michigan | $94,300 | $45.34 | 104,950 |
| Georgia | $93,550 | $44.98 | 100,950 |
| North Carolina | $84,350 | $40.56 | 111,120 |
| Florida | $84,190 | $40.48 | 229,940 |
| Ohio | $82,510 | $39.67 | 143,730 |
Common questions
How much do registered nurses make?
The median salary for registered nurses in the United States is $97,550 a year, which is $46.90 an hour. The mean is $101,420. Median and mean differ because a small number of very high earners pull the mean upward, so the median is the better answer to what the job typically pays.
What is the highest salary for a registered nurse?
The highest-paid 10 percent of registered nurses earn $137,470 or more. That is the highest figure the survey publishes for this occupation; there is no reported maximum, and individual earnings above it are not broken out.
How many people work as registered nurses in the US?
3,379,720, as of the May 2025 release. That covers wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments and excludes the self-employed, who are not surveyed.
How much do registered nurses make a month?
About $8,129 a month before tax, which is the published annual median of $97,550 divided by twelve. BLS publishes annual and hourly wages rather than monthly, so treat this as arithmetic on the annual figure, not a separate measurement.
Do registered nurses make $100,000 a year?
Often. More than a quarter do: the 75th percentile is $112,350, against a median of $97,550. Reaching six figures usually means experience, a high-paying state, or both.
How much does a Nurse make?
Nurse is a common name for registered nurses, classified by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics under SOC code 29-1141. The median salary is $97,550 a year, or $46.90 an hour. The same job is also called RN, Travel Nurse, Registered Nurse, ICU Nurse.
Which state pays registered nurses the most?
Of the 12 states with enough registered nurse employment to report reliably, California has the highest median at $140,270, against a national median of $97,550. A higher median is not automatically more money in hand, because cost of living varies at least as much as pay does.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure above is published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 release, for SOC code 29-1141. Nothing here is interpolated or averaged by this site. The survey covers wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments and excludes the self-employed. See how to read these figures for what that means in practice.