Nurse salaries revealed: The highest-paying states could double your income in 2026
Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist
Choosing nursing as a career involves more than a calling to care for patients. Salary expectations play a crucial role in planning your education and deciding where to practice. The financial difference between the lowest- and highest-paying states can be staggering, ranging from $37,640 for licensed practical nurses to $311,110 for certified nurse anesthetists.
In general, the gap evens out to roughly double the projected nurse salary in the lowest-paying state compared to the highest. Location matters in ways that extend beyond state borders, too.
Metropolitan areas provide better compensation across the board. The difference in registered nurse annual salary between the highest-paying metropolitan area—$194,950 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California—and the highest-paying non-metropolitan area reaches $57,260. On average, working in metropolitan areas adds $27,950 more per year to earnings, with nurses making $114,337 versus $86,387 in rural settings.
Education Levels Create Distinct Earning Tiers
The nursing profession operates on a clear educational ladder, with each rung representing a significant salary increase. Certified nursing assistants, who complete state-approved programs typically lasting 4 to 12 weeks, occupy the entry level. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the current national salary for nurse assistants at $42,700 per year, or $20.53 per hour.
The average payment for nursing staff with a PN diploma—the lowest level of certification for the nursing field—is $64,400 per year. Advancing to an RN by earning an ADN or completing a shorter LPN-to-ASN path increases earnings by an average of $33,150 per year, reaching $97,550 annually.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that registered nurses earn an average of $101,420 per year, equivalent to an hourly wage of $48.76. Notably, the annual mean wage of RNs has increased from previous years, exceeding the $100,000 mark at the national level.
Completing a BSN program adds another $14,800 to annual income, placing graduates among the top 25% of earners in the field with salaries reaching $112,350 per year. While the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not provide specific information on the salaries of BSN-educated nurses, the BSN Nursing portal notes that BSN-educated nurses are among the top 25% earners in the field. The data on the 75th-percentile salary range serves as a good indicator of their average annual salary.
BSN nurses also enjoy tremendous job prospects. Over 80% of employers in the healthcare industry have a strong preference for hiring BSN-trained nurses, while over 42% already require that their new hires hold a BSN. Compared to ADN nurses, BSN nurses are typically associated with better results and fewer medical mistakes, making demand for them likely to increase over the decade.
Master's Degrees Open Access to the Highest-Paid Specialties
Earning an MSN degree can add anywhere from $48,800 to $192,969 more per year, depending on the specialization chosen. The salary gap between different advanced practice roles is substantial.
Nurse educators earn an average of $86,410 per year in 2026. Nursing instructors are in particularly high demand, as the nursing faculty shortage is a leading cause of the nationwide nursing shortage, making the job outlook for nurse educators all the more promising.
Nurse practitioners represent some of the highest-paid MSN nurses. On average, NPs earn around $137,300 annually or $66.01 per hour. They also have easily the best career outlook among nursing specialties. The NP employment rate is expected to grow by 40% by 2034, with approximately 128,400 new jobs being created throughout the decade and 32,700 openings per year for all APRNs.
Nurse-midwives earn an average annual salary of $136,980, breaking down to $65.86 per hour. They also have great job prospects, with BLS projections indicating that the job outlook for midwifery will grow by 11% throughout the decade.
Psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners, who specialize in providing holistic mental health care including assessment, diagnosis, medication management, and therapy, earn an average of $151,074 per year according to job aggregator Indeed.com, equivalent to an hourly wage of $73.00.
Certified registered nurse anesthetists are by far the best paid advanced practice registered nurses. At the national level, nurse anesthetists earn an average of $248,320 annually, increasing by more than $15,000 from year to year. The mean hourly wage is $119.38. They also have excellent job prospects, with the BLS estimating over 4,600 new job openings over the decade, a 9% increase.
One important change affects aspiring CRNAs: as of 2025, they require a Doctor of Nursing Practice or Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice to practice, according to the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs. The highest nursing specialty now requires a DNP/DNAP degree for certification, further enforcing that educational advancement is a central part of a functional nursing career ladder.
Experience and Industry Shape Earning Potential
In the nursing industry, work experience makes a world of difference, both in matters of patient outcomes and in compensation. The earning differences between wage percentiles for registered nurses reflect this reality directly.
The earning potential for the lowest 10% of RNs—usually entry-level professionals—is $28,610 less than the national median, while the top 10% of earners, typically experienced BSN holders, make $39,920 more than the mean annual salary.
The industry in which nurses are employed also affects annual salary significantly. As a registered nurse, working in the Federal Executive Branch, the highest-paid industry, can add $23,710 over the national average.
Specialization routes within the same educational level create additional earning variations. On average nationwide, ICU nurses earn $85,205 per year, or $41 per hour, according to job search engine ZipRecruiter. While being an ICU nurse is a demanding job and one of the RN positions with the highest level of responsibility, the salaries are correspondingly high.
Operating room registered nurses, also known as perioperative nurses, make $91,866 per year or $38.00 per hour according to Indeed.com, which is higher than the US average for RNs.
Nurse managers earn $140,970 per year on average at the national level, or $67.77 per hour, representing one of the highest-paying jobs that can be done with a BSN. However, depending on the industry, a nurse manager's salary can reach $224,340 per year or $107.86 per hour.
Travel Nursing and Work Schedules Add Complexity
Travel nurses are BSN-trained professionals who provide quality care to a broad spectrum of patients by traveling to and working with different healthcare facilities across the country. Generally, a travel RN serves as a temporary employee who fills short-term employment gaps, making them essential given the nationwide nursing shortage.
Since travel nurses are generally temporary employees and do not have the guarantee of year-round employment, their payment is highly dependent on their ongoing placement opportunities. However, considering that travel nursing duties would be performed with the same frequency as any other role, travel nurses can expect to earn $121,710 per year or $59 per hour according to ZipRecruiter.
Most occupations in the industry are standard nine-to-five nursing jobs, but this is not always the case. Although travel nurses are generally better paid, they do not have the guarantee of a stable work schedule. Consequently, their annual salary can be lower than their hourly wage would indicate. Checking both annual and hourly salary estimates helps inform career decisions.
Job market growth varies by role. LPN employment is expected to grow steadily throughout the decade, with the most recent BLS job outlook projections indicating a 3% growth from 2024 to 2034, which is slightly slower than the average for all occupations at 4%. On a year-to-year basis, there are approximately 54,400 new job openings for licensed practical nurses.
Compared with previous years, job market growth for registered nurses decreased slightly by 1%. BLS statistics show a 5% employment increase over the decade, higher than the 3% increase for all occupations but below the 8% increase for all healthcare practitioners who diagnose and treat. Numerically, the increase amounts to 166,100 additional jobs by 2033. Additionally, RNs have 189,100 new job openings each year.
Registered nurses with a BSN and an MSN will be in high demand over the next decade. And demand is not the only factor growing—salaries are rising too. Alongside salary, location, job benefits, schedule, and cost of living in the area all factor into pursuing a nursing job. Salary adjusted to the cost of living provides a more realistic picture of earning power. Understanding how a paycheck holds up in terms of where you live matters as much as knowing the raw numbers. These considerations help maximize both personal and professional satisfaction from a career as a registered nurse.
