Registered Nurse Salary

Registered Nurses Salary is calculated by the US Government Bureau of Labor Statistics from a variety of sources. Registered Nurses work in a number of settings including hospitals, clinics and schools. The salaries of Registered Nurses vary depending on the location and the setting. The assumption was made that the Registered Nurses reflected here were working an average of 40 hours per week with a total of 2080 hours per year.

Registered Nurse Salary: Median Hourly & Annual Data

Hourly

Registered Nurses median salary is $31.99 per hour. The lowest 10% earn $21.14 per hour and those in the upper 10% earn more than $45.05 per hour.

Annually

On an annual basis the median Registered Nurse salary is $66,530. The lowest 10% earn $43,970 per year while the upper 10% earn more than $93,700 per year. These salaries are calculated as a mean or average. Lowest and Highest Registered Nurse Salary

The lowest paid Registered Nurses earn less than $44,000 annually while the highest paid Registered Nurses earn as much as $90,000 per year.

Top 5 States

The best paying states for Registered Nurses to earn a salary are California $85,080, Massachusetts $81,780, Hawaii $80,020, New Jersey $74,990, and Maryland $76,330.

Top 5 Metropolitan Areas

The best city or metropolitan areas to earn a Registered Nurse salary are San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA $110,080, Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division $97,280, San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division $98,900, Visalia-Porterville, CA $111,030, Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA $89,770.

Other Industries that Employ Registered Nurses

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the federal government, securities brokerages, and Electronic or mail order businesses as also employing registered nurses.

Employment Data

There are 2,583,770 Registered Nurses working in the U.S. according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Approximately 1,492,000, or 57% of them, are listed as working in hospitals.

Where They Work

Of all the Registered Nurses employed in the United States over 50% of them work in hospitals. Approximately 223,970 work in doctor's offices or clinics. There are 128,420 working in nursing homes and almost 120,000 working for employment agency or travel nurse positions. An additional 134,420 are listed as working in home health.

Private Practice vs. Employment

A rapidly growing trend in the healthcare arena is the use of the travel nurse. Travel nurses agree to take short term employment contracts in return for additional incentives such as housing, travel allowances and bonuses. They usually work directly for a nursing employment agency but a few of them actually negotiate their own employment contracts and are truly self-employed.

Other self-employment opportunities exist for nurses as legal consultants, educators and a variety of health care related small businesses.

Benefits

Fringe benefits will vary depending on business size and other factors. A typical employment benefits package is worth over $20,000 per year.

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