How Much do Nurses Earn?
The salary of a registered nurse depends on many factors, including education, experience, location, type of practice, and whether or not the nurse is working during regular hours or night shifts. In general, registered nurses are paid well, and will be paid more in the future. Shortages of nurses have led to employers offering signing bonuses as well as money for education. They may also offer flexible scheduling and child care.
Occupational Employment Statistics carried out by the OES Survey Program as part of the Federal Bureau of Labor include the following estimates:
In May of 2006, the median wages of RNs per year was $57,280. The bottom 10% of registered nurses earned less than $40,250, while the top 10% took home more than $83,400 a year. The majority of registered nurses, which is the 50% in the middle, earned between $47,710 and $69,850.
According to the OES estimates, the median amount of money earned on a yearly basis was highest for nurses working in employment services. These are nurses that are called in to work on a temporary basis when there is a shortage of nurses or an unexpected need for nurses. Their median income was $64,260 in 2006. Nurses working in general hospital settings earned a median wage of $58,550. Home health service nursing paid the next best, with a median annual wage of $54,190. Registered nurses working in physicians' offices made $53,800, while the median annual wage of registered nurses staffing nursing care facilities was $52,490.
These statistics were updated in 2008. In 2008, an estimated approximately 2.5 million registered nurses made a mean hourly wage of $31.31 and a mean annual wage of $65,130. The lowest 10% earned an estimated $43,410 and the top 10% made an estimated $92,240. From these statistics it appears that registered nurses have been making more money during a period of time when many other workers' wages were not rising.
Registered nurses' wages vary by state. Nurses earn more in California, Massachusetts, New York, and Hawaii, and less in South Dakota and West Virginia, for example. The top paying metropolitan areas for registered nurses were all in northern California.
Advanced practice nurses and nurses with other advanced degrees can make more money. According to the American Nurses Association, in 2006, the average salary of advanced practice nurses, including nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists, and nurse midwives was $69,200. That is around $12,000 a year more than the average for registered nurses in general. Clearly the extra training pays off financially.
Estimates also show that pay goes up with years on the job. Projections for 2009 indicate that while a new registered nurse might make $45,179, one with five to nine years of experience could make $53,882, and a nurse on the job 20 years or more might make $59,066.
Each estimate is based on data from slightly different surveys, and these salary amounts are general guidelines. Nevertheless, registered nursing is a profession that pays well and will continue to do so.
Published: 2009-09-18
