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Registered nurses make $35.24 an hour or $73,300 each year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Actual earnings will depend on a nurse’s education and experience as well as the location and facility. Travel nurses, for example, earn more per hour than nurses working a full time position. And nurses in Hawaii earn nearly twice as much as nurses in Mississippi.
How much do nurses make in each state?
Salaries vary greatly in the United States. Some key findings.
- Nurses in Hawaii have the highest average salary of any state. They earn $53.22 per hour or $110,700 per year.
- Mississippi has the lowest average salary for nurses. They earn $28.17 per hour or $58,590 per year.
Hawaii | $53.22 | $110,700 |
California | $53.18 | $110,620 |
Oregon | $44.89 | $93,370 |
District of Columbia | $43.98 | $91,470 |
Alaska | $43.54 | $90,550 |
Massachusetts | $42.09 | $87,540 |
Nevada | $42.02 | $87,400 |
New York | $41.99 | $87,330 |
New Jersey | $40.35 | $83,920 |
Washington | $40.14 | $83,490 |
Rhode Island | $39.97 | $83,140 |
Connecticut | $39.24 | $81,630 |
Minnesota | $37.77 | $78,560 |
Arizona | $36.93 | $76,820 |
Maryland | $36.92 | $76,780 |
Colorado | $36.10 | $75,100 |
Texas | $35.29 | $73,400 |
New Mexico | $35.18 | $73,180 |
Delaware | $35.01 | $72,830 |
New Hampshire | $34.95 | $72,690 |
Michigan | $34.74 | $72,260 |
Illinois | $34.43 | $71,620 |
Wisconsin | $34.40 | $71,560 |
Pennsylvania | $33.91 | $70,540 |
Virginia | $33.77 | $70,230 |
Idaho | $33.33 | $69,320 |
Maine | $33.14 | $68,940 |
Georgia | $32.89 | $68,410 |
Montana | $32.65 | $67,920 |
Vermont | $32.39 | $67,370 |
Wyoming | $31.87 | $66,290 |
Florida | $31.65 | $65,830 |
Ohio | $31.63 | $65,790 |
Utah | $31.36 | $65,240 |
Nebraska | $31.25 | $65,010 |
North Dakota | $31.10 | $64,680 |
North Carolina | $31.06 | $64,600 |
Louisiana | $30.79 | $64,040 |
South Carolina | $30.65 | $63,750 |
Indiana | $30.61 | $63,670 |
Oklahoma | $30.60 | $63,650 |
Missouri | $30.03 | $62,470 |
Kentucky | $29.89 | $62,180 |
West Virginia | $29.55 | $61,450 |
Tennessee | $29.42 | $61,200 |
Kansas | $29.23 | $60,800 |
Arkansas | $29.01 | $60,340 |
Iowa | $28.60 | $59,490 |
Alabama | $28.27 | $58,800 |
South Dakota | $28.21 | $58,670 |
Mississippi | $28.17 | $58,590 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2019
Travel Nurse Jobs
Updated Thursday, September 29th, 2022
This is the 2021 ranking. Click here to see the 2022 edition.
The average hourly pay for nurses in the U.S. is $38.74 for registered nurses and $55.05 for nurse practitioners, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' occupational employment statistics survey released March 31.
The highest average hourly wage for both registered nurses and nurse practitioners is in California. RNs and NPs in Alabama and Tennessee made the lowest hourly rates, respectively.
Here is the average hourly wage for nurses by state, in descending order:
State | RN hourly mean wage | Rank | State | NP hourly mean wage |
California | $57.96 | 1 | California | $70.18 |
Hawaii | $50.40 | 2 | New Jersey | $62.93 |
Massachusetts | $46.27 | 3 | Washington | $60.81 |
Oregon | $46.27 | 4 | New York | $60.79 |
Alaska | $45.81 | 5 | Massachusetts | $60.60 |
Washington | $43.90 | 6 | Nevada | $57.64 |
District of Columbia | $43.29 | 7 | Minnesota | $57.16 |
New York | $43.16 | 8 | Wyoming | $57.12 |
Nevada | $43.15 | 9 | Hawaii | $57.11 |
New Jersey | $41.21 | 10 | Oregon | $57.02 |
Connecticut | $40.79 | 11 | Arizona | $56.48 |
Rhode Island | $39.81 | 12 | Rhode Island | $56.39 |
Maryland | $39.23 | 13 | New Mexico | $56.28 |
Minnesota | $38.92 | 14 | Connecticut | $56.15 |
Arizona | $38.64 | 15 | Texas | $56.11 |
Colorado | $37.43 | 16 | District of Columbia | $55.84 |
Texas | $36.92 | 17 | Maryland | $55.40 |
New Hampshire | $36.52 | 18 | Montana | $54.99 |
New Mexico | $36.40 | 19 | Idaho | $54.76 |
Wisconsin | $35.94 | 20 | Utah | $54.59 |
Illinois | $35.85 | 21 | Wisconsin | $54.34 |
Virginia | $35.76 | 22 | Oklahoma | $54.21 |
Delaware | $35.74 | 23 | New Hampshire | $54.07 |
Pennsylvania | $35.66 | 24 | Delaware | $53.96 |
Michigan | $35.57 | 25 | Illinois | $53.87 |
Wyoming | $34.90 | 26 | Louisiana | $53.79 |
Vermont | $34.68 | 27 | Maine | $53.64 |
Idaho | $34.44 | 28 | Pennsylvania | $53.64 |
Georgia | $34.38 | 29 | North Dakota | $53.40 |
Maine | $34.16 | 30 | Alaska | $53.01 |
Montana | $33.91 | 31 | Indiana | $52.86 |
Utah | $33.83 | 32 | Colorado | $52.77 |
Ohio | $33.53 | 33 | Virginia | $52.72 |
North Dakota | $33.47 | 34 | Mississippi | $52.67 |
Florida | $33.42 | 35 | Michigan | $52.48 |
Nebraska | $33.41 | 36 | North Carolina | $52.10 |
North Carolina | $33.15 | 37 | Vermont | $52.06 |
Louisiana | $32.70 | 38 | Iowa | $51.88 |
Indiana | $32.45 | 39 | Nebraska | $51.60 |
South Carolina | $32.28 | 40 | Missouri | $51.38 |
Oklahoma | $32.02 | 41 | Georgia | $51.07 |
Missouri | $31.68 | 42 | Arkansas | $51.06 |
West Virginia | $31.31 | 43 | Ohio | $50.78 |
Kentucky | $31.12 | 44 | West Virginia | $50.59 |
Kansas | $30.87 | 45 | Kansas | $50.25 |
Tennessee | $30.83 | 46 | South Dakota | $49.56 |
Arkansas | $30.60 | 47 | Kentucky | $49.26 |
Iowa | $30.08 | 48 | South Carolina | $48.65 |
Mississippi | $29.45 | 49 | Florida | $48.58 |
South Dakota | $29.31 | 50 | Alabama | $47.98 |
Alabama | $28.96 | 51 | Tennessee | $47.78 |
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