nursing · SOC 29-1141
Registered Nurses
National median $97,550 / yr · 3,379,720 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$97,550
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
WA
Score 72 · Washington
Top-paying metro
San Jose
$216,740 median
Top WageBench Score
84
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
Top 10 destinations
Same job. Wildly different outcomes by metro. Click any column to re-sort.
| Rank | Area | Annual Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $216,740 | $203,736 | 6.0% | — | — | 84 |
| #2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $186,610 | $175,413 | 6.0% | — | — | 81 |
| #3 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $171,460 | $161,172 | 6.0% | — | — | 76 |
| #4 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $128,260 | $128,260 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 76 |
| #5 | Washington | $124,200 | $124,200 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 72 |
| #6 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $97,890 | $97,890 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 70 |
| #7 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $101,130 | $96,680 | 4.4% | — | ✓ | 70 |
| #8 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $139,520 | $131,149 | 6.0% | — | — | 70 |
| #9 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $91,380 | $91,380 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 69 |
| #10 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $100,490 | $95,064 | 5.4% | — | ✓ | 69 |
National wage distribution
How pay spreads across the workforce — from the 10th percentile (entry / low-COL settings) to the 90th (highest-paying environments).
P10
$68,940
P25
$80,330
MEDIAN
$97,550
P75
$112,350
P90
$137,470
Hourly mean
$49
Hourly median
$47
Annual mean
$101,420
Total US jobs
3,379,720
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 567 scored areas total.
567 areas · page 1 of 23
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | CA | $216,740 | $203,736 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 84 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $186,610 | $175,413 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 81 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | CA | $171,460 | $161,172 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 76 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $128,260 | $128,260 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 76 |
| Washington | WA | $124,200 | $124,200 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 72 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | TX | $97,890 | $97,890 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | CO | $101,130 | $96,680 | 4.4% | — | ✓ | 22 | 70 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | CA | $139,520 | $131,149 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 70 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | FL | $91,380 | $91,380 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | GA | $100,490 | $95,064 | 5.4% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Colorado | CO | $100,260 | $95,849 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 22 | 69 |
| New Mexico | NM | $94,340 | $89,717 | 4.9% | 92 | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | PA | $101,180 | $98,074 | 3.1% | — | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $99,550 | $94,573 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $101,420 | $101,420 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Texas | TX | $95,970 | $95,970 | 0.0% | 97 | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Georgia | GA | $93,550 | $88,498 | 5.4% | 96 | ✓ | 24 | 68 |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | TX | $94,370 | $94,370 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 68 |
| Maryland | MD | $99,790 | $94,801 | 5.0% | 105 | ✓ | 24 | 68 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | CA | $133,940 | $125,904 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 68 |
| North Dakota | ND | $80,730 | $79,115 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 68 |
| Pennsylvania | PA | $96,430 | $93,470 | 3.1% | 98 | ✓ | 21 | 68 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | CA | $135,560 | $127,426 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 68 |
| California | CA | $140,270 | $131,854 | 6.0% | 111 | — | 24 | 68 |
| Wisconsin | WI | $95,530 | $90,467 | 5.3% | 94 | ✓ | 21 | 68 |
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Employer benchmark
Download the full national benchmark (PDF)
National percentile wages, 51-state ranking by WageBench Score, top-25 metros, and methodology footer — formatted for HR / compensation review.
WageBench Score blends pay, taxes, COL, demand, license access and livability into one 0-100 number. See our data study on the highest-paying states for registered nurses.
How we calculate it →