nursing · SOC 29-1161
Nurse Midwives
National median $134,040 / yr · 7,920 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
National median
$134,040
BLS OEWS
Top state by Score
WA
Score 71 · Washington
Top-paying metro
Riverside
$218,760 median
Top WageBench Score
75
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, 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 Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $212,630 | $199,872 | 6.0% | — | — | 75 |
| #2 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $162,970 | $162,970 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 74 |
| #3 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $146,590 | $146,590 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 72 |
| #4 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $218,760 | $205,634 | 6.0% | — | — | 72 |
| #5 | Washington | $158,970 | $158,970 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 71 |
| #6 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $202,850 | $190,679 | 6.0% | — | — | 71 |
| #7 | Iowa | $131,360 | $126,368 | 3.8% | 88 | ✓ | 70 |
| #8 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $191,220 | $179,747 | 6.0% | — | — | 70 |
| #9 | Missouri | $130,220 | $124,360 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 70 |
| #10 | Nebraska | $138,880 | $132,214 | 4.8% | 90 | ✓ | 70 |
National wage distribution
How pay spreads across the workforce — from the 10th percentile (entry / low-COL settings) to the 90th (highest-paying environments).
P10
$93,620
P25
$116,510
MEDIAN
$134,040
P75
$157,400
P90
$188,320
Hourly mean
$66
Hourly median
$64
Annual mean
$136,980
Total US jobs
7,920
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 81 scored areas total.
81 areas · page 1 of 4
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $212,630 | $199,872 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 75 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $162,970 | $162,970 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 74 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | FL | $146,590 | $146,590 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 72 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | CA | $218,760 | $205,634 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 72 |
| Washington | WA | $158,970 | $158,970 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 71 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | CA | $202,850 | $190,679 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 71 |
| Iowa | IA | $131,360 | $126,368 | 3.8% | 88 | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | CA | $191,220 | $179,747 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 70 |
| Missouri | MO | $130,220 | $124,360 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Nebraska | NE | $138,880 | $132,214 | 4.8% | 90 | ✓ | 20 | 70 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | CA | $181,450 | $170,563 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 69 |
| Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | UT | $139,530 | $133,181 | 4.5% | — | ✓ | 20 | 69 |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | WI | $141,520 | $134,019 | 5.3% | — | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | MO | $133,330 | $127,330 | 4.5% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Ohio | OH | $127,730 | $123,898 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $135,910 | $129,115 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC | NC | $132,070 | $126,457 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Wisconsin | WI | $133,070 | $126,017 | 5.3% | 94 | ✓ | 21 | 69 |
| Columbus, OH | OH | $134,380 | $130,349 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Colorado | CO | $137,610 | $131,555 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 22 | 69 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | CO | $137,610 | $131,555 | 4.4% | — | ✓ | 22 | 69 |
| California | CA | $203,840 | $191,610 | 6.0% | 111 | — | 24 | 69 |
| North Carolina | NC | $126,040 | $120,683 | 4.3% | 94 | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | FL | $128,020 | $128,020 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Maryland | MD | $140,120 | $133,114 | 5.0% | 105 | ✓ | 24 | 68 |
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Not published by BLS (12) — BLS suppresses wage estimates where employment is too low to disclose. These states likely still employ this occupation; there's just no public wage to rank: Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming.
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.
How we calculate it →