Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
National median $64,400 / yr · 648,410 jobs nationally. Same job, very different outcomes by state — see the WageBench Score below.
| Rank | Area | Annual Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $85,690 | $85,690 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 76 |
| #2 | Washington | $83,150 | $83,150 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 73 |
| #3 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $74,860 | $71,117 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 72 |
| #4 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $94,310 | $88,651 | 6.0% | — | — | 72 |
| #5 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $95,320 | $89,601 | 6.0% | — | — | 72 |
| #6 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $75,810 | $72,474 | 4.4% | — | ✓ | 72 |
| #7 | North Dakota | $62,300 | $61,054 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 71 |
| #8 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $78,080 | $76,128 | 2.5% | — | ✓ | 71 |
| #9 | Arizona | $77,070 | $75,143 | 2.5% | 101 | ✓ | 71 |
| #10 | Colorado | $73,880 | $70,629 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 71 |
Active travel assignments by state
576 active travel listings for this occupation right now — top 10 states. Best-effort counts from public staffing-platform listings (Vivian); a breadth signal of where the work is, not an exact requisition count.
National wage distribution
How pay spreads across the workforce — from the 10th percentile (entry / low-COL settings) to the 90th (highest-paying environments).
Every state & metro, ranked
Filter by state, set a minimum WageBench Score, or restrict to Nurse Licensure Compact members. 581 scored areas total.
| Area | State | Median | Take-Home | State Tax | COL Index | NLC | HPSA | WageBench Score ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $85,690 | $85,690 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 21 | 76 |
| Washington | WA | $83,150 | $83,150 | 0.0% | 107 | ✓ | 21 | 73 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $74,860 | $71,117 | 5.0% | — | ✓ | 24 | 72 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $94,310 | $88,651 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 72 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | CA | $95,320 | $89,601 | 6.0% | — | — | 24 | 72 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | CO | $75,810 | $72,474 | 4.4% | — | ✓ | 22 | 72 |
| North Dakota | ND | $62,300 | $61,054 | 2.0% | 89 | ✓ | 23 | 71 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | AZ | $78,080 | $76,128 | 2.5% | — | ✓ | 21 | 71 |
| Arizona | AZ | $77,070 | $75,143 | 2.5% | 101 | ✓ | 21 | 71 |
| Colorado | CO | $73,880 | $70,629 | 4.4% | 103 | ✓ | 22 | 71 |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC | NC | $64,080 | $61,357 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | PA | $70,710 | $68,539 | 3.1% | — | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Wyoming | WY | $63,460 | $63,460 | 0.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | RI | $78,990 | $75,238 | 4.8% | — | ✓ | 17 | 70 |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | IN | $67,200 | $65,150 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Tucson, AZ | AZ | $75,940 | $74,042 | 2.5% | — | ✓ | 21 | 70 |
| Missouri | MO | $61,530 | $58,761 | 4.5% | 91 | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Indiana | IN | $65,720 | $63,716 | 3.0% | 93 | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| North Carolina | NC | $63,270 | $60,581 | 4.3% | 94 | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | TX | $64,580 | $64,580 | 0.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 70 |
| Maryland | MD | $74,660 | $70,927 | 5.0% | 105 | ✓ | 24 | 70 |
| St. Louis, MO-IL | MO | $65,120 | $62,190 | 4.5% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
| Columbus, OH | OH | $61,910 | $60,053 | 3.0% | — | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Tennessee | TN | $58,870 | $58,870 | 0.0% | 92 | ✓ | 23 | 69 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | NC | $65,140 | $62,372 | 4.3% | — | ✓ | 24 | 69 |
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 →