How Much Does an RN Make in the United States in 2026?

Hospitals, clinics, and home health agencies across the country are hiring registered nurses. The typical RN earns $46.90 per hour, or $97,550 a year, according to the latest government wage data (May 2025). Demand for licensed clinical staff holds steady in nearly every community, urban and rural.

That figure is a starting point, not a fixed rate. State, work setting, years of experience, and credentials each move pay up or down, sometimes by tens of thousands of dollars. The workforce is large: 3,379,720 RNs work in the United States, across hospitals, physician offices, home health, and outpatient care.

A typical RN earns $46.90 per hour, which comes to $97,550 over a full year of full-time work. Calculated from that annual figure, monthly pay works out to about $8,129 and weekly pay to roughly $1,876. Real paychecks land above or below, depending on scheduled hours, overtime, and shift extras.

Entry-level pay runs about $33.14 an hour, or $68,940 a year. The top 10% of earners make over $137,470. The gap between those ends is $68,530, and three things explain most of it: how long someone has been nursing, where they work, and which state they work in.

Entry-level positions pay around $33.14 per hour, or $68,940 a year. New graduates start near that level while they finish orientation and build bedside judgment. Once they carry a full assignment, many move to about $38.62 an hour, or $80,330 a year. Within a few years, pay climbs toward the typical $97,550.

Experienced RNs often earn upwards of $54.02 an hour, or $112,350 a year. The top 10% make over $66.09 per hour, or $137,470 a year. Nurses in that group usually stack several advantages: a high-paying state, a specialty unit, a board certification, charge duty, and a long tenure with one employer.

In 2015, typical pay for registered nurses was $67,490 a year. By 2025 it reached $97,550, a gain of $30,060, or 44.5 percent across the decade. The most recent year alone added $3,950, an increase of 4.2 percent.

The pace was uneven. Between 2015 and 2019, typical pay rose $5,810. Between 2021 and 2025, it rose $19,950, more than three times as much. Demand for these workers outran the supply of licensed nurses during that stretch. Local pay moved at its own speed, and state figures ran well ahead of or behind the national one.

Where an RN works is often the single biggest factor in pay. California leads at $140,270 a year, or $67.44 an hour, followed by Hawaii at $136,320, Oregon at $129,010, Washington at $124,200, and Alaska at $109,480. Metro figures run higher: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara at $216,740, or $104.20 an hour, Vallejo at $203,290, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont at $186,610, Santa Rosa-Petaluma at $174,550, and Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom at $171,460.

At the other end, Alabama reports $77,080 a year, or $37.06 an hour, Mississippi $77,090, and South Dakota $78,060. Roughly $63,190 separates the highest- and lowest-paying states. The largest workforces are California with 338,940 RNs, Texas with 271,380 at $95,970, and Florida with 229,940 at $84,190. High pay tracks high living costs, so a bigger number does not always stretch further. The table below lists every state.

Most registered nurses work in hospitals. General medical and surgical hospitals employ 1,902,960 RNs, more than every other setting combined, and pay $48.18 per hour, or $100,210 a year. Offices of physicians come next at 232,420 nurses, paying $40.87 an hour, or $85,000 a year.

Hospitals are also the highest-paying common setting, with $48.18 hourly and $100,210 annually landing about 3 percent above the national figure. Outpatient care centers sit close behind at $47.77 and $99,350. Employment services pay $43.67 and $90,840, skilled nursing facilities $41.11 and $85,510, and home health care services $40.83 and $84,930. The table below shows each setting.

Hours matter as much as job title. Evening, night, weekend, and holiday shifts commonly carry extra hourly pay on top of the base rate. Many hospitals also pay extra for charge-nurse duty and on-call time. A nurse who regularly takes nights and weekends can finish the year well ahead of a day-shift colleague on the same base rate.

Education shapes the range too. An RN may hold an associate degree (ADN) or a bachelor's (BSN); both lead to the same license. Many hospitals prefer or require the BSN, and Magnet-designated hospitals push BSN rates high. Specialty board certifications such as CCRN for critical care, CEN for emergency, OCN for oncology, and CNOR for perioperative work often show up in employer pay ladders.

Employment type is another factor. Travel contracts often pay more than staff positions, though rates swing widely by assignment, season, and location. State boards handle licensure, and the Nurse Licensure Compact lets a nurse licensed in a compact state practice in other compact states, which makes moving toward better-paying work simpler.

LPNs and LVNs typically earn $64,400, and practical nursing programs commonly run about 12 months. Registered nurse pay of $97,550 is $33,150 higher; an ADN commonly takes about two years and a BSN about four. Nurse practitioners typically earn $132,300, another $34,750, after a master's or doctoral degree, commonly two to four years beyond the BSN. Nurse anesthetists typically earn $236,590, $104,290 more, with a doctoral degree and ICU experience.

Most nurses make these moves while still working. Bridge programs and online coursework allow part-time study, and some employers offer tuition help, though the terms differ from place to place. Time on the unit carries over: ICU hours count toward anesthesia programs, and bedside judgment transfers directly into advanced practice.

Registered nurses typically earn $97,550 a year, or $46.90 per hour, up 44.5 percent since 2015. BLS projects continued growth and steady openings through 2035. Two next steps: check your state's salary page, since pay swings by tens of thousands of dollars across state lines, and look up the training and licensing requirements set by your state board of nursing before enrolling anywhere.