Registered Nurses: salary, outlook & degrees
Assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement nursing care plans, and maintain medical records. Administer nursing care to ill, injured, convalescent, or disabled patients. May advise patients on health maintenance and disease prevention or provide case management. Licensing or registration required.
Middle half $80,330–$112,350. 3,379,720 jobs.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
77% hold a bachelor's or higher. Those with one: $73,463.
Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata, workers with at least a high school diploma; EducationGuide calculation
About 180,800 openings a year, including replacements.
BLS Employment Projections 2025-35
Considerable preparation (usually a bachelor's).
BLS; O*NET 31.0 job zone
Degrees that lead to this career
What workers ages 25-34 in this job studied, among those with a bachelor's or higher. This is what people actually did, not a requirement.
| Field of bachelor's degree | Share | Degree pages |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing | 71% | Nursing |
| Biology | 4% | Biology |
| Psychology | 3% | Psychology |
| Physical Fitness Parks Recreation And Leisure | 1% | Kinesiology / Exercise Science · Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies |
| General Medical And Health Services | 1% | Health Sciences |
| Business Management And Administration | under 1% | Business Administration |
| Multi-Disciplinary Or General Science | under 1% | Biological and Physical Sciences |
| General Business | under 1% | Business |
| Community And Public Health | under 1% | Public Health |
| Communications | under 1% | Communications · Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other |
Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata (ages 25-34, employed, bachelor's or higher; top 10 fields); EducationGuide calculation.
Education workers say the job requires
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers (“required level of education”); small samples, so treat shares as approximate.
Pay by state and metro
| State | Median wage |
|---|---|
| California | $140,270 |
| Hawaii | $136,320 |
| Oregon | $129,010 |
| Washington | $124,200 |
| Alaska | $109,480 |
| New York | $109,440 |
| New Jersey | $106,500 |
| Massachusetts | $104,550 |
| Nevada | $103,670 |
| Connecticut | $102,740 |
| District of Columbia | $102,540 |
| Minnesota | $101,510 |
| Rhode Island | $100,640 |
| Colorado | $100,260 |
| Maryland | $99,790 |
| New Hampshire | $99,700 |
| Delaware | $99,520 |
| Arizona | $99,500 |
| Vermont | $97,460 |
| Pennsylvania | $96,430 |
| Illinois | $95,990 |
| Texas | $95,970 |
| Wisconsin | $95,530 |
| New Mexico | $94,340 |
| Michigan | $94,300 |
| Virginia | $93,600 |
| Georgia | $93,550 |
| Idaho | $92,460 |
| Maine | $86,990 |
| Montana | $85,280 |
| Nebraska | $84,730 |
| Utah | $84,600 |
| North Carolina | $84,350 |
| Florida | $84,190 |
| VI | $84,120 |
| Wyoming | $83,760 |
| Indiana | $83,500 |
| Oklahoma | $82,920 |
| Ohio | $82,510 |
| South Carolina | $82,360 |
| Missouri | $81,780 |
| Tennessee | $81,500 |
| Kentucky | $81,040 |
| North Dakota | $80,730 |
| Louisiana | $80,230 |
| West Virginia | $80,130 |
| Kansas | $79,320 |
| Arkansas | $78,940 |
| Iowa | $78,630 |
| South Dakota | $78,060 |
| Mississippi | $77,090 |
| Alabama | $77,080 |
| PR | $39,880 |
Florida metro areas
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach$91,380
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater$85,470
- Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford$83,550
- Jacksonville$83,520
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers$82,860
- North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota$86,130
- Gainesville$81,870
- Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach$84,180
Virginia metro areas
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria$102,710
- Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk$89,450
- Richmond$93,580
- Roanoke$80,090
- Charlottesville$99,320
- Kingsport-Bristol$76,730
- Lynchburg$80,450
- Winchester$95,650
California metro areas
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim$135,560
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont$186,610
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario$133,940
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad$139,520
- Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom$171,460
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara$216,740
- Fresno$125,420
- Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura$131,160
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: median annual wage, all workers in the job. Metro areas: the largest by employment.
What the work takes
Top skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
Knowledge used
- Psychology
- Customer and Personal Service
- Medicine and Dentistry
- English Language
- Administrative
Work styles
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Cooperation
- Integrity
- Cautiousness
People in this job tend to have Social (helping), Conventional (organizing), Investigative (analytical) interests.
O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0): skills and knowledge by importance; work styles; interest high points.
Registered Nurses: questions
How much do registered Nurses make?
Registered Nurses earn a U.S. median $97,550 a year; the middle half earn $80,330 to $112,350 (BLS, May 2025). Workers ages 25-34 in this job earn a median $72,083 (Census ACS 2020-2024).
Is registered Nurses a growing field?
BLS projects growth of 5.6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 180,800 openings a year, including replacements.
What degree do you need to be a registered Nurse?
BLS lists the typical entry education as bachelor's degree. In O*NET's survey, 57% of workers say a bachelor's or higher is required. Among workers ages 25-34 with a bachelor's, the most common field of degree is nursing (71%).
How much do registered Nurses make in Florida?
The median in Florida is $84,190 a year (BLS, May 2025), compared with $97,550 nationally.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2025-35); O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0); U.S. Census Bureau ACS microdata. SOC 29-1141. Method
Data: JSON · Markdown · all careers
Cite this: “Registered Nurses: salary, outlook and degrees,” EducationGuide.com, https://educationguide.com/careers/registered-nurses.