• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2021

29-1141 Registered Nurses

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. Includes Clinical Nurse Specialists. Excludes “Nurse Anesthetists” (29-1151), “Nurse Midwives” (29-1161), and “Nurse Practitioners” (29-1171).

National estimates for Registered Nurses
Industry profile for Registered Nurses
Geographic profile for Registered Nurses

National estimates for Registered Nurses:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Registered Nurses:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
3,047,530	0.2 %	$ 39.78	$ 82,750	0.2 %

Percentile wage estimates for Registered Nurses:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 28.58	$ 29.71	$ 37.31	$ 46.91	$ 57.81
Annual Wage (2)	$ 59,450	$ 61,790	$ 77,600	$ 97,580	$ 120,250

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Industry profile for Registered Nurses:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Registered Nurses are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Registered Nurses, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Registered Nurses:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1,752,210	31.32	$ 40.88	$ 85,020
Offices of Physicians	199,130	7.39	$ 35.51	$ 73,860
Home Health Care Services	173,790	11.47	$ 37.59	$ 78,190
Outpatient Care Centers	147,720	14.97	$ 44.74	$ 93,070
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities)	131,320	9.33	$ 34.74	$ 72,260

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Registered Nurses:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1,752,210	31.32	$ 40.88	$ 85,020
Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals	65,070	24.09	$ 40.77	$ 84,800
Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals	41,290	17.26	$ 38.59	$ 80,260
Outpatient Care Centers	147,720	14.97	$ 44.74	$ 93,070
Home Health Care Services	173,790	11.47	$ 37.59	$ 78,190

Top paying industries for Registered Nurses:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Nonscheduled Air Transportation	100	0.21	$ 54.15	$ 112,630
Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing	200	0.06	$ 50.61	$ 105,270
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4242 and 4246 only)	750	0.20	$ 48.67	$ 101,240
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	90,350	4.29	$ 46.93	$ 97,600
Office Administrative Services	6,650	1.37	$ 46.46	$ 96,630

Geographic profile for Registered Nurses:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Registered Nurses are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Registered Nurses, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Registered Nurses:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	324,400	19.63	0.91	$ 59.62	$ 124,000
Texas	217,630	17.80	0.82	$ 38.04	$ 79,120
New York	188,300	21.72	1.00	$ 44.86	$ 93,320
Florida	187,920	21.84	1.01	$ 34.62	$ 72,000
Pennsylvania	149,270	26.73	1.24	$ 36.54	$ 76,000

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Registered Nurses:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
South Dakota	14,140	33.56	1.55	$ 29.11	$ 60,540
West Virginia	19,800	30.11	1.39	$ 32.52	$ 67,640
North Dakota	11,810	29.89	1.38	$ 34.23	$ 71,200
Delaware	11,760	26.99	1.25	$ 37.39	$ 77,760
Pennsylvania	149,270	26.73	1.24	$ 36.54	$ 76,000

Top paying states for Registered Nurses:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	324,400	19.63	0.91	$ 59.62	$ 124,000
Hawaii	11,110	20.26	0.94	$ 51.22	$ 106,530
Oregon	37,780	20.70	0.96	$ 47.42	$ 98,630
District of Columbia	11,540	17.43	0.81	$ 47.38	$ 98,540
Alaska	6,060	20.48	0.95	$ 46.74	$ 97,230

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Registered Nurses:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	180,540	20.80	0.96	$ 47.34	$ 98,460
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	113,890	19.91	0.92	$ 55.82	$ 116,110
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	96,750	22.86	1.06	$ 39.09	$ 81,300
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	73,510	27.69	1.28	$ 39.35	$ 81,860
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	66,120	25.58	1.18	$ 48.05	$ 99,950
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	62,840	17.51	0.81	$ 39.55	$ 82,260
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	54,540	18.83	0.87	$ 40.33	$ 83,890
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	53,110	21.66	1.00	$ 35.69	$ 74,220
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	43,810	24.32	1.12	$ 37.11	$ 77,180
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	43,560	14.86	0.69	$ 42.82	$ 89,060

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Registered Nurses:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Rochester, MN	9,190	79.27	3.66	$ 41.57	$ 86,470
Bloomsburg-Berwick, PA	2,600	65.79	3.04	$ 34.47	$ 71,700
Morgantown, WV	3,400	54.55	2.52	$ 32.47	$ 67,540
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	15,230	48.76	2.25	$ 35.10	$ 73,000
Ann Arbor, MI	9,600	47.64	2.20	$ 40.79	$ 84,830
Iowa City, IA	4,120	47.15	2.18	$ 34.16	$ 71,050
Sioux Falls, SD	7,310	46.99	2.17	$ 28.35	$ 58,970
Gainesville, FL	6,010	45.19	2.09	$ 35.57	$ 73,980
Greenville, NC	3,310	43.98	2.03	$ 33.96	$ 70,630
Bismarck, ND	2,810	40.40	1.87	$ 34.01	$ 70,740