Hourly earnings of healthcare practitioner and technical occupations, by work level, 2008

Depending on their level of skill, workers in healthcare practitioner and technical occupations earned from $11.20 per hour (level 2) to $106.50 per hour (level 14) in 2008.

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Mean hourly earnings of specific occupations within the category healthcare practitioner and technical occupations ranged from $11.11 per hour for pharmacy technicians at level 3 to $107.08 per hour for physicians and surgeons at level 14. Physicians and surgeons earned an average of $76.46 per hour, their earnings ranging from $19.65 per hour at level 10 to $107.08 per hour at level 14.

Average hourly earnings for registered nurses, the occupation with the highest number of workers within the group healthcare occupations overall, ranged from $18.79 per hour at level 5 to $59.53 per hour at level 12. This range of earnings reflects the wide variety of duties performed by registered nurses at different skill levels, from administering basic procedures such as monitoring patients' vital signs to assisting in surgery and helping to stabilize patients in emergency care.

These data are from the National Compensation Survey. Work levels within occupations are determined using a point-factor system for job evaluation based on four factors: knowledge, job controls and complexity, contacts, and physical environment. The more complex the duties and responsibilities within each factor, the higher are the number of points assigned and the resulting work level. To learn more, see "Earnings of Healthcare Workers by Level of Duties and Responsibilities, 2008", April 2010.