Snapshot: This table displays the median RN salary in each state, adjusted for the cost of living in that state.
- This salary-adjusted cost of living index therefore takes into account the different overall cost of living in each U.S. metropolitan area and raises the median RN salary for metro areas where the cost of living is below the U.S. average, since salaries in those locations have more purchasing power, and lowers the median RN salary for metro areas where the cost is living is above the U.S. average, since salaries in those locations have less purchasing power. See “RN Salaries Overview” for more information about the methodology.
- In the table, dark green colors indicate the highest salary, adjusted by the average cost of living in each metro area. Dark red colors indicate the lowest salary, adjusted by the local cost of living in each metro area.
- The metropolitan areas with the highest RN salaries, adjusted for state variations in the cost of living, can be found on the West Coast, and in Texas.
- This means that RN salaries in these places have the most purchasing power, when taking into account the cost of living in each of those locations.
- The metropolitan areas with the lowest RN salaries, adjusted for state variations in the cost of living, can be found in Hawaii, the Northeast and parts of the upper Midwest.
- This means that RN salaries in these places have the least purchasing power, when taking into account the cost of living in each of those states.
Metropolitan Area (By State)
|
RN Annual Salary
|
| Alabama |
|
| Anniston-Oxford |
$51,800 |
| Birmingham-Hoover |
$63,941 |
| Decatur-Hartselle |
$53,423 |
| Dothan |
$60,935 |
| Florence-Muscle Shoals |
$51,127 |
| Huntsville |
$60,931 |
| Mobile |
$57,792 |
| Montgomery |
$60,333 |
| Tuscaloosa |
$58,629 |
| Alaska |
|
| Anchorage |
$65,363 |
| Fairbanks |
$55,663 |
| Juneau |
$49,540 |
| Arizona |
|
| Lake Havasu City-Kingman |
$63,247 |
| Phoenix-Mesa |
$75,619 |
| Prescott |
$76,602 |
| Tucson |
$70,369 |
| Yuma |
$67,623 |
| Arkansas |
|
| Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers(AR-MO) |
$63,919 |
| Hot Springs |
$59,067 |
| Jonesboro |
$60,700 |
| Little Rock-North Little Rock |
$57,400 |
| California |
|
| Bakersfield |
$86,087 |
| Fresno |
$67,996 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach |
$65,878 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Hayward |
$94,827 |
| Riverside-San Bernadino-Ontario |
$76,011 |
Sacramento-Aden
Arcade-Roseville |
$99,815 |
| San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos |
$64,508 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City |
$75,464 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara |
$92,792 |
| Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine |
$60,287 |
| Colorado |
|
| Colorado Springs |
$66,211 |
| Denver-Aurora |
$66,891 |
| Grand Junction |
$65,306 |
| Pueblo |
$73,995 |
| Connecticut |
|
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford |
$57,604 |
| New Haven-Milford |
$56,350 |
| Stamford-Norwalk |
$45,673 |
| Delaware |
|
| Dover |
$55,617 |
| Wilmington (DE-MD-NJ) |
$64,113 |
| District of Columbia |
|
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (DC-VA-MD) |
$40,321 |
| Florida |
|
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers |
$64,477 |
| Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach |
$57,984 |
| Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach |
$59,771 |
| Jacksonville |
$63,765 |
| Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall |
$53,897 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee |
$62,519 |
| Punta Gorda |
$61,954 |
| Sebastian-Vero Beach |
$55,323 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater |
$65,667 |
| Georgia |
|
| Albany |
$59,912 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta |
$67,514 |
| Augusta-Aiken (GA-SC) |
$69,438 |
| Dalton |
$56,500 |
| Savannah |
$64,981 |
| Valdosta |
$50,500 |
| Hawaii |
|
| Honolulu |
$44,177 |
| Idaho |
|
| Boise City-Nampa |
$61,623 |
| Idaho Falls |
$62,954 |
| Illinois |
|
| Champaign-Urbana |
$55,565 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Joliet |
$57,793 |
| Danville |
$67,893 |
| Kankakee-Bradley |
$69,279 |
| Peoria |
$54,690 |
| Rockford |
$64,938 |
| Springfield |
$66,467 |
| Indiana |
|
| Bloomington |
$60,748 |
| Elkhart-Goshen |
$57,529 |
| Evansville (IN-KY) |
$54,006 |
| Fort Wayne |
$56,183 |
| Indianapolis-Carmel |
$64,289 |
| Lafayette |
$61,627 |
| South Bend-Mishawaka (IN-MI) |
$63,477 |
| Iowa |
|
| Ames |
$54,222 |
| Cedar Rapids |
$51,374 |
| Davenport-Moline-Rock Island (IA-IL) |
$49,941 |
| Des Moines |
$60,953 |
| Waterloo-Cedar Falls |
$56,387 |
| Kansas |
|
| Manhattan |
$58,956 |
| Topeka |
$62,893 |
| Wichita |
$58,838 |
| Kentucky |
|
| Cincinnati-Middletown (OH-KY-IN) |
$68,475 |
| Lexington-Fayette |
$63,818 |
| Louisville (KY-IN) |
$65,749 |
| Louisiana |
|
| Alexandria |
$57,265 |
| Baton Rouge |
$66,556 |
| Hammond |
$67,243 |
| Lafayette |
$60,651 |
| Lake Charles |
$59,503 |
| Monroe |
$58,236 |
| New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner |
$67,471 |
| Shreveport-Bossier City |
$63,780 |
| Maine |
|
| Portland-South Portland-Biddeford |
$52,662 |
| Maryland |
|
| Baltimore-Towson |
$58,855 |
| Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick |
$54,510 |
| Massachussetts |
|
| Boston-Quincy |
$52,829 |
| Worcester |
$75,214 |
| Michigain |
|
| Ann Arbor |
$59,026 |
| Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn |
$68,640 |
| Grand Rapids-Wyoming |
$63,725 |
| Kalamazoo-Portage |
$69,929 |
| Minnessota |
|
| Mankato-North Mankato |
$66,479 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington (MI-WI) |
$65,479 |
| Rochester |
$73,178 |
| St. Cloud |
$80,422 |
| Mississippi |
|
| Hattiesburg |
$59,658 |
| Jackson |
$69,285 |
| Missouri |
|
| Columbia |
$60,987 |
| Jefferson City |
$58,233 |
| Joplin |
$45,744 |
| Kansas City (MO-KS) |
$61,079 |
| St. Louis (MO-IL) |
$63,469 |
| Springfield |
$65,551 |
| Montana |
|
| Bozeman |
$53,388 |
| Kalispell |
$61,750 |
| Nebraska |
|
| Lincoln |
$59,753 |
| Omaha-Council Bluffs (NE-IA) |
$64,510 |
| Nevada |
|
| Las Vegas-Paradise |
$80,653 |
| Reno-Sparks |
$78,290 |
| New Hampshire |
|
| Manchester-Nashua |
$52,391 |
| New Jersey |
|
| Edison-Middlesex-Monmouth |
$60,129 |
| Newark-Elizabeth |
$59,512 |
| New Mexico |
|
| Albuquerque-Rio Rancho |
$71,011 |
| Las Cruces |
$61,383 |
| New York |
|
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy |
$51,859 |
| Buffalo-Niagra Falls |
$66,774 |
| Nassau-Suffolk |
$57,793 |
| New York City |
$23,469 |
| Rochester |
$56,459 |
| North Carolina |
|
| Asheville |
$59,553 |
| Burlington |
$63,868 |
| Chapel Hill |
$56,732 |
| Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord (NC-SC) |
$62,375 |
| Durham |
$69,040 |
| Greenville |
$62,526 |
| Raleigh-Cary |
$64,198 |
| Wilmington |
$60,991 |
| Winston-Salem |
$65,541 |
| North Dakota |
|
| Fargo (ND-MN) |
$57,393 |
| Minot |
$46,956 |
| Ohio |
|
| Akron |
$59,652 |
| Cincinnatti-Middletown (OH-KY-IN) |
$66,707 |
| Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor |
$63,452 |
| Columbus |
$67,341 |
| Dayton |
$65,255 |
| Lima |
$62,117 |
| Youngstown-Warren-Boardman (OH-PA) |
$61,440 |
| Oklahoma |
|
| Oklahoma City |
$63,250 |
| Lawton |
$63,842 |
| Tulsa |
$63,410 |
| Oregon |
|
| Klamath Falls |
$76,603 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton (OR-WA) |
$69,697 |
| Pennsylvania |
|
| Johnstown |
$60,468 |
| Philadelphia |
$55,603 |
| Pittsburgh |
$62,255 |
| Williamsport-Lycoming |
$59,506 |
| York-Hanover |
$69,530 |
| Rhode Island |
|
| Providence-New Bedford-Fall River (RI-MA) |
$56,849 |
| South Carolina |
|
| Anderson |
$64,612 |
| Charleston-North Charleston |
$65,434 |
| Columbia |
$59,305 |
| Greenville |
$64,301 |
| Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach |
$59,491 |
| Spartanburg |
$57,256 |
| Sumter |
$60,227 |
| South Dakota |
|
| Pierre |
$46,536 |
| Tennessee |
|
| Chattanooga (TN-GA) |
$58,825 |
| Knoxville |
$60,733 |
| Memphis (TN-MS-AR) |
$69,308 |
| Morristown |
$59,037 |
| Nashville-Franklin |
$66,113 |
| Texas |
|
| Amarillo |
$59,210 |
| Austin |
$65,546 |
| Brownsville |
$69,584 |
| Byran-College Station |
$69,540 |
| Corpus Christi |
$65,877 |
| Dallas |
$71,317 |
| El Paso |
$66,405 |
| Fort Worth |
$74,025 |
| Houston-Sugar Land |
$76,667 |
| Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood |
$67,174 |
| Lubbock |
$62,337 |
| McAllen-Edinburg-Mission |
$76,316 |
| Odessa |
$61,196 |
| San Angelo |
$63,442 |
| San Antonio |
$74,683 |
| Sherman-Denison |
$66,326 |
| Texarkana (TX-AR) |
$60,464 |
| Tyler |
$62,332 |
| Waco |
$64,579 |
| Wichita Falls |
$62,256 |
| Utah |
|
| Ogden-Clearfield |
$61,105 |
| Provo-Orem |
$58,514 |
| St. George |
$62,235 |
| Salt Lake City |
$63,415 |
| Vermont |
|
| Burlington-South Burlington |
$50,776 |
| Virginia |
|
| Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford |
$56,260 |
| Charlottesville |
$59,182 |
| Danville |
$58,625 |
| Harrisonburg |
$55,194 |
| Lynchburg |
$59,642 |
| Richmond |
$63,717 |
| Roanoke |
$65,008 |
| Winchester (VA-WV) |
$64,097 |
| Washington |
|
| Kenneick-Richland-Pasco |
$67,699 |
| Olympia |
$75,408 |
| Seattle-Bellevue-Everett |
$68,234 |
| Spokane |
$75,784 |
| Tacoma |
$69,084 |
| Yakima |
$68,310 |
| West Virginia |
|
| Charleston |
$58,285 |
| Wisconsin |
|
| Eau Claire |
$72,015 |
| Green Bay |
$61,037 |
| Janesville |
$61,286 |
| Madison |
$64,164 |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha |
$63,775 |
| Wasau |
$60,685 |
| Wyoming |
|
| Laramie |
$58,752 |
The 10 metropolitan areas with the highest RN salaries, adjusted for local variations in the cost of living, are:
Metropolitan Area
|
RN Annual Salary
|
| Sacramento-Aden Arcade-Roseville |
$99,815
|
| Oakland-Fremont-Hayward |
$94,827
|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara |
$92,792
|
| Bakersfield |
$86,087
|
| Las Vegas-Paradise |
$80,653
|
| St. Cloud |
$80,422
|
| Reno-Sparks |
$78,290
|
| Houston-Sugar Land |
$76,667
|
| Klamath Falls |
$76,603
|
| Prescott |
$76,602
|
- Each of these dollar figures is the purchasing power of the median RN salary in that metropolitan area, once the cost of living in that location has been taken into account.
The 10 metropolitan areas with the lowest RN salaries, adjusted for local variations in the cost of living, are:
Metropolitan Area
|
RN Annual Salary
|
| New York City |
$23,469
|
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (DC-VA-MD) |
$40,321
|
| Honolulu |
$44,177
|
| Stamford-Norwalk |
$45,673
|
| Joplin |
$45,744
|
| Pierre |
$46,536
|
| Minot |
$46,956
|
| Juneau |
$49,540
|
| Davenport-Moline-Rock Island (IA-IL) |
$49,941
|
| Valdosta |
$50,500
|
- Each of these dollar figures is, again, the purchasing power of the median RN salary in that metropolitan area, once the cost of living in that location has been taken into account.