Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of staff nurse salary by state for the United States:
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California has the highest staff nurse salary of $105,142
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Maine has the lowest staff nurse salary of $25,119
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The national average salary for staff nurses is $68,342
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The national hourly pay for staff nurses is $32.86
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do staff nurses get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for staff nurse by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for staff nurses after this adjustment? That would be California.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for staff nurse salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Staff Nurses By State
| Rank | State | Average Staff Nurse Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $105,142 | $66,000 | $166,000 |
| 2 | Hawaii | $96,215 | $67,000 | $137,000 |
| 3 | Oregon | $88,323 | $56,000 | $139,000 |
| 4 | Washington | $83,834 | $54,000 | $129,000 |
| 5 | Nevada | $83,743 | $53,000 | $131,000 |
| 6 | Alaska | $73,071 | $61,000 | $86,000 |
| 7 | Arizona | $69,639 | $44,000 | $108,000 |
| 8 | Colorado | $66,940 | $44,000 | $101,000 |
| 9 | New Mexico | $65,442 | $41,000 | $102,000 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | $65,041 | $40,000 | $104,000 |
| 11 | Texas | $64,914 | $39,000 | $106,000 |
| 12 | Nebraska | $64,859 | $40,000 | $103,000 |
| 13 | Idaho | $62,287 | $41,000 | $94,000 |
| 14 | Arkansas | $61,070 | $37,000 | $100,000 |
| 15 | Utah | $60,967 | $40,000 | $92,000 |
| 16 | Louisiana | $60,867 | $35,000 | $102,000 |
| 17 | Montana | $58,846 | $40,000 | $85,000 |
| 18 | Georgia | $57,317 | $31,000 | $102,000 |
| 19 | Wyoming | $57,045 | $38,000 | $85,000 |
| 20 | Mississippi | $56,347 | $33,000 | $95,000 |
| 21 | Florida | $56,139 | $31,000 | $101,000 |
| 22 | Alabama | $54,401 | $31,000 | $94,000 |
| 23 | Kansas | $51,918 | $32,000 | $83,000 |
| 24 | Missouri | $50,531 | $30,000 | $83,000 |
| 25 | Minnesota | $50,041 | $26,000 | $92,000 |
| 26 | Tennessee | $49,007 | $28,000 | $85,000 |
| 27 | Kentucky | $48,310 | $26,000 | $89,000 |
| 28 | North Dakota | $48,036 | $28,000 | $80,000 |
| 29 | South Dakota | $47,653 | $29,000 | $76,000 |
| 30 | North Carolina | $44,784 | $22,000 | $89,000 |
| 31 | Illinois | $44,719 | $22,000 | $86,000 |
| 32 | Iowa | $44,597 | $25,000 | $76,000 |
| 33 | Wisconsin | $44,362 | $21,000 | $90,000 |
| 34 | South Carolina | $43,790 | $23,000 | $82,000 |
| 35 | West Virginia | $42,424 | $19,000 | $91,000 |
| 36 | Michigan | $41,739 | $17,000 | $96,000 |
| 37 | Indiana | $41,644 | $21,000 | $80,000 |
| 38 | Virginia | $40,813 | $17,000 | $94,000 |
| 39 | New Jersey | $39,796 | $14,000 | $107,000 |
| 40 | New York | $38,281 | $13,000 | $105,000 |
| 41 | Ohio | $35,556 | $16,000 | $78,000 |
| 42 | Delaware | $34,140 | $13,000 | $89,000 |
| 43 | Massachusetts | $33,393 | $11,000 | $100,000 |
| 44 | Maryland | $33,155 | $13,000 | $83,000 |
| 45 | Rhode Island | $32,928 | $10,000 | $98,000 |
| 46 | Connecticut | $30,340 | $10,000 | $88,000 |
| 47 | Pennsylvania | $29,300 | $11,000 | $77,000 |
| 48 | New Hampshire | $28,534 | $9,000 | $87,000 |
| 49 | Vermont | $26,857 | $8,000 | $81,000 |
| 50 | Maine | $25,119 | $8,000 | $78,000 |
Methodology: Staff Nurse Salary By State
To better understand staff nurse pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for staff nurses by state.
We took the average annual salary data for staff nurses from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for staff nurses.
Staff Nurse Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for staff nurses?
The highest-paid state for staff nurses is California with an average salary of $105,142 per year.
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What city pays staff nurses the most?
Burlingame, CA pays staff nurses the most with an average salary of $109,688 per year.
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What is the worst state for staff nurses?
The worst state for staff nurses is Maine with an average salary of $25,119 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
