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Top 10 Best and Worst States to Be a Nurse
NursingLink.com and CareerVoyages.gov
There is a projected need for 1,001,000 nurses needed in the United States by 2016. Nurses are one of the most in demand professions in America, but with so many job openings, it begs the question: Where should you work? NursingLink is committed to providing its members with the most most pertinent career research available. Below is the 10 best and worst places to be a Nurse based on salary and job openings.
Top 10 Highest Nurse Paying States
| State | Salary (hourly) |
| 1. California | $25.45 |
| 2. Hawaii | $24.76 |
| 3. Massachusetts | $23.38 |
| 4. New Jersey | $23.33 |
| 5. Alaska | $23.09 |
| 6. Delaware | $22.98 |
| 7. Oregon | $22.91 |
| 8. Nevada | $22.83 |
| 9. Maryland | $22.79 |
| 10. Connecticut | $22.62 |
HEHNursingServices
over 2 years ago
4 comments
I started in nursing 13 years ago in Oklahoma at $20.00 an hour. How are you all calculating these salaries?
betlhany12
over 2 years ago
2 comments
I my husband and my sons (8 and 10 home schooled) moved from to Missouri and the job market here is much harder. I am an RN in home health care. I hear California has alot more jobs. We are are poor and would be seeking the lowest cost housing. Do you have any reccomendations on cheap housing? Our credit is not good. Missouri does not seem to treat nurses as good in Missouri as they did in Arizona. I hear Californa has laws regulating nursing so that nurses are not overworked. Is Californa a place that is kind to nurses? I am also considering moving and working back in AZ, Alaska and other places.
love and peace
momof8
over 2 years ago
2 comments
Best and worst jobs are not solely dependent on salary. Cost of living has to be factored in as well as working conditions. Interesting the number of job openings, however percentage of positions filled would more accurately represent the picture. For example the overall number of nursing jobs in California would be greater than the overall number of nursing jobs in Wyoming, for obvious reasons.
haffin
over 2 years ago
2 comments
Check out College Network. At home course and will let you make reasonable payments. Take as long as you want to finish, too. One of the doctors here had his wife go through them. He checked them all out and chose this one over all the others.
marysanaei
over 2 years ago
6 comments
Does anyone know about LPN to RN online programs in Georgia? Are they accredited? Please give me advice.
marysanaei
over 2 years ago
6 comments
Why don't hospityals hire LPNs anymore?
jenn91c
over 2 years ago
2 comments
i think this is old info too, hawaii pays new grads $35 and after the year mark $45 +, texas is definitely by far the best at $45+ when you count in low cost of living and tons of jobs available. we are military and in missouri now, good luck getting a job here, and they only pay $21 for RN's. its pathetic. can't wait to get back home to san antonio.
darcicat
over 2 years ago
2 comments
This is old information I think. I work in CA and as a new grad in med/surg in 2010 I started well above 40$ an hour.
nanster
over 3 years ago
6 comments
Yes Cost of living, taxec, etc. are important consideration...some of the lower paying states may also have much cheaper cost of living and a simpler lifestyle. California where I currently live is very expensive ...and of course it is lovely-- so its a trade. I work as a hospice nurse case manager and make 33 an hour after 5 years in this position...uggh, disheartening. I love my work and yet cant survive or retire on this in this life, so changes are up. We live in a small town area and medicare reimburses us differently than it does for those in larger metropolitan areas. Hospital nurses make much more than this with some experience. Use these stats as a spring board for further exploration and hope you land somewhere you love to live, with the best pay! Me too.
leilahlv
over 3 years ago
4 comments
Wages for California are way off! RN"s making alot more then that. Nevada is about right for new grad though. 23-26/hour i believe.
sheliae
over 3 years ago
2 comments
I also agree that these are old wages! I"ve bee a LPN for 13 yrs and i make 20.07
/hrly. i plan on going back to school in Jan. to start my Rn! :)
meljojack
almost 4 years ago
2 comments
current going rate in Hawaii is 45 hr, almost throughout Oahu
linda67
almost 4 years ago
4 comments
Iam an LPN of nine years. Started at a nursing home last year part-time and was told I would get shift differential and was started at $18.50/hr only to find out from other nurses there that this is all you get...no shift diff, no raise, only a $75 dollar bonus if you come in and do an extra shift. Is this legal for employers to lie to get nurses in their facility? This is NC... I made more than this with an agency fresh out of nursing school....
gaby133
almost 4 years ago
32 comments
OK, everybody is talking about these low rates for RN's and it's giving me chills. I used to work in Michigan, for agencies, back in '98 and making $40/hr and then moved to south Florida, on staff, and got cut down to $25/hr until I got tired of hospital stress, short staff all the time and the low pay. I started doing home health and working 4-5 hours a day making 100K+ every year, driving very little too.
Now I was thinking to relocate to Arizona or South Carolina,not sure yet, and I want to know if any of you know how home health is and if you know any areas with concentrated elderly population.
Account Removed
almost 4 years ago
It doesn't mater to me. i just want to work in the states. can anyone help me land a job there?I am a filipino educated nurse here in the Philippines and I am a Registered Nurse in Vermont USA and I also passed the IELTS. there is visa retrogression but if a hospital will sponsor me to land a job there,it really matters a lot.