Top 10 Best and Worst States to Be a Nurse

I think it is important to look at the cost of living in whatever state you are looking at. California is one of the highest paying, but the cost of living is so much higher than other places. The information about Oklahoma is incorrect. I make over $20 an hour, that's without shift diff($23nightd/$25 nights-weekends)/non agency. I do not know of any hospital in the Okc metro that pays under $18. Average rent/morgage here is $400-900 month. California is $1300+ a month. Gas in Okc is cheaper, utilities are cheaper, groceries are cheaper ect..My paycheck stretches a lot further here than in California. Why don't you calculate the cost of living and then tell us whose making better money?

Texas - DFW area. I have a friend doing pedi-home health (RN) making about 78-80K a year. I just started a Hospice Job - making about 58K a year. But when I was job hunting one big FTW hospital said they were starting RN's without recent experience at $21.50. The best wages go to nurses who specialize or work agency positions. When I posted my resume my phone rang off the hook with agencies just dying to hire nurses. I wanted a local low key M-F job though.
Best advice I have to young nurses: get in the hospital - do the time, pay your dues and then take that experience you earned with little pay and go make some bucks. They will send you anywhere you want to go, pay your expenses, etc. The sky's the limit!

I knew Oklahoma would rate low but the cost of living is also very low. I have lived and worked in alot of the higher paying staes and the cost of living ate up alot more of my salary. I recently reached the $20.25 /hr after 5 years as a Case Manager who supervised. I went to salary and lost money but negotiated more paid vacation---3 weeks. I have free medical, dental and vision, they pay the 1st $1000, then I pay the next $1000, then its all paid by them. Really a pretty good deal with matching 401K. My daughter is BSN MSN in OR Management in VA and makes $95,000/yr.

I agree that these figures are skewed. I am a new grad of a BSN program and I just accepted a job in KS and the starting pay of new grads there is $21.50hr. I have many other friends accepting nursing positions in KS as well and the lowest pay I have heard is $20.25hr. So it would be interesting to know how these figures were compiled.

Well....Let me tell you one of the 10 lowest paid states. Oklahoma....Thats where I am. 21.35/hr. And, thats at a big hospital. In the smaller, more rual hospitals, it gets really low. However, Springfield Missouri is worse than Oklahoma. They only offered me 19.00/hourly. Bet you can guess what I told them!

These numbers sound right to me. I work in PA and make $20.62, but just got a 3% raise after 4 years of no raises so it will go up a little. I have 24 years experience. Staring wages run from $16- $25/ hr. in my area, but there is not much difference with experience. The sad thing is back in 1997 I was making $19/hr, so wages have really decreased compared to the cost of living.

Oh, and I have a BSN. There is no pay increase for being a manager, and without overtime, call pay and other liitle perks the managers make less than the staff at my hospital. That is unless you get to be a department head. colesakick I would love to know what dream world you live in, because it sure isn't around here.

Nah, something's wrong here. The data has either been "clumped" or the sample sizes too small for accuracy. I am in Idaho and make $34. PRN. + 15% add on for no beneifts.
Having been in administration, I cringe when I see this kind of data because some manager, CFO or CNO will like to use it as a "marekt analysis" to set wages. Be careful using data. It can harm us.