Here’s How Well Nurses Are Paid In California

CALIFORNIA — The coronavirus pandemic has placed a renewed focus on the value and importance of the more than 2.9 million nurses working in California and other U.S. states.

And while a worker’s value isn’t necessarily tied to their salary, some states are better than others in providing competitive compensation to nurses, according to a new ranking by Business.org, a website that provides financial services advice to small businesses.

To determine which states offer nurses the best salaries, Business.org used data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and compared the average salary of a registered nurse to all other occupations in that state.

The site then ranked the competitiveness of each state’s pay by comparing the average nurse’s salary to the median rent in that state, data the site obtained via the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the ranking, California is among states that offer the best compensation for nurses.

On average, U.S. nurses earn an average $77,460 per year — 45 percent more than the average salary for all other U.S. occupations. In California, nurses earn an average 84.8% percent more than all other occupations in the state.

Only 15 states pay more than the national average for nurses. Topping the list is Hawaii, where nurses earn $104,060 per year on average, or 89 percent more than all other occupations in the state.

Ranking last on the list was the District of Columbia, where nurses make only 5.6 percent more than the average salary for all other occupations.

Starting with the highest-paying state, here’s a look at the 15 states where nurses make more than the national average:

1. Hawaii
2. Nevada
3. California
4. Oregon
5. New Mexico
6. Idaho
7. Arizona
8. Montana
9. Alaska
10. Louisiana
11. Mississippi
12. Wisconsin
13. Texas
14. South Carolina
15. West Virginia

On the other hand, here are the states at the bottom of the list:

• Kansas (41st)
• Missouri (42nd)
• Alabama (43rd)
• Connecticut (44th)
• Illinois (45th)
• Colorado (46th)
• North Dakota (47th)
• Maryland (48th)
• Iowa (49th)
• Virginia (50th)
• District of Columbia (51st)

See the full rankings online at Business.org.