Male Nurses on the Rise and They Make More Money

According to a new US Cenus report, male nurses make more money and have more than tripled since 1970. Women still dominate nursing in terms of employment but not in terms of earnings. The average female nurse earned $51,100 in 2011, 16% less than the $60,700 earned by the average man in the same job. Nurses Announcements Archive Article

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Male Nurses on the Rise and They Make More Money

The nursing profession remains overwhelmingly female, but the representation of men has increased as the demand for nurses has grown over the last several decades, according to a you.S. Census Bureau study released today.

The new study shows the proportion of male registered nurses has more than tripled since 1970, from 2.7 percent to 9.6 percent, and the proportion of male licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses has more than doubled from 3.9 percent to 8.1 percent.1

The study, Men in Nursing Occupations, presents data from the 2011 American Community Survey to analyze the percentage of men in each of the detailed nursing occupations: registered nurse, nurse anesthetist, nurse practitioner, and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurse. The study, and accompanying detailed tables, also provide estimates on a wide range of characteristics of men and women in nursing occupations. These include employment status, age, race, Hispanic origin, citizenship, educational attainment, work hours, time of departure to work, median earnings, industry and class of worker.

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"The aging of our population has fueled an increasing demand for long-term care and end-of-life services," said the report's author, Liana Christin Landivar, a sociologist in the Census Bureau's Industry and Occupation Statistics Branch. "A predicted shortage has led to recruiting and retraining efforts to increase the pool of nurses. These efforts have included recruiting men into nursing."

Men typically outearn women in nursing fields but not by as much as they do across all occupations. For example, women working as nurses full time, year-round earned 91 cents for every dollar male nurses earned; in contrast, women earned 77 cents to the dollar men earned across all occupations.

Because the demand for skilled nursing care is so high, nurses have very low unemployment rates. Unemployment was lowest among nurse practitioners and nurse anesthetists (about 0.8 percent for both). For registered nurses and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, these rates were a bit higher, but still very low, at 1.8 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively.

Other highlights:

  • There were 3.5 million employed nurses in 2011, about 3.2 million of whom were female and 330,000 male.
  • Of the employed nurses (both sexes), 78 percent were registered nurses, 19 percent were licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, 3 percent were nurse practitioners, and 1 percent were nurse anesthetists.
  • While most registered nurses (both sexes) left home for work between 5 a.m. and 11:59 a.m. (72 percent), a sizable minority (19 percent) worked the evening or night shifts.
  • The majority of registered nurses (both sexes) worked in hospitals (64 percent). The majority of licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses worked in nursing care facilities or hospitals (about 30 percent each). The percentages for hospitals and nursing care facilities are not significantly different from each other.
  • In 2011, 9 percent of all nurses were men while 91 percent were women. Men earned, on average, $60,700 per year, while women earned $51,100 per year.
  • Men's representation was highest among nurse anesthetists at 41 percent.
  • Male nurse anesthetists earned more than twice as much as the male average for all nursing occupations: $162,900 versus $60,700.

The American Community Survey provides a wide range of important statistics about people and housing for every community across the nation. The results are used by everyone from town and city planners to retailers and homebuilders. The survey is the only source of local estimates for most of the 40 topics it covers, such as education, occupation, language, ancestry and housing costs for even the smallest communities. Ever since Thomas Jefferson directed the first census in 1790, the census has collected detailed characteristics about our nation's people. Questions about jobs and the economy were added 20 years later under James Madison, who said such information would allow Congress to "adapt the public measures to the particular circumstances of the community," and over the decades allow America "an opportunity of marking the progress of the society."

1The difference between the 2011 estimate and the 2000 and 2006 estimates for the percentage of licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses who are men is not statistically significant.

Source:

Related WSJ Article: Male Nurses Make More Money - Real Time Economics - WSJ

2 Votes
Brian

About Brian, ASN, RN

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Haven't read all of this, not sure if this addressed, but let me ease your fears ladies.

Male nurses most likely found in big cities which already pay more, so statistically, it looks like males are making more.

I am a male nurse in a big city and I didn't start out 1 cent higher than the girls but I'm sure I make more than all the females in Missouri.

If I had actually read the study, I'm confident it was written for low-information people that don't understand math and are unable to think critically about geographic areas and cost of living differences.

EDIT: Does it take shift diff into consideration also? Males I'll bet, more likely to work nights and weekends which makes the annual pay look bigger.

These studies are like nursing journals, most of them are a joke written by people who add nothing, but like to see their names published like they're actually doing something. Unfortunately, they're not.

1 Votes
Specializes in Med Surg - Renal.

The male vs. female pay comparison is a bit of a canard.

I know I make considerably more than female coworkers in my orientation cohort. I pick up more shifts, work more overtime, take fewer voluntary days off, and get more bonuses. Since step increases are based on hours worked, my base pay increases faster than theirs also.

However, unlike many other professions, nothing about my gender influences my increased compensation compared to theirs. Except for one thing: I tend to get pregnant far less often than my sisters in arms.

1 Votes

I notice more males working overtime( i mean like every day!) and working nights.

1 Votes
Specializes in medical.

It has been my experience that male nurses are promoted more quickly & consistently than female nurses.

1 Votes

Don't worry ladies. As the previous men make clear, it's bad statistics. It's just that us women are all too lazy to work as hard as the men do.

1 Votes
Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

I make the exact same as all the people I started out with, qualify for the same pay raises they get at the same times and am offered the same differentials and incentives. I must be doing something wrong :(

1 Votes
Specializes in NICU.

The fact that men in ANY career field make more money than women with the same educational background and the same level of experience is a myth.

When women make less money than men, it is due to personal choices. For example, women are more likely to need time off for childcare and childrearing. they will need to find a job they can tailor to fit their lifestyle, which means oftentimes, less hours, and less working overtime. Men on the other hand are usually in the breadwinner role, so they are willing and able to work more hours, take less time off, and achieve more overtime then women.

If you compared the salaries of a single childless woman, and a man in the same job with the same amount of experience and the same educational background, the "men make more than women" statement is proven FALSE!!

I also egree with a previous poster that regional salaries need to be taken into consideration because rates of pay throughout the country increase and decrease due to cost of living.

1 Votes
Specializes in CCU, Geriatrics, Critical Care, Tele.

Great comments! I don't have a strong opinion on the matter, I was just sharing the results mentioned in the study :) I thought you all would find them interesting and good topic of discussion.

1 Votes
DebblesRN said:
If you compared the salaries of a single childless woman, and a man in the same job with the same amount of experience and the same educational background, the "men make more than women" statement is proven FALSE!!

How about "married childless woman" to "married childless man" and "single childless man" in the same job with same amount of experience and same educational background? Or compared to the single man, woman has more education and experience.

Because I know for a fact that at least at one job, the woman made less. I saw the paychecks.

Anecdotal. But NOT a "MYTH" or "FALSE!!"

1 Votes
\ said:
Don't worry ladies. As the previous men make clear it's bad statistics. It's just that us women are all too lazy to work as hard as the men do.[/quote']

Defensive much? I don't think ANY of the above posters even inferred that women were lazy. They pointed out that, in their experience, they pick up (or have observed that other men pick up) a lot of extra shifts and OT.

I do as well. And my paychecks are often larger than people who have worked there for decades, because they are happy to do their 0.6 FTE while I happily clock in 60hrs a week whenever I can.

1 Votes

Within +/- 3%, 91% of studies are statistically meaningless.

1 Votes