UPDATED nashville new grad pay

Le-Lee_FNP, MSN, RN, NP · Apr 9, 2011

I'll pipe in here because I moved to the nashville area two years ago from wisconsin. I started out working as a new grad in wisconsin and base pay for an RN was around $22-23/hr. I did nights and weekends so with shift diff i ended up at about $34/hr. I was also in the ICU so got a diff for that as well. I moved to TN 4 months later (and was still considered a new grad). Base pay here was $18.50. Again I worked nights, weekends, and in critical care so with all the diffs I ended up at $29 per hour. Now mind you this was at Vanderbilt which is the lowest paying in nashville area.

Now I work for an agency which doesn't give me benefits, but it is ok because I get them through my spouse. I make $41 per hour. I have 2 years nursing experience. The HCA hospitals here pay there regular staff more than vanderbilt. I believe it is around $21-22 base for a new grad. It is weird here because pay varies so much from hospital to hospital. One of the hospitals pays $42 per hour for weekend program nights (friday, saturday, sunday) and another hospital pays $36 for weekend program. Why it is different is a mystery to me because both of the hospitals are under the same company.

As far as housing is concerned it depends if you want a nice area in the suburbs, if you want downtown, or if you want inner city. If you do either inner city or far out suburbs then you can really get bang for your buck. I personally live in the third most expensive suburb in the Nashville area and I bough at 3BR new construction home that is 1900 sq feet and my house was $195,000 and my property taxes are about $1400. That is a significant difference than back where I am from. The same house in a similar area would have been around $250,000- $300,000, but the property taxes would be around $6000.

In summary it is hard to say what you will make here because it really just depends on the hospital as they all have different pay scales as crazy as that sounds, but it is really the truth!

Le-Lee_FNP, MSN, RN, NP · Apr 9, 2011

i also forgot to add that there is no state income tax in TN. There was where I'm from originally, but for me it is a wash because they tax food here, and where I'm from food was not taxed.

SMOKEY2112 · Apr 9, 2011

I'll pipe in here because I moved to the nashville area two years ago from wisconsin. I started out working as a new grad in wisconsin and base pay for an RN was around $22-23/hr. I did nights and weekends so with shift diff i ended up at about $34/hr. I was also in the ICU so got a diff for that as well. I moved to TN 4 months later (and was still considered a new grad). Base pay here was $18.50. Again I worked nights, weekends, and in critical care so with all the diffs I ended up at $29 per hour. Now mind you this was at Vanderbilt which is the lowest paying in nashville area.
Now I work for an agency which doesn't give me benefits, but it is ok because I get them through my spouse. I make $41 per hour. I have 2 years nursing experience. The HCA hospitals here pay there regular staff more than vanderbilt. I believe it is around $21-22 base for a new grad. It is weird here because pay varies so much from hospital to hospital. One of the hospitals pays $42 per hour for weekend program nights (friday, saturday, sunday) and another hospital pays $36 for weekend program. Why it is different is a mystery to me because both of the hospitals are under the same company.
As far as housing is concerned it depends if you want a nice area in the suburbs, if you want downtown, or if you want inner city. If you do either inner city or far out suburbs then you can really get bang for your buck. I personally live in the third most expensive suburb in the Nashville area and I bough at 3BR new construction home that is 1900 sq feet and my house was $195,000 and my property taxes are about $1400. That is a significant difference than back where I am from. The same house in a similar area would have been around $250,000- $300,000, but the property taxes would be around $6000.
In summary it is hard to say what you will make here because it really just depends on the hospital as they all have different pay scales as crazy as that sounds, but it is really the truth!

OMG thank you so much for speaking up!! It's good to hear from someone who.. I know you lived in WI so that's alot cheaper to live there than in Chicago..but it's still the midwest which is more expensive than TN. It's good to have someone compare who was living close to here!

Seriously, what is "inner city" in Nashville? Inner city in Chicago sounds like the bad areas here..... like the west side or parts of the south side.. kwim? I have been looking at houses just to see what things cost.. I like Spring Hill, Murfreesboro, Franklin, Hendersonville, Brentwood, Mt. Juliet, etc.. those type of areas.... I don't want to live downtown..I live basically less than 10 minutes from Downtown here..and I've had enough of living in a city like this! Yah, looking at houses...it's unbelievable how much less expensive the housing is!

Honestly, at this point.. I'm mainly interested in Corrections...not really a hospital.. of course that might change once I go on clinicals..but I really want to work in corrections.. but of course I will work wherever I can get a job...if I can't find one or don't get hired in corrections.

SMOKEY2112 · Apr 9, 2011

i also forgot to add that there is no state income tax in TN. There was where I'm from originally, but for me it is a wash because they tax food here, and where I'm from food was not taxed.

WOW really? I don't think they tax food in IN either.. I could be wrong..but I don't think they do or at least they didn't. That would be big savings there too! Our tax on everything is 9.75% and then it's like an extra 2% or something like that for alcohol.

Property taxes where I live is about $6000 but I have no land..lol it's insane!

Le-Lee_FNP, MSN, RN, NP · Apr 11, 2011

OMG thank you so much for speaking up!! It's good to hear from someone who.. I know you lived in WI so that's alot cheaper to live there than in Chicago..but it's still the midwest which is more expensive than TN. It's good to have someone compare who was living close to here!
Seriously, what is "inner city" in Nashville? Inner city in Chicago sounds like the bad areas here..... like the west side or parts of the south side.. kwim? I have been looking at houses just to see what things cost.. I like Spring Hill, Murfreesboro, Franklin, Hendersonville, Brentwood, Mt. Juliet, etc.. those type of areas.... I don't want to live downtown..I live basically less than 10 minutes from Downtown here..and I've had enough of living in a city like this! Yah, looking at houses...it's unbelievable how much less expensive the housing is!
Honestly, at this point.. I'm mainly interested in Corrections...not really a hospital.. of course that might change once I go on clinicals..but I really want to work in corrections.. but of course I will work wherever I can get a job...if I can't find one or don't get hired in corrections.

You will get the most bang for your buck in Murfreesboro and Mount Juliet. Brentwood and Franklin are the most expensive (but will still be a huge savings for you coming from chicago). Don't know much about spring hill. Hendersonville is middle of the road as far as price, not as upscale as brentwood and franklin, but would probably be considered next in line (I live in hendersonville). If you have kids, Franklin and Hendersonville have the best schools (fact, not opinion). Overall, all are nice areas, just depends on what you are looking for.

By inner city I was referring to the City of Nashville itself and surrounding areas that are not in the suburbs(Bellevue, Antioch, etc.) or not downtown or in the Vanderbilt area which tends to be more expensive.

I think you will find that the biggest perks are the low property taxes and no state income taxes. IMO the job opportunities aren't as plentiful as they were back home and I sure it won't compare to Chicago either. It's just smaller here and not as many facilities to choose from. It is not the most exciting place to live either, especially if you are in the young adult range. But it is very safe for the most part if you are in the right area, and very diverse which I like. People here are a lot friendlier than in the mid-west which is a plus.

LM064 · Apr 11, 2011

Student_FNP,

I will be a new grad starting in July. What do you suggest spending on rent with a new grad salary? Thanks!!

SMOKEY2112 · Apr 11, 2011

You will get the most bang for your buck in Murfreesboro and Mount Juliet. Brentwood and Franklin are the most expensive (but will still be a huge savings for you coming from chicago). Don't know much about spring hill. Hendersonville is middle of the road as far as price, not as upscale as brentwood and franklin, but would probably be considered next in line (I live in hendersonville). If you have kids, Franklin and Hendersonville have the best schools (fact, not opinion). Overall, all are nice areas, just depends on what you are looking for.
By inner city I was referring to the City of Nashville itself and surrounding areas that are not in the suburbs(Bellevue, Antioch, etc.) or not downtown or in the Vanderbilt area which tends to be more expensive.
I think you will find that the biggest perks are the low property taxes and no state income taxes. IMO the job opportunities aren't as plentiful as they were back home and I sure it won't compare to Chicago either. It's just smaller here and not as many facilities to choose from. It is not the most exciting place to live either, especially if you are in the young adult range. But it is very safe for the most part if you are in the right area, and very diverse which I like. People here are a lot friendlier than in the mid-west which is a plus.

Thank you again!! You have been a wealth of information for me! I want to live as close to Nashville as possible! You have helped a lot especially on the areas to live in!

I'm looking forward to not being in such a big city like Chicago! It's so pretty there and everyone is SO NICE!! I'm not really a young adult.. I just turned 41 yesterday.. but I'm a HUGE HUGE HUGE music freak which is one of the reasons for coming to Nashville... I go to concerts more than anything else and there's always a lot musicwise going on there... and also in Memphis!

Thank you so much again!! GREAT APPRECIATED hon!!! :yeah:

ziggy150 · Oct 13, 2011

I'll pipe in here because I moved to the nashville area two years ago from wisconsin. I started out working as a new grad in wisconsin and base pay for an RN was around $22-23/hr. I did nights and weekends so with shift diff i ended up at about $34/hr. I was also in the ICU so got a diff for that as well. I moved to TN 4 months later (and was still considered a new grad). Base pay here was $18.50. Again I worked nights, weekends, and in critical care so with all the diffs I ended up at $29 per hour. Now mind you this was at Vanderbilt which is the lowest paying in nashville area.
Now I work for an agency which doesn't give me benefits, but it is ok because I get them through my spouse. I make $41 per hour. I have 2 years nursing experience. The HCA hospitals here pay there regular staff more than vanderbilt. I believe it is around $21-22 base for a new grad. It is weird here because pay varies so much from hospital to hospital. One of the hospitals pays $42 per hour for weekend program nights (friday, saturday, sunday) and another hospital pays $36 for weekend program. Why it is different is a mystery to me because both of the hospitals are under the same company.
As far as housing is concerned it depends if you want a nice area in the suburbs, if you want downtown, or if you want inner city. If you do either inner city or far out suburbs then you can really get bang for your buck. I personally live in the third most expensive suburb in the Nashville area and I bough at 3BR new construction home that is 1900 sq feet and my house was $195,000 and my property taxes are about $1400. That is a significant difference than back where I am from. The same house in a similar area would have been around $250,000- $300,000, but the property taxes would be around $6000.
In summary it is hard to say what you will make here because it really just depends on the hospital as they all have different pay scales as crazy as that sounds, but it is really the truth!

Wow, has it been that long since I've been on here? Sorry I didn't see this until now and hopefully you get this reply because it was most helpful to me as well as Smokey, apparently. Everything fell into place with my wife coming around to getting out of here. The pay doesn't sound completely horrible and agency pays pretty much the same it does here. We're going to rent first for a year or three, then buy. My wife will have to short sale her/our house hear - which is going to be a royal pain, but I think once all is said and done, we will be exponentially happier in Nashville vs Detroit area.

Thanks again,

Andy