salary--dfw

U.S.A. Texas

Published

Hi I was wondering if anyone knew the starting or average salary of an RN in the DFW area?

I truly believe that they cook the books there when it comes to cost of living calculations.

I don't think they're cooking the books. I just don't think they're looking at the entire picture.

Everybody loves to point out California housing prices and say ... you see! Texas nurses are doing better! But not everybody pays $300K to $500K for a house. You can't just count the losers in the marketplace and say, "I'm doing better!"

You also have to look at the winners ... (like The Commuter) who sold their houses for a nice chunk of cash. Or, the nurses who bought houses cheap, still have a cheap mortgages but are sitting on a ton of home equity. Or, the nurses who pay minimal rent (like the above mentioned Staten Island example) and still bring home lots of cash with higher wages.

If you added home sale income, home equity, and rent versus income differentials to those analyses ... you'd probably get a completely different picture. But, instead, they tend to focus on people who paid too much for houses.

IMO, you don't want the cost of living to get too high but, at the same time ... you don't want the cost of living to get too low either. This may sound crazy in our "cheap at all costs" culture but ... what you end up with is stagnant wages that don't even keep pace with inflation.

This Texas A&M report says that Texas wages, overall, increased by only 1 percent a year from 2001 to 2006. Since inflation is typically more than 3 percent a year ... cheap isn't helping much in that scenario ... you're actually losing money.

http://recenter.tamu.edu:80/tgrande/vol13-2/1773.html

Hopefully, Texas nurses are doing better than 1 percent a year and wages are at least keeping up with inflation but, since they're making $2K less per year on average than nurses nationwide ... that's not an encouraging sign either.

In the end, you really have to wonder ... how does a major city like Dallas end up paying nurses only $20-23 an hour?

:uhoh3:

Specializes in Maternal newborn.

Yes I have talked with a few nurses that have transferred from the california coast and they said that they make more money living in the central valley than on the coast. go figure.... you would think the opposite. I've seen this place grow and now you can almost find anything you need in Fresno. all the big name expensive stores are there now. There are plenty of good school districts and lots of people love the small communities, meaning around 50,0000- 100,000 people in a town. yes the coastal towns are beautiful and the weather's great but what's the point if you can't afford to take a day off and enjoy the area where you live!!!! I'd rather get a whiff of cow dung occasionally, live in a beautiful house of my own without roommates, and make lots of money. Besides I can always drive to the coast.

Yes I have talked with a few nurses that have transferred from the california coast and they said that they make more money living in the central valley than on the coast. go figure.... you would think the opposite.

I'd rather get a whiff of cow dung occasionally, live in a beautiful house of my own without roommates, and make lots of money. Besides I can always drive to the coast.

I agree. I think the reason coastal wages haven't gone up as much as perhaps they should have is because nurses have oversaturated those areas. After the ratio law was passed, thousands of nurses moved here from out of state but ...

Where did they move to? The coast. So they've actually got an over supply in some markets. If you've got enough nurses then, hospitals are going to be less inclined to raise the pay.

That combined with the fact that the population growth is heading inland has created a situation where the inland areas actually pay better. While the coastal population is expected to grow by 20 percent, inland area population is going to increase by more than triple that amount ... 70 percent.

Just about all of the hospitals in my area are expanding, increasing demand for nursing positions. That's why I think the inland areas are starting to pay better than the coast. And now that houses are getting cheaper ... you can really make bank.

So ... bring on the cow dung because, I don't think the cow dung is going to be around for long.

;)

Specializes in Maternal newborn.
I don't think they're cooking the books. I just don't think they're looking at the entire picture.

Everybody loves to point out California housing prices and say ... you see! Texas nurses are doing better! But not everybody pays $300K to $500K for a house. You can't just count the losers in the marketplace and say, "I'm doing better!"

You also have to look at the winners ... (like The Commuter) who sold their houses for a nice chunk of cash. Or, the nurses who bought houses cheap, still have a cheap mortgages but are sitting on a ton of home equity. Or, the nurses who pay minimal rent (like the above mentioned Staten Island example) and still bring home lots of cash with higher wages.

If you added home sale income, home equity, and rent versus income differentials to those analyses ... you'd probably get a completely different picture. But, instead, they tend to focus on people who paid too much for houses.

IMO, you don't want the cost of living to get too high but, at the same time ... you don't want the cost of living to get too low either. This may sound crazy in our "cheap at all costs" culture but ... what you end up with is stagnant wages that don't even keep pace with inflation.

This Texas A&M report says that Texas wages, overall, increased by only 1 percent a year from 2001 to 2006. Since inflation is typically more than 3 percent a year ... cheap isn't helping much in that scenario ... you're actually losing money.

http://recenter.tamu.edu:80/tgrande/vol13-2/1773.html

Hopefully, Texas nurses are doing better than 1 percent a year and wages are at least keeping up with inflation but, since they're making $2K less per year on average than nurses nationwide ... that's not an encouraging sign either.

In the end, you really have to wonder ... how does a major city like Dallas end up paying nurses only $20-23 an hour?

:uhoh3:

I agree. I am one of those nurse that bought a house here in cali for cheap $125,000 and only pay a mortgage of $950/month. I now work as a perdiem nurse for $46/hr and can choose to work only 4 days per pay period If I want too. I'm still getting a very good deal here. Now that we are moving to Texas that's all going to change. I knew they were being paid less but did not expect such a low wage. $23.50 for an RN with 2 1/2 yrs experience. come on now. That a real joke. I hope the pay will soon raise because they are building lots of $300k houses around my neighborhood

I agree. I am one of those nurse that bought a house here in cali for cheap $125,000 and only pay a mortgage of $950/month. I now work as a perdiem nurse for $46/hr and can choose to work only 4 days per pay period If I want too. I'm still getting a very good deal here. Now that we are moving to Texas that's all going to change. I knew they were being paid less but did not expect such a low wage. $23.50 for an RN with 2 1/2 yrs experience. come on now. That a real joke. I hope the pay will soon raise because they are building lots of $300k houses around my neighborhood

Well ... Dallas also has a peculiar problem, which is Group One. There's lots of threads about it posted on this board that you may want to check out.

There's over 100 Dallas area hospitals that belong to Group One and, they use the Fair Credit Reporting Act to compile a database and share information about employees. It's very controversial because any manager who doesn't like you for whatever reason can put your name in this database and potentially prevent you from being hired elsewhere.

Some nurses have said that they've been successful in removing detrimental information about their job history from this database but, apparently it's a big hassle. You basically have to file paper work to do this, much like you'd have to file paperwork to remove false information on your credit report.

Maybe I'm too cynical but, since over 100 Dallas area hospitals have an association where they're sharing employee information in a database ... I wouldn't be surprized if they're working together in a similar effort to keep wages low as well.

:uhoh3:

Well ... Dallas also has a peculiar problem, which is Group One. There's lots of threads about it posted on this board that you may want to check out.

....

Maybe I'm too cynical but, since over 100 Dallas area hospitals have an association where they're sharing employee information in a database ... I wouldn't be surprized if they're working together in a similar effort to keep wages low as well.

:uhoh3:

They are and they do... the DFW Hospital council

That's all I'm gonna say on that matter. :devil:

Even with all I've been through, I still love DFW!

Specializes in Maternal newborn.

Hello guys I just wanted to let you know that I am on my way to Texas!!!! I received a 2 job offers. One at Harris Methodist working on the mother/baby unit and the other one at Baylor working on an inpatient gyn unit. The house should be completed around the second week of December so things are pretty hectic back here in cali. I will give more updates once I set foot in my new home state.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Hello guys I just wanted to let you know that I am on my way to Texas!!!! I received a 2 job offers. One at Harris Methodist working on the mother/baby unit and the other one at Baylor working on an inpatient gyn unit. The house should be completed around the second week of December so things are pretty hectic back here in cali. I will give more updates once I set foot in my new home state.
Thanks for the update, and welcome!

We're virtually neighbors, as I live in the North Crowley area (just a stone's throw away from Burleson).

Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

welcome to texas....you and i are neighbors ....i live 5 min from burleson....

hello guys i just wanted to let you know that i am on my way to texas!!!! i received a 2 job offers. one at harris methodist working on the mother/baby unit and the other one at baylor working on an inpatient gyn unit. the house should be completed around the second week of december so things are pretty hectic back here in cali. i will give more updates once i set foot in my new home state.
In the end, you really have to wonder ... how does a major city like Dallas end up paying nurses only $20-23 an hour?:uhoh3:

When I asked around about this I was told that the poor salaries were due to the glut of nursing schools in the area spitting out new grads. With so many new grads needing work every semester they can keep the salaries down. Also, let's not forget about Group One's input into the salary game.

Specializes in ED, ICU, PACU.
when i asked around about this i was told that the poor salaries were due to the glut of nursing schools in the area spitting out new grads. with so many new grads needing work every semester they can keep the salaries down. also, let's not forget about group one's input into the salary game.

so very true! another thing is that the hospitals stick together to price fix through the hospital associations (like the dfw hospital association that sponsor's group one). it is a shame that the nurses haven't learned how to stick together to achieve proper compensation. they would rather turn on each other to achieve a pointless false ego boost and play into the divide and conquer strategy designed by the hospitals' (collectively speaking) administrative policies. i have also seen numerous nurses who are so fearful about losing their jobs that they follow the pack to bully outsider nurses (new grads, agency, travelers, non-texans...) & i knew deep down that it was against their nature to be so abusive-fear is a powerful motivator & the hospitals know that!

Specializes in ECMO.

from the website @ Parkland

RN I minimum $23.88, midpoint $29.84

RN II minimum $25.30, midpoint: $31.62

RN III minimum $26.81, midpoint: $33.52

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