Confused about salary and hourly pay adding up......

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So everywhere I've seen on here, people usually start out making between $18-22 an hour. Which BEFORE taxes is UNDER $42,000 a year. Yet every website I've found claims a new RN makes AT LEAST $55,000 or more a year, specifically around here(Memphis), $65,000. That doesn't add up at all...are the hourly wages discussed on here are after taxes or something? How does this all add up? Because after taxes that $18 an hour will end up making $31,000. Are there bonuses or something? Because even with overtime that's not over $45,000 a year. someone explain what I'm missing please.

Here are some sites with some numbers on them...

http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layoutscripts/swzl_salaryresults.asp?hdSearchByOption=0&hdSearchByOption=0&hdKeyword=Staff%20Nurse%20-%20RN&hdJobCategory=HC05&hdZipCode=38103&hdStateMetro=&hdGeoLocation=Memphis,%20TN%2038103&hdJobCode=HC07000001&hdJobTitle=Staff%20Nurse%20-%20RN&hdCurrentTab=&hdNarrowDesc=Healthcare%20--%20Nursing

http://www.nursing-education-tn.org/c7.htm

http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=RN&l1=memphis%2C+tn

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Specializes in CVICU-ICU.

I do not know what the salary range is for Memphis however I went to the salary wizard site you listed above and plugged in for tampa florida (which is where I am at) and if I figured out the 50% range it came to 28$$/hr. I am not sure what the wage for a new nurse here in tampa is so I have nothing to compare that too and I also do not know what a nurse with lets say 5-10 years makes either but I know my base pay is 35.63/hr and then figure into that the night/weekend diff along with any OT I work and I made 86000 last year so Im thinking that the web sites you listed does a average scale of all nurses.

I think it probably works like this : Lets say a brand new nurse makes 20/hr and someone with 5 years exp makes 23/hr and then someone with 20 years in a speciality field makes 35/hr....they average ALL of those together and it works out to be 26/hr.

Im not sure Im making sense but in other words they average the lowest paid nurse and the highest paid nurse together to report a average range.

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A) Don't pay any attention to the salary websites that tell you what you should be making. Often they are either highly inflated or extremely low.

B) Don't forget to take into account evening, night, and weekend differentials which can easily add 400-500 dollars to your paycheck (depending on your hospital)

C)Don't forget voluntary OT and mandatory OT

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Specializes in Emergency Room.

what they are giving you is the median salary. the average nurse with 1-5yrs exp. makes approx. 26/hr not including shift differential. that comes out to about 52-53k per year. 18/hr is pretty low but i guess it depends on where you live.

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Specializes in SICU, EMS, Home Health, School Nursing.

Those websites usually are not that accurate. Also, a lot of nurses work overtime take for example me. My base pay last year was between 20-21 (I got a raise halfway through the year), I get $3/hr for night shift, and a little bit for weekends and carrying stat pager and I worked some overtime. I ended up making almost 52K which is way low according to the website you provided. From talking to other nurses, it is average to pretty decent pay.

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so christie, at lets say an average of $22/hour including overtime and weekends. you made $52,000ish AFTER taxes?v

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Do you mind me asking what area you live in. I'm in Dallas, TX and was wondering about starting pay for RN at Baylor Downtown or Presbyterian.

Thanks

what they are giving you is the median salary. the average nurse with 1-5yrs exp. makes approx. 26/hr not including shift differential. that comes out to about 52-53k per year. 18/hr is pretty low but i guess it depends on where you live.
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Specializes in Emergency Room.
Do you mind me asking what area you live in. I'm in Dallas, TX and was wondering about starting pay for RN at Baylor Downtown or Presbyterian.

Thanks

chicago, il

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Specializes in ER/EHR Trainer.

Wouldn't be a nurse for $18 per hour, too much responsibility and knowledge needed to be safe for the patients and safe for ourselves. New grads two years ago in NJ making $29-31 per hour.

Money is there to be made, had colleages bring in over $100k last year

Maisy;)

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Specializes in SICU, EMS, Home Health, School Nursing.
so christie, at lets say an average of $22/hour including overtime and weekends. you made $52,000ish AFTER taxes?v

Before taxes... unfortunately

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

i actually worked in memphis at methodist germantown and the starting hourly was $19.50 with $3.50 shift diff. for 3p-11p and $3 shift diff. from 11p-7a (almost 2 years ago, so it could be higher now!). anyway, i also logged in a lot of overtime because of the shortage of nurses. you'll make more than you think. and believe me, methodist g'town is the place to work. i'm in louisville, kentucky now and these hospitals don't even compare. hope this helps!!!

lauren rn, bsn

labor and delivery

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First let me say... WOW!!! These salaries are unbelievably low! Here's my story: I am a brand new grad without any working experience at all. I just accepted a position that starts me out at $34.91 an hr (for nights)... and on the weekend my differential works out to be $40.61 an hour. I really can't imagine working for anything less than $30/hr, which is why I'm totally in shock that I saw something at $18 on here!

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