Oklahoma Nurses get paid WHAT?!

RXtech · May 22, 2009

Although I think nurses here should get paid more, you have to take more into account than pay rate. Oklahoma has a very low cost of living, one of the lowest in the country. People here are astounded when we hear that people in CA and other states are paying 400,000 for modest homes. That kind of money will buy you a palace here! We have also not been hit as hard by the current economic crisis as many other areas have been.

And yes, it is a very anti-union state, unfortunately.

HM2VikingRN, RN · May 22, 2009

29/hr in MPLS for a BSN.....

Lovely_RN, MSN · May 22, 2009

I looked up some real estate in OKC and I saw some 3 bedroom homes with 1-2 baths for less than 100k. I live in NYC where a new grad makes about $35/hr to start so that is almost double the wage of an OKC new grad however the equivalent size house starts minimally at $350k which is triple the cost of the same sized house in OKC. If you want to live in a nice neighborhood in the 5 boroughs or go to nearby suburbs of Westchester county then you will pay at least 500k for the same house. The ritzy areas of Westchester county (Scarsdale, Hartsdale, Bronxville) are out of reach for a nurse's pay....starting homes 750k and up.

Also we get less land, a lot of the homes in the 5 boroughs are attached or semi-detached homes. This means that you share a wall with your neighbor, your backyard is the size of a postage stamp, and the majority of homes in NYC do not have garages. Aside the non-union stuff which I don't like it doesn't seem as if you OK nurses don't have such a bad deal. Hmmm maybe I should convince the husband to pack up the family and head for OK. :twocents:

shodobe · May 22, 2009

Come on people, you are all missing the point. Salaries are always relative to the area where you live. No one, and I repeat, no one in the midwest is ever going to match the wahes in california or new York. Ever! No one is going to make what I make an hour in OK. If I could make my salary and live in another state I would, just not OK(tornados). California isn't as bad as most out of state people make it out to be. Yes, it is hard to establish yourself here but it isn't impossible. BK workers make mininum wage wheras In& Out employees start out at $9 an hour. No comparison to nursing. If you want to waste your schooling flipping burgers, go right ahead, someone else wants your job!

Cost of living is the key and always will be, so don't compare apples to oranges when it comes to wages, you will just depress yourself.

Bortaz, MSN, RN · May 22, 2009

Come on people, you are all missing the point..

Well, all of them except every post that said the same thing you did. Which is , well, all of them.

sbrn01 · May 22, 2009

Dont feel bad- i just accepted a position in the ICU as a new grad in North Carolina and will be starting at 19.75/hour.......yeahahahh.

TuTonka · May 22, 2009

So it is told that Oklahoma is a low income state, however their taxes are not and the cost of living is rising and the income is not! So it is told. There it is not uncommon to be told you are hired at blah blah and your first check shows you make much less than you were hired in for, so it is told. Good luck.

TuTonka

TuTonka · May 22, 2009

New grad nurses (if they can find a job!) get around $30-35/hour in California - however, if you live in San Francisco expect to pay close to $2000/month for a one bedroom in a safe neighborhood! (We are rent-controlled so vacancies are hard to come by). We are also highly taxed here...everything is $$ - a loaf of bread at the supermarket costs almost five bucks, and a ticket for parking on street cleaning days is $70!! So it's all relative...

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm relative to What?

Tutonka

PopeJane3rd · May 22, 2009

I wouldn't be surprised because the cost of living there is very cheap. OK is not a place that people flock to like say NYC, San Fran, Atl, Vegas etc thereby keeping costs lower due to low population.

pers · May 22, 2009

Comparing capitals (no idea where you live in FL or where you are going in OK) the pay rate is comparable. Check out http://www.bestplaces.net/COL/ and you can compare the salaries between the two places even better.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · May 22, 2009

I'm a new nurse who has just graduated with my BSN and I'm moving to OK soon and I was doing a little research and I found out OK nurses get paid 18.50/ hr please tell me this a joke. I'm from florida where they start GNs at atleast 22/hr!!!! Please OK nurses shine some light!

I am an LPN/LVN who lives in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas and attends RN school in Oklahoma City. The pay rate you have stated for new RNs seems accurate.

A recruiter from the University of Oklahoma Medical Center came to our school recently to discuss job opportunities since we are all future RNs. When he quoted a new RN pay rate of $18.65 hourly, the students from Texas started bursting with uncontrollable laughter, while the students from Oklahoma actually thought it was a good pay rate.

Everyone in the class is an LPN/LVN, but those of us from Texas are already accustomed to earning more than $18-$19 hourly as LVNs, which is why we laughed at the low RN pay rate. In addition, the cost of living in Oklahoma City is similar to that of Texas. My newer house in Texas cost $104,000. You can get something similar in Oklahoma City for $120k. Rents for 2 bedroom apartments start at about $500 per month in OKC.

HippyGreenPeaceChick · May 22, 2009

Oklahoma has been and will continue to be more of a Poverty state as opposed to am "At Will State". Okla has always boasted one the highest if not the highest unemployment rates in the nation historically.