LVN/LPN pay in Southern Ca?

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Hi all,

I just started at LVN school a couple weeks ago. I could only find LVN wages on our website here going up to 2008. Can anyone tell me what the going hourly wage is for LVNs particularly in Orange County or Southern Ca. A friend of mine knows an RN at UCI that says LVN pay is 16/hr. I hope that's not true. Thanks in advance for any input on this one!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Unfortunately, Orange County is one of the lower-paying regions in California because everyone wants to live there and, therefore, many people do not mind taking the cut in pay in exchange for living in a desirable area. In addition, Orange County suffers from a surplus of new LVNs, which effectually lowers the wages in the area since employers have an excessive number of nurses from which they can pick.

I know of an LVN who moved from Texas to Orange County last year. She was earning $20 hourly in a Texas hospital, but now earns $15 hourly in a doctors' office in the OC.

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The trick is to get a job at any rate of pay in southern CA. The area is inundated with out of work LVNs.

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About $21/hr in san diego

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I would have to agree with caliotter 3 ..any rate is good at this point..there are no jobs..only home health and then they require the year of experience. So if you get an offer thats fair and reasonable I would take it. Los Angeles isnt a good place for LVNs anymore. It has taken me 1 year to obtain steady employment at a rate of 18.00 per hr. Good luck to you and hang in there.

BTW I am in Los Angeles.

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A lot of my instructors suggested working the night shift at a SNF, that way you get to know the meds (Trial by Fire style) and its (hopefully) not as busy as the days. and by taking the night shift you could potentially get a 2.5% higher pay then a day shift. Another idea, if you are still in clinical talk to the people that work there, see if its somewhere that you might want to work. Because you have the experience there already, and know their system they may prefer you to someone from the outside. I am still on the hunt for my first LVN job, just waiting for my license to come in the mail! good luck!!;)

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