Making 100k salary/ income as a nurse?

I am interested in what specialties are making 100k. I have 3 daughters in nursing school and can advise them on a lot, but not necessarily give them a big pic of the financial opportunities from across the nation. I am a 25 year RN and have a 65k salary, but double it most years with ot. not much fun working 68-72 hour weeks though. please tell me your specialty, experience , salary, and salary with diff and ot. oh, and where you r in the USA thank you all and hope your practice is professionally and financially rewarding

MN OR RN: 40ish an hour at 1.0 I clear 87 as a base. Add call and OT and I am hoping to get to 110 this year.

Specializes in Peds, GI, Home Health, Risk Mgmt.
On 1/18/2017 at 9:26 AM, lasvegasnurs said:

In it for the money? Quit nursing and do law school. Otherwise work in an area they like and enjoy going to work and it will be a good salary to live on anywhere. More schooling (graduate) opens higher paying opportunities if they want to specialize in an area.

Oh please NO! (Quit nursing and do law school). That is NOT the road to riches (and I would know, having done that). There are too many attorneys in the US competing for too few jobs, compared to the ever expanding need for more nurses.

But specialties where you can make $100K plus--look at Medical Informatics. In the hospital, it's working with the clinicians and IT staffs to make the best use of the electronic medical record software. Beyond the hospital, it's working with the software vendors and support companies. I've worked in this area for 15 years and love it--I'm never bored, I get great benefits and salary, and I'm not stressed at work.

And if you want to see info on salaries, go to Glassdoor. com (https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/index.htm) and do a search for the location and job title to start (you can add # of years of experience, size of employer).

18 hours ago, hollyvk said:

Oh please NO! (Quit nursing and do law school). That is NOT the road to riches (and I would know, having done that). There are too many attorneys in the US competing for too few jobs, compared to the ever expanding need for more nurses.

But specialties where you can make $100K plus--look at Medical Informatics. In the hospital, it's working with the clinicians and IT staffs to make the best use of the electronic medical record software. Beyond the hospital, it's working with the software vendors and support companies. I've worked in this area for 15 years and love it--I'm never bored, I get great benefits and salary, and I'm not stressed at work.

And if you want to see info on salaries, go to Glassdoor. com (https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/index.htm) and do a search for the location and job title to start (you can add # of years of experience, size of employer).

Agreed, I work with many lawyers in my current role and I make more than all of them except for a few higher profile director level individuals lol.

Its about what you do with your education and background.

Made 125K last year with an associate's degree. But starting to get tired of nursing after 5 years. Switching specialties helped. Want to find a work from home job, but they could never mirror my pay. Stuck in the hospital for now

Similar to ICUMan, I got tired of nursing in an acute setting and became a nurse for a state prison system. For the state I work, the starting salary is right at 100k/year and it is easy to make a lot more than that with all the call offs of other nurses and vacancies! It is relatively easy work with SO MUCH LESS stress than the hospital setting!!! I love it. They even hire RNs with little to no hospital experience! They start the salary so high because it’s hard to get people to apply to work in such an environment and the institutions tend to be in the middle of nowhere far from populated areas obviously because you don’t want escapees catching a bus So to speak so commuting can be an issue for some, but I love it because again, so much less stress overall! No families, no stat orders; as long as the guys behave themselves, there’s nothing to do overall... great benefits, pension, ‘unlimited’ sick days (not really, but it is lot more liberal than acute care!)

On 1/12/2020 at 12:12 PM, Gmilitar said:

My friend just graduated bsn last year and her starting salary was 85-90k. Some hospitals here pay higher. She works here in nyc.

To be fair, NYC is one of the highest COL areas in the country. That money doesn't go near as far there as it would in a lower COL area.

On 1/22/2020 at 3:09 PM, hollyvk said:

Oh please NO! (Quit nursing and do law school). That is NOT the road to riches (and I would know, having done that). There are too many attorneys in the US competing for too few jobs, compared to the ever expanding need for more nurses.

This, too, may depend on geographical area and specialty. My D is a new grad lawyer, finishing up her MBA as part of a duel program. She has been hired as a new associate (and doesn't know anyone in her graduating class who has not found a job) at a firm at just under 200K (including perks and benefits). She received this job offer before she even finished law school or passed the Bar exam and is set to start soon after she graduates from the Business school. I have heard this "lawyers can't get jobs" refrain for several years now and it just isn't the case in my area. YMMV.

Nurses aren't making near this salary here, even if they do pick up the worst shifts and work constantly. Of course, there is that little thing called law school, which is extremely rigorous (D called it "total hell"). It can cost a pretty penny and could result in a lot of student debt if you are not so fortunate as to get some good merit aid or have help from parents.

17 minutes ago, Horseshoe said:

To be fair, NYC is one of the highest COL areas in the country. That money doesn't go near as far there as it would in a lower COL area.

this is true but, nevertheless, you can live pretty comfortably with that base salary, especially if you’re single. you can still get a studio or 1 bedroom for 1k-1.5k/month. my friend makes between 4.5-5k, after taxes and union dues, every month. and this is based on her base pay. a little overtime and she’s good.

On 1/24/2020 at 3:33 PM, Gmilitar said:

this is true but, nevertheless, you can live pretty comfortably with that base salary, especially if you’re single. you can still get a studio or 1 bedroom for 1k-1.5k/month. my friend makes between 4.5-5k, after taxes and union dues, every month. and this is based on her base pay. a little overtime and she’s good.

Well, again we have to consider what people consider "living comfortably." If the median price of a 1 bedroom apartment in NYC is $2900, living in a studio or 1K apartment might not be considered "comfortable" for everyone. Then again, someone enamored of the NYC lifestyle who views an apartment as just a place to sleep would possibly be perfectly content with that (see articles about people paying $1200/month in very desirable parts of San Fran to have basically only a bunk bed) . It's all in what you are used to, what needs (and/or desires) you have, what compromises you are willing to make, if you have children or plan to have children someday, etc. Also, does your salary enable you to pay taxes, pay down student debt, save for retirement, save for an emergency fund, ;ay for all the extras in life that add up really fast, etc.? Everyone should consider these things when accepting a job, especially if you are going to have to move there in order to work that job.

Quote

Real estate listing site Zumper released its June national rent report, which once again placed New York second place in a top 10 of the highest one-bedroom median rent prices in the country, after San Francisco.

Median rent for one-bedrooms in New York City, according to the report, grew 4.6 percent last month, reaching $2,980—the highest it has been in at least three years, the report says. In terms of two-bedroom apartments, they grew at an even higher rate of 5.1 percent, reaching $3,300.

This one below takes it by neighborhood, which is quite interesting in terms of big differences in pricing. However, it is 2018 data.

https://www.renthop.com/average-rent-in/new-york-city-ny

Bottom line, when nursing students read these threads about salaries, they need to consider important things like COL (and what any given individual considers "comfortable"-I would not be happy in a studio apartment no matter how vibrant the city), competitive nature of the job market with regard to the grad's preferred specialty (listed salaries may not address things like new grads not being able to get hired in hospitals, which is the case in many places), how much overtime or rotating shifts are required for these salaries, etc. Some of the people posting on these threads-from all over the country- have admitted that making six figures might well require more effort and time that one would imagine. Some of them have spent years and years getting the experience it takes to draw those kinds of salaries/good positions. It's not always just about a number on a page. "Six figures-wow!" May not be so "wow" when one finds out that you have to work rotating shifts, ungodly amounts of overtime, work all holidays, and give up other things that might be important to you in order to bring in those numbers. Another city may seem to have a very low average salary for a new grad, but when you give it a chance and explore cost of living numbers, you might find you can live there "quite comfortably" as well.

There are calculators out there that compare salaries in various regions and translate what those actual numbers mean (for example I found one that states that a 90K salary in NYC is the equivalent of $66K in another city). All important things to consider.

Nursing can provide a solid salary. But it's not "big money" no matter where you are, so feeling a certain fulfillment at your chosen job would be necessary to make it all seem worth it. If money is of primary importance to you and you don't mind working yourself to death, get into investment banking instead. At least there you can actually pull in the true big bucks. JMO.

Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

I just went on Zillow to see what you can get in NYC for $1,500/month, and I was actually kind of surprised. If I wasn't married with kids, it would actually be kind of tempting to move out there.

1 hour ago, Horseshoe said:

Well, again we have to consider what people consider "living comfortably." If the median price of a 1 bedroom apartment in NYC is $2900, living in a studio or 1K apartment might not be considered "comfortable" for everyone. Then again, someone enamored of the NYC lifestyle who views an apartment as just a place to sleep would possibly be perfectly content with that (see articles about people paying $1200/month in very desirable parts of San Fran to have basically only a bunk bed) . It's all in what you are used to, what needs (and/or desires) you have, what compromises you are willing to make, if you have children or plan to have children someday, etc. Also, does your salary enable you to pay taxes, pay down student debt, save for retirement, save for an emergency fund, ;ay for all the extras in life that add up really fast, etc.? Everyone should consider these things when accepting a job, especially if you are going to have to move there in order to work that job.

2900 for a 1 bedroom apartment! that’s just ridiculous. lol let’s be clear though when i say nyc, i’m not just referring to manhattan or other expensive parts of brooklyn. so maybe 2900 for 1 bedroom is the price you’d find in manhattan, or unless you’re talking about a really luxurious 1 bedroom apartment, but you can easily find a lot of studio-1br apartment below this within the other remaining boroughs. i lived in queens my whole life, i moved to long island mid 2019, and even then, 2900 would be considered really high. i did mention for someone who is single. if you’re single you don’t need more than 1 bedroom to live comfortably. also you have to really take into account the outliers when considering these statistics. there are a lot of luxury apartments, especially in nyc, that can easily tilt the average towards the higher end. ppl just do the research yourself. look on zillow, trulia, etc.. yourself and you’ll see what i’m talking about.

20 minutes ago, klone said:

I just went on Zillow to see what you can get in NYC for $1,500/month, and I was actually kind of surprised. If I wasn't married with kids, it would actually be kind of tempting to move out there.

exactly. i’m not married or have kids, so are my friends , and we lived in nyc our whole lives. a nursing salary won’t make you rich. but it can give you a pretty comfortable lifestyle. heck, i know a married couple who are both rn’s who live in nassau county. close to the city and right next to queens (one of the five boroughs of nyc). these two live pretty comfortably. they just renovated their home. they own 2-3 cars, not sure now. and they’re able to afford paying for their kids’ college tuition.

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