Making 100k salary/ income as a nurse?

Nurses Career Support Nursing Q/A

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

While I do not expect a 100k Salary I know the ceiling of where I live is pretty low considering nurses with 30+ years make only $10/hr more than me. I don't expect it to change.

I have 4 years of experience on various units from floating and ICU experience not to mention previous LTC experience as LPN. I have my BSN and some other certifications and working on my CCRN. After which I am deeply interested in moving to somewhere I do not have to work crazy hard to make the 75k I made this past year.

Interested in suggestions. Someone mentioned earlier NM?

AWay from East Coast and Southern States.

Specializes in Emergency.

No OT required in NYC private hospitals. I'm making >100k/year as a staff ED nurse. 36 hour weeks. This is due to night differential and CEN differential. Decently high COL though, but my family is living very comfortably.

Making 85k/yr 2nd yr as a nurse. NJ. If I did overtime probably could reach 100k. I work in the ER. Don't want to do overtime. To stressed and starting to feel burnt out.

Thinking of taking pay cut 65k/yr for clinic desk job. Closer to the house better hrs in the day.

Specializes in Oncology, Surgery.

I work in New Mexico and would consider it a rural area. It is very difficult to get nurses to come here and stay here so they pay more than the usual wage. As others have said I have had to job hop to work my way up to where I am. I have been a nurse 8 years and have consistently made 80k a year since coming here 3 years ago. The cost of living is very low but the drawbacks to that is in the area I live there are not a lot of amenities some people feel they need. Those things don't really bother me so it's been perfect. Also, in some rural areas you commit to work there a set time and they pay back your loans. Something to think about.

I live in the southeast. My base pay is 85k. With overtime I can make around 95k. I work 7am-5pm in an outpatient clinic that's affiliated with a major hospital. No weekends or nights, off on holidays. When I started as a RN seven years ago I made 52k. I job-hopped to get big pay increases. Cost of living is relatively low in my area. I only have an ASN.

Specializes in ICU.
And those 700K homes are not nearly as nice as 700K homes in low COL areas. It's deceptive sometimes.

I posted this in another thread:

Having two incomes is much more breathable in the Bay area. Especially two nurses whoa.. If you are committed to work OT as much as possible. 300k can easily be obtained. A SF Nurses with OT made 330k. I even saw a nurse salary in Los Angeles 273k..I think she was Staff level II with like 110k in OT or something crazy like that. With pay like that, buying a 1 million dollar home is easier.

I easily make more than 100K/yr working as a... prison nurse! I am a relatively new nurse (received ASN in 2010 and BSN in 2012; only working as an RN since 2012). I worked four years in med-surg/tele at a couple of hospitals. Then I obtained a position in as a correctional nurse and easily make more than 100K due to high demand, and relatively few takers because everyone thinks they will be raped and murdered in the prison setting. Yes its true that prison nurses are throwing themselves into the lions' den so to speak, but overall, it is safe and I work with nurses who have been in the environment for 10-15 years with no incident. In addition to the great starting base salary for my state, there is great benefits of course, good pension plan, so much LESS stress than the hospital setting (as long as the guys behave themselves, there is relatively little to do), and usually OT available because nurses are always calling off sick. The biggest drawback is that management can force you to stay to cover the next shift if that nurse calls off, or no one picked up the shift, etc., and it is a 5-day/week job unless you are able to swap shifts with a partner. I tell my friends about it, but I get the same response that they are afraid of being killed or raped so they continue to work in the super stressful hospital settings and make 65-70k like I did when they could make much more with so much less stress overall. Just my 2 cents...

Specializes in ICU.

Right now I am working in the deep south where the pay is notoriously low. No unions here, either. I have 28 years ICU experience and don't make anywhere near 100k per year. We are offered shift differential, but no extra money for working holidays or weekends. Every day is paid the same. We also get only an extra 50 cents for any certification! Our medical insurance premiums have gone way up, and the coverage has gotten much, much worse. Nursing pay around here is OK if you have a working spouse, but if you are like me and single, one nursing salary doesn't go far. I used to make good money, but as things have gotten more and more expensive, and my salary has been stagnant, it doesn't go as far as it used to. The cost of automobiles and food is outrageous. Oh, and as for nurse practitioners, it seems like everybody I know is in nurse practitioner school, so I wonder when that market will be over-saturated.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.
Right now I am working in the deep south where the pay is notoriously low. No unions here, either. I have 28 years ICU experience and don't make anywhere near 100k per year. We are offered shift differential, but no extra money for working holidays or weekends. Every day is paid the same. We also get only an extra 50 cents for any certification! Our medical insurance premiums have gone way up, and the coverage has gotten much, much worse. Nursing pay around here is OK if you have a working spouse, but if you are like me and single, one nursing salary doesn't go far. I used to make good money, but as things have gotten more and more expensive, and my salary has been stagnant, it doesn't go as far as it used to. The cost of automobiles and food is outrageous. Oh, and as for nurse practitioners, it seems like everybody I know is in nurse practitioner school, so I wonder when that market will be over-saturated.

I was in that sinking boat too. No pay increase for 5+ years, insurance premiums going up while coverage went down then the added insult of the place being so short staffed that new hires have been getting huge incentives to come to work there including pay equal to or even higher than many of the experienced staff. It took some major complaining to a DON that was already on the way out the door and therefor had nothing to lose by approving a raise for me to get things going the right direction again. After a big raise I am finally making closer to what I should be.

Sadly for them I don't think a single other nurse had the thought to go to the DON and pretty much demand a raise before he left and now I am making almost twice what one of the lower paid LPN's are. Granted I am an RN and should make more than the LPN, but twice more is a bit much. I happen to know that one of our more senior CNA's actually makes more an hour than this nurse. I'll never spill the beans on that one, if the nurse doesn't already know this I'm sure not going to the one to say anything to her.

What state are you located in this is excellent information? Thanks for sharing!

I live in a pretty low COL state.

There are manufacturers and pharma companies all over the United States. Bard Access is out of Salt Lake along with Catheter Connections, EcoLab is out of St Paul, Curos used to be out of San Diego.

Working for a manufacturer is far more lucrative but they do hire per-diem educators if you want to get your "feet wet" in industry.

You do not need an MBA nor do you necessarily have to relocate. Generally if they do want you to relocate they pay for packers, movers, and give you money to cover the cost of selling and buying a home (realtor's feed etc).

The best part about industry is that you get to have a real say in healthcare, globally.

Here is an interesting article on how a millenial's salary really shakes out when you adjust it for cost of living. Some of the high salary cities end up with an adjusted salary which is actually below average.

JLL Research: Dallas Is a "Money Magnet' for Millennials" D Magazine

Depends on where you live. I'm in Philadelphia, and that's an easy number to hit with a weekend night gig. We have some of the best hospitals in the country, and the Penn system PAYS.

Im a traveler (I stay local, get some benefits but no sick/vacation) and far surpass 100k (I hit 100k in October) in my year. I work 48 scheduled hours. But, because I'm a loon I also have a per diem that I throw in as well. Last year with both jobs I made close to 140k without my military pension. But some weeks I worked 70 hours. I have 3.5 years in, and a year traveling.

In terms of cities, Philadelphia is low cost. My mortgage is $1,000 and I have a 2500sq ft home with a yard and a driveway. The only thing is the income tax is 5% for my city whereas most are 1%.

I dont see myself stopping travel nursing anytime soon, I'll go as long as I can hang. When I can't keep the hours, I'll find a company that does 36-which is usually 1200-1500/week take home.

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