Pay Differences Across California

U.S.A. California

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So I just have a question based on some of the hourly wages I've seen on job postings around the state.

RN's in the Bay Area make upwards of $45-50+ an hour. That's understandable, extremely high cost of living.

RN's in the Central Valley make $38-50+ an hour. Great salary, with a cheaper cost of living (compared to the Bay Area)

RN's in Southern CA have a starting wage of $28-35 an hour. The cost of living (in some places) is still extremely high, comparable to the Bay Area but the hourly wage is so much lower.

Perhaps it's just that way for RN 1's (which are the jobs I'm looking at).

The only justification I can come up with is that because So Cal jobs are in high demand, hospitals can get away with paying their nurses less...?

Does anyone have any insight to this? :)

How much do new nurses make Redding, Ca?? I have been out of school since Dec2008 have not worked since but just recently passed my nclex. I would like to know what the job market is like for nurses in Redding.. thank you!

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I work for Kaiser here in the Sacramento Valley. I make $61/hour with 7 years experience as an RN with a BSN degree.

Right now I work just part time, 24 hrs/week, but really would like to work full time. So as of now I am actively searching for fulltime work and considering the bay area.

Does anyone know if Kaiser's pay scale is higher in the Bay Area compared to the Sacramento Valley? The cost of living is soooo much higher! I cant imagine that bay area doesn't pay more...

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!!

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Specializes in Trauma | Surgical ICU.

NEW GRADS:

SoCAL

Tenet Hospitals: $23 - 30/hr

UC System: $28 - 34 (Superusers: $20-22)

Children's Hospital: $26 - 29

Prime Health Hospitals: $26 - 30

USC System: $33 - 42

Hoag Hospital: $29 - 34

Kindred Hospitals: $25 - 32

The cost of living does factor in but mostly rates are determined by supply and demand.

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Any insight on the average pay for the major San Diego hospital? I have 5 years experience in med/surg.

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I am interested in the pay for turlock/modesto area. I am an ICU nurse with 4+years experience. We moving in the next few months to be near family, and I am trying to get a feel for things. I am very interested in emanuel medical center in turlock if anyone is familiar with their pay.

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Specializes in CNOR, OR, Perioperative, Management.

Hi, I am not even sure if you will check this reply since this post is back in 2010.. Your comment caught my eye cuz you stated that you are OR nurse in bay area. I've been working in OR in central Valley, fresno, over a year now. Currently working on BSN, and planning on moving to either soCal or bay area (even possibly NY). However, I haven't decided which area I do really wanna move to. I'm moving away to look for universities that I wanna do master as well. I am wondering if you can give me a insight on OR nursing in bay, and hospitals how they will react to nurses going back to school while working. If you don't mind which hospital do you work at? And How's job market for OR nurse with 3years of experience (I will have 3yrs of experience when I'm done with BSN and ready to move).

Thank you so much

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Specializes in CNOR, OR, Perioperative, Management.
linRdsNay you have observed something that I have also carefully looked into before. California pays very different salaries for RNs, but the difference between Northern Cal and Souther Cal is striking. Southern Cal has many areas with very high costs of living but the nursing pay is somewhat low. I have never understood why they pay nurses so low in LA, Orange Cnty, and San Diego compared to up north. I have observed that in Northern Cal they pay very well in the Bay Area which is a very desireable place to live (but expensive). The central valley of California also pays extremely well and it is probably the best financial option when you look at nurse pay versus cost of living. Others have mentioned that this was because it was not desireable but I do not think that is the whole story. There are plenty of areas in the U.S. that are not desireable but the nursing pay is quite low. I have nothing to do with the nursing union but I think that is part of the reason why. The California Nurses Assoc. is very strong in Northern Cal and I really think that is part of why the pay and benefits are so high there. I work in the OR for example and only in Northern Cal do OR Nurses get paid 50% of their salary to be on standby (on call). No nurse I work with has ever been paid that in any other state or area they have worked. This is just one example. We make more here being on call than nurses make in other parts of California for their hourly rate. I am not bragging, I am trying to make a point that nurses in Southern Cal and elsewhere are not paid enough.

Hi, I am not even sure if you will check this reply since this post is back in 2010.. Your comment caught my eye cuz you stated that you are OR nurse in bay area. I've been working in OR in central Valley, fresno, over a year now. Currently working on BSN, and planning on moving to either soCal or bay area (even possibly NY). However, I haven't decided which area I do really wanna move to. I'm moving away to look for universities that I wanna do master as well. I am wondering if you can give me a insight on OR nursing in bay, and hospitals how they will react to nurses going back to school while working. If you don't mind which hospital do you work at? And How's job market for OR nurse with 3years of experience (I will have 3yrs of experience when I'm done with BSN and ready to move).

Thank you so much

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