After reading past informal survey posts on allnurses, I wanted to pose this question for 2013. The intent of this post to to give myself and others a good range of pay for nurses across the US right now based on experience and location. This will be an informal guide for me to start a masters paper on (Subject: area cost of living and nurses salary). Several years ago I believe Houston was voted for best place for a nurse with cost of living adjusted, but I think this might be changing.
Things to note while reading other's salaries:
-Generally, high paying locations relate to high cost of living (SF, NYC, etc). The reverse seems to be true as well (lower cost of living=lower pay). 65$/hr may be the norm in San Francisco, but the average 1br apartment is $2800 without parking and a house costs well over $1 million. Please take this into account. We live in a big country and cost of living varies widely (especially housing costs)
If you post, please state your:
1. State you work in
2. Years of experience
3. Specialty/unit and work setting (clinic, hospital, prison, etc)
I am still in school for my BSN but work for a hospital in the East Valley of Phoenix. Here's the info for RNs
1. State you work in
AZ
2. Years of experience
New Grad
3. Specialty/unit and work setting (clinic, hospital, prison, etc)
Community Hospital. Same pay for all units (including ED, ICU, etc) BSN encouraged but pay is same for ADN & BSN
4. Hourly Pay (base rate) or salary
New grad = $28.33/ hr
Raises given annually based on merit/evaluation although due to economy some years no raises given. Generally 1-3% lately
5. Differentials (if any)
$6.50/hr on nights
$1/hr additional for weekends
$1/hr for relief charge (this may be different on other units I'm not sure)
6. Union?
No. Non-profit hospital though.
We also have full benefits and a lot are also available to part time employees.
Tuition program covers $5250/year.
One years salary worth of life insurance for free but option to triple that at very little cost.
Critical Illness insurance
Medical dental & vision as well. (Cost for employee alone is ~$30/paycheck or less. Adding family, especially spouses is quite a bit more however)
Cost of living varies from city to city here in Phx metro area. 3bd/2ba homes within reasonable commute to our hospital range from $100-350+ depending. I will prolly be looking to spend about $150k for a home after graduation that is in a good school district, 3-4bed/2ba, 1200-1800sq ft. Gas right now is avg $3.50 or so. Gallon of milk about $2. Sales tax varies 7-9% by city.
tarotale
453 Posts
East of Texas
Medsurg tele
1/2year
$21.18
15% night shift diff, no weekend or holiday diff.
Non union
Average housing for single bed is between $500 to $650 mean, so not a very cheap town.