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'm from Canada, and I'm surprised at the wage disparities. Flyover country and the South really get paid poorly. I wonder if it's the same story with docs and allieds.
I pay $1700 for a decent sized studio (all utilities included) that is a block and a half away from my hospital. The cost of rent and parking here are outrageous. However, you can't beat the awesome food here.
applesxoranges, BSN, RN
2,242 Posts
1. Ohio
2. 0
3. ICU, Hospital
4. was 22 something, now upped to 24.82
5. .60 for 2nd shift, 1 dollar for night shift, 1 dollar for weekends
6. No, but equal to union hospital in the system