salary/job market differences between Northern and Southern California?

caliotter3 · Feb 21, 2011

If you look at job ads where salaries are mentioned, you will see a general trend of higher salaries in NorCal. This is typically the case, although the cost of living in SoCal is not necessarily lower. Also, it has been easier to find work in SoCal in the past, but this is not necessarily the case today.

Mike A. Fungin RN · Feb 22, 2011

What Caliotter said.

jojonavy · Feb 22, 2011

The highest pay I've seen is at Washington Hospital in Fremont, CA. Starting is >50, but the cost of living in this particular area is considerably more then in most parts of SoCal. Sacramento has probably the highest pay for an RN to cost of living ratio.

humboldthoney · Feb 28, 2011

A great source of information about the differant wages in various CA areas is to go to the CA Employment Development Dept. (EDD) and look up Labor Market Info http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/ You can search the keyword nurse and it will give you a breakdown in wages for all the individual counties and all kinds of other info. Also http://www.indeed.com/ is good if you want to search a certain metro area.

lamazeteacher · Mar 2, 2011

If where you live depends on how high the salary is, go to NYC.

Living conditions there can be daunting, but you can always count your money....

I've always gone where the quality of life appeals to me, or to be near my adult children.

Now I wish I'd stayed in Canada where healthcare is a right, and no one is poverty stricken because of their illness.

It's very important to live where others care about each other. It's not like me to stereotype people geographically, but experience dictates that would rule out NYC and southern CA.

Reformed health care will bring formerly unheard opportunities for NPs and all nurses. We will really have impact on better health practices due to better economic conservation of personnel and more lattitude for those who accept and do well with increased responsibility.

Cuezee2 · Mar 3, 2011

Nurses in the San Francisco Bay Area are paid higher than any other nurses in the country. I live in San Francisco and we talk about this all the time because as a nursing student I don't have much of a chance of getting a job here when I graduate. Because the pay is so high we attract nurses from all over the country and we get a lot of traveling nurses as well. You have to average in the cost of living too...we also have one of the highest costs of living in the country (and San Francisco currently has the highest gas prices in the country as well). But, you can't beat the area. Not only is it a beautiful place to live, you're close to San Francisco, Tahoe, Yosemite, Carmel/Monterey, Napa/Sonoma/the wine country, etc. If you can get a job, it's a great place to be.

DedHedRN · Mar 3, 2011

Hospital jobs of course always pay more, SF is probably highest, and then So cal being second highest. Rural areas are most likely lowest.

lamazeteacher · Mar 4, 2011

In rural mid coastal area, Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital in Salinas, CA (just 25 minutes east of Monterey and Carmel) pays as well as hospitals in San Francisco.

student1320 · Mar 8, 2011

This site has been extremely helpful. Get a job at Kaiser in northern California. Kaiser pays the highest salary because of the California Nurse Association union. In January 2014, an NP with 1 year of experience will be making $72 an hour. In January 2014, an NP with 5 years of experience will be making $84 an hour.

lovescapeRN · May 28, 2011

its really nuts. really really nuts.

bethlearning · Aug 14, 2011

How much would an experience RN make per hr??

Any suggestion for Standord, Palo Alto region??

Tks,