Salary question??

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Starting salary for new nurses in my city is $18/hour. As far as I can figure, this comes out to more or less $33,000/year. Can I plan on making more than this after a couple of years? What do RN's do to earn more than this? I would love to go into nursing, but I am hesitant to leave teaching because I need to earn more than the low $30's to support my family. Any advice on this issue? Thanks.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Sorry for the dumb question but what does per diem mean? Is that what you're paid and hour or a different type of pay? in addition to???

Also, is Central California a bad area? Hubby and I live in the Midwest and would eventually like to move to Cali. I know SF has an outrageous real estate market............. Central sounds much more affordable and $30 an hour is not bad.

I am a native Californian...I spent my first 22 years in my hometown of Oxnard, which is a coastal city in Southern California. At 22 years of age I realized I could not afford a house in my hometown on my $40,000 yearly income as a factory worker, so I moved to Central California in 2003. Back then, I purchased a 2 story house in a desirable part of the city for $145,000. The next year, droves of people from other parts of the state began moving to the Central Valley, because they had been priced out of the real estate market in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The same house that I had bought 4 years ago is now worth $280,000. You can find something decent in the $250,000 range.

Go to http://www.realtor.com and type in the postal zip code '93313.' Good luck. Central California is gorgeous, but extremely hot with bad air quality! Also, my former city of residence (Bakersfield) is one of the most rapidly growing cities in the nation...

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I am a native Californian...I spent my first 22 years in my hometown of Oxnard, which is a coastal city in Southern California. At 22 years of age I realized I could not afford a house in my hometown on my $40,000 yearly income as a factory worker, so I moved to Central California in 2003. Back then, I purchased a 2 story house in a desirable part of the city for $145,000. The next year, droves of people from other parts of the state began moving to the Central Valley, because they had been priced out of the real estate market in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The same house that I had bought 4 years ago is now worth $280,000. You can find something decent in the $250,000 range.

Go to www.realtor.com and type in the postal zip code '93313.' Good luck. Central California is gorgeous, but extremely hot with bad air quality! Also, my former city of residence (Bakersfield) is one of the most rapidly growing cities in the nation...

thanks sooooooooooo much! gotta love the real estate market

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
thanks sooooooooooo much! gotta love the real estate market
I'm aware that this is off the original subject, but the Central Cali real estate market is beginning to soften due to high interest rates and, as a result, prices are slowly dropping. I don't think they will ever be as low as they were 3 or 4 years ago, but $250,000 for a nice house is still a good deal for homeownership in California, especially on the local RN pay rates...
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I'm aware that this is off the original subject, but the Central Cali real estate market is beginning to soften due to high interest rates and, as a result, prices are slowly dropping. I don't think they will ever be as low as they were 3 or 4 years ago, but $250,000 for a nice house is still a good deal for homeownership in California, especially on the local RN pay rates...

250K sounds like a deal. hopefully the prices will continue to fall within the next 2 years.

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Not sure what city you live in but, thats quite low for a starting salary. I believe new nurses make approx. $24-30/hr (depending where you live). After one year of being a nurse, you have so many options. You can join a travel agency and make $50.00/hr or more. I am now a nurse practitioner but I know some RN's make more than I do.

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New nurses start at $34/hr in central California. No kidding.

Can you give some cities I should look into? I've always thought CA would be fun. Are living expenses very high centrally? I'd like to be "close" to the beach and/or a large city but not IN it if you get what I mean.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Can you give some cities I should look into? I've always thought CA would be fun. Are living expenses very high centrally? I'd like to be "close" to the beach and/or a large city but not IN it if you get what I mean.
When I lived in Central Cali, I had to drive 120 miles to get to the nearest beach, 100 miles to Los Angeles, and 280 miles to San Francisco. There's a reason for the Central Valley being significantly cheaper than the rest of the state of California. The weather is extremely hot (110 degrees in late summer), the air is smoggy, and you must drive a long way to get to the more glamorous cities.

Rents for apartments were running $750 to $900 in safe parts of town. Houses cost $250,000 and up. Groceries are very cheap because of the abundance of farms and dairies in the area that sell to the major supermarkets. Utilities tend to be a little more expensive due to the extreme weather.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Can you give some cities I should look into? I've always thought CA would be fun. Are living expenses very high centrally? I'd like to be "close" to the beach and/or a large city but not IN it if you get what I mean.
Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto, Stockton, Madera, Hanford, Visalia, Tulare, Lodi...I would recommend the first 4, because the rest of the cities tend to be rural and country.

Modesto is 90 miles from San Francisco. Bakersfield is 90 miles from Los Angeles. Fresno is sandwiched between Modesto and Bakersfield. Stockton is farther north, but still considered the Central Valley.

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Specializes in Administration.
Can you give some cities I should look into? I've always thought CA would be fun. Are living expenses very high centrally? I'd like to be "close" to the beach and/or a large city but not IN it if you get what I mean.

From the Hanford/Visalia area we are about 2 1/2 hours from Morro Bay, 1 1/2 hours from Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks, and 3 1/3 hours either direction to a major city. Both Hanford and Visalia are very cute cities - Visalia has about 120,000 people so it isn't small. Fresno is 45 minutes away, and it is a city of about half a million. TheCommuter is right though - it's hot. We only get a few days that are actually 110 each year, but the reputation is built on those few days. It's a dry heat, and everything is air conditioned. We've only had a few days over 100 so far this summer. The great news is that you can easily afford a nice home with a swimming pool to keep you cool.

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I don't have the flexibility of moving right now. Dh loves his job, and we have family here to help us with the kids. BUT, California sounds great! I'm in the midwest, pretty far from any coast... and $18/hour after graduating doesn't excite me all that much, but I'm switching careers to follow my passion!

What part of the midwest? I Live near KC and $18 doesn't really excite me either . . . maybe it would have in my 20's but in my 30's with a house, husband and 3 kids not so much.:o

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What part of the midwest? I Live near KC and $18 doesn't really excite me either . . . maybe it would have in my 20's but in my 30's with a house, husband and 3 kids not so much.:o

I'm in St. Louis, MO. There are lots of nursing schools and hospitals in the area, so RN salaries are low. I'm hoping that all changes. I haven't heard of anything as low as $18/hour anywhere else on this board.

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I'm in St. Louis, MO. There are lots of nursing schools and hospitals in the area, so RN salaries are low. I'm hoping that all changes. I haven't heard of anything as low as $18/hour anywhere else on this board.

small world maggijo. i'm in st. louis too! i thought nurses made waaaaaaaaaaaay more. my friend works in chicago (higher pay rate of course) but she earned 66K last year working part-time and picking up an extra shift here and there. maybe the night pay makes a difference.

............. i just calculated the 18 and hour to be ~ 37,440 a year. i'm sure its higher for weekends and/or nights.

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