Somebody asked about the 2015 salary poll results:
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What happened to the 2015 Salary Survey Results? Earlier posting said something about 18000 participants...but no results and its almost 2016! It's always very interesting to see how much or little folks are making in other regions of the Country. I think the Salary Threads posted in the past were so much more helpful than sites like Salary Wizard. Would really appreciate it if someone would start one again for 2016!
This got me to thinking. Oaufish is absolutely right. We have not seen the results of the long ago survey yet.
So...as requested, let's start the 2016 salary thread!
Please post
1] state you work/live in
2]Area of nursing you work in and whether you are an LPN, RN, NP or other. Hourly wage, both base and with differentials if they apply. Also include if this is a union facility if you would like.
3] Ballpark Housing costs [rent/mortage payments]. Is the cost of living in your area high or low compared to wages?
OK. I'll start.
WI
RN in LTC/SNF making $28.00/hrs base and $1.50-$3.00/hr shift differential, we are not union
COL is fairly low. My housing costs run about $650 - $700 a month including utilities.
1. WI. 2. Public health. 3. COL is high compared to this wage in a BSN required field. Went from no debt as an ADN RN to student loans for my BSN. I was making double the $22.73 I'm at now 8 years ago. Ship sinking fast....btw lowest wage I've ever accepted!
36.11 base rate plus 4$ night diff and 1.25 weekend diff great benefits, union facility med surg. And because it's union my lvn exp didn't play into pay. It's all "years under this license"
COL I pay mortgage of 1900 that includes taxes for a 4br, 2ba house with 2car garage.
New grads ads don't be discouraged there are jobs here in la area you just can't be picky. Community based smaller hospitals are perfectly great to start at and are usually (my 2cents) better, more of a family feel.
And to my seasoned friends here in SoCal sign on bonuses are BACK in a BIG way. FYI
Males in nursing earn more money due to the glass escalator effect: male nurses tend to be promoted to higher-paying roles earlier in their careers. In addition, male nurses tend to pursue lucrative career pathways such as nurse anesthesia.
However, HR directors are not going to offer male new grad RNs more money than their female counterparts. Per corporate policies, all new grads must be paid according to predetermined wage grids. This is done to avoid claims of favoritism and violations of state equal pay regulations.
Males also tend to work more hours than females which increases their annual wage while their hourly wage remains on par with females.
MI based ER RN with 9 years experience, working for union hospital
Base hourly wage of $38 plus 8.25% for working nights
Health care costs me $22/pay with no co-pay or deductible except for $15 office visit and max of $5/script, everything else covered at 100%
Paid $157,000 for 4 bed 2.5 bath 3500 sq ft home in 2010
I'd say COL for basic necessities is decent/average here compared to the rest of the country.
I feel that I need to point out that, while monthly rent payments are helpful, knowing a mortgage payment tells me nothing about COL without knowing how large the home, amount paid, amount financed, interest rate, and how much of the payment is taxes and insurance. A better indication of COL for this discussion would be size of home, purchase price, and year of purchase instead of mortgage payment.
Is anyone else here in the public health field of nursing? I am not a new nurse, but this is my first rodeo in this field. Wondering what other regions are paying public health nurses. It's a totally different busy than what I'm used to. Thanks for any info you have on this.
I am in northern WI and average wage for a new hire with no experience is around $21 - $23 in LTC, maybe $1.00 or so less in assisted living and home health and about $28 base in the hospitals. Most LTC facilities have shift and weekend differentials, all 4 local hospitals do as well.
I can't say what wages are in larger areas like Madison or Milwaukee but I bet they are higher. On the other hand I bet the COL is a little higher for housing at least as well.
I'm right next door in MN and starting wages are at least $10 per hour higher!
You get paid A LOT relative to your COL, even if the Bay Area is one of the more expensive places to live in the country. And that's an understatement. ESPECIALLY with only 3.5 years experience. Just basing from the posts on this thread, NO ONE makes as much as you do when comparing salary to COL.
Here are some examples from this thread from different parts of the country that you provided numbers as being equivalent to your salary:
Las Vegas your equivalent: $111,000/yr (approx. 56/hr)
Atlanta your equivalent: $103,000/yr (approx. 51/hr)
Honolulu your equivalent: $190,000/yr (approx. 95/hr)
Philadelphia your equivalent: $122,000/yr (approx. 61/hr)
Only one other poster makes as much as you relative to COL, and they are also in the Bay Area:
But that isn't consistent as even other nurses in the Bay Area don't make as much as you two:
I, myself, am in the Los Angeles metro area. Using the same COL calculator you used, an annual salary of $143,009 (or apprx $70/hr) would be equivalent to your $150,000.
With 2 years RN experience (they didn't count my LVN experience), I now make $34.92/hr, $3.75 night, $2.25 weekend, $1.00 BSN.
Friends with 3-4 years experience are making $52/hr base at Kaiser, which I'm sure you know is one of the higher paying hospital systems in California. Still definitely a far cry from $70/hr.
So… pretty much when you compare your salary to COL to anyone else's anywhere, you're EXTREMELY well off. You're probably in the 1 percent of RNs in terms of salary relative to COL relative to experience. I would definitely keep all this in mind should you ever start to think about moving or even just changing facilities
Hi! I think all of this salary thing depends on where you work in the hospital. I work in the OR. 7 years experience here in Las Vegas. I just received my last payslip for 2016 and just made $131,210 gross.
Call Pay: Time and a half, plus $5 just sitting at home waiting. (This is where nurses in the OR make BANK)
2016 gross pay: $131,210
Net biweekly pay: $3,300 (normal) $4300 (some OT) $5500 (lots of OT, call pay)
COL: Mod to low. I pay a 2 bed 2 bath with 2 car garage apartment with 1300sqft for $900.
Ive worked in the ER, ICU, medsurg floor and opd, and i think the OR/Surgery department, especially if if you work in a busy trauma hospital is like a gold mine! Because primarily of call pay. Last 2 weeks i worked like 60 hours a week and yesterday got my biggest paycheck ever, $5870 in 2 weeks. Work hard play hard right lol.
Modesto, CA (Central valley) I am an RN with 18months experience. $46.92/hr + $6 shift differential, $52.92 total. Non-union facility. Rent for a modest 3/2 home avg 1,600sf is $1,200-$1,550.
I own my home which is 5/4, 3,200sf, 2 masters, on 1/4 acre and pay $2,752/month. We are 1.5 hrs from San Francisco, 1.5 hrs from the mountains and skiing, 3 hrs from Tahoe, and 5.5hrs from Disneyland and LA. We are about as centrally located as you can get and equal distant from every attraction California has to offer yet we live in one of the lowest COL areas in California. There are plenty of RN jobs available all the time.
My wife has 11 yrs in cardiac tele, and makes $60/hr. Her hospital is union and the floor nurses make over $45-60/hr. New grads start at $43. Pt ratio for her floor is 3-1. My floor is 4/5-1. Kaiser in my town starts at around $70/hr I've been told but not everyone enjoys it there and some come back to the other two hospitals, but others love it. I can't imagine another place that has a better COL-wage ratio as Modesto. Even with our mortgage our bills for the month only account for 57% of our take home pay, and we have 3 kids; two in daycare!! Once our kids are in school our bills will be 43% of our take home. If you and your spouse are both nurses or you are married to a police officer or firefighter etc then make your way to Modesto. What you will be able to accomplish financially is amazing!
2. 3.5 years experience, base pay 71.25/hr, full benefits; base salary $150,000 a year, but due to overtime, I've already increased my income ceiling to date to about 160,000- 170,000 (working an average of 42hrs/a week). Trying to get to $200K (if I can leverage OT and work an average of 45hrs/week)
3 1750 for my 2 bedroom apartment, subleasing second room, so my share is 900/month.
Here's what I found plugging in my region, and base salary of 150,000 (just the base, no overtime included):
My salary of 150,000 in Oakland, CA is equivalent to:
... Making 178,000/year in brooklyn (Approx $85/hr)
... Making 146,000/year in boston (approx 73/hr)
...Making 103,000/year in Atlanta (approx 51/hr)
... Making 119,000/year in Chicago (approx 60/hr)
... Making 122,000/year in Philidelphia (approx 61/hr)
... Making 111,000/year in Las Vegas (approx 56/hr)
...Making 190,000/year in Honolulu (approx 95/hr)
...Making 115,000/year in Miami (approx 56/hr)
...Making 87,000/year in Memphis (approx 43/hr)
...Making 103,000/year in Charleston (approx 51/hr)
I was a bit surprised by the pay contrast in comparison to other parts of the country, and it makes me think that RN's elsewhere should be paid more. I'm just curious, are any RN's making the above figures in the respective cities?
This is an end of year update from my initial post. As of today, my base hourly pay has remained 71.25/hr, or about $150k/year base salary (does not include overtime). After factoring overtime (I did about 100 hours this year), I've been able to increasing my gross taxable pay for 2016 to about $175k. Not the $200k target I was shooting for, but not bad at all for this year.
COL is still high in Oakland, Ca for everyone else but me, because I still have a pretty good rate for my living situation; I'm paying $1000 for one of two rooms in a shared 2 bedroom apartment (parking and utilities included) in a rent control area, when market rate is about 1300-1500 for just one room (not including utilities).
The pot is going to get sweeter next year. I anticipate a 4% raise to 74/hr, and a 10% hourly diffrential when I switch over to a guaranteed 40hr/week alternative schedule, brining my hourly to 81/hr (168k/year without overtime). Plus, in addition to my bennies (dental/medical, 401k, employer matching, hsa) my pto gets increased to 3 weeks/year.
I'm still a staff RN level 2 with 4.5 years experience (not management)
I got to thank the Man above and the union for this setup.
RN/WI, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN
155 Posts
1. WI. 2. Public health. 3. COL is high compared to this wage in a BSN required field. Went from no debt as an ADN RN to student loans for my BSN. I was making double the $22.73 I'm at now 8 years ago. Ship sinking fast....btw lowest wage I've ever accepted!