Salary in the US vs salary in Sweden

dbihl, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2008

more than that, first year RN's generally make between 43-55000 depending on location and night/day shift.

mauxtav8r · Mar 24, 2008

Hi!
I am curius. I´m a nurse in Sweden, been working for one year. My salary is around $35.000/year. Nurses in Sweden who has been working for 30 years make around $43.000/year. That´s pretty bad, I think. So I´m wondering, how much is your salary in the US?
/underpaid nurse

Is this before taxes or after? In the U.S. the tax burden would be substantially less.

Just want to compare apples to apples.

Jabramac · Mar 24, 2008

I think there must be a lot of variability that would make it hard to compare one to one. Cost of living has a huge range in the US, so just comparing one US city to another can be difficult. But comparing the whole US to Sweden has a lot more variables. Who pays health insurance, retirement/pension/social security, how many days off are earned, how much sick time is granted. How much is taken for income tax, sales tax, property tax, and what services do your taxes cover... My perception is that in Sweden people may be payed less, taxed highly, but are well taken care of by the government.

BlueRidgeHomeRN · Mar 24, 2008

i think there must be a lot of variability that would make it hard to compare one to one. cost of living has a huge range in the us, so just comparing one us city to another can be difficult. but comparing the whole us to sweden has a lot more variables. who pays health insurance, retirement/pension/social security, how many days off are earned, how much sick time is granted. how much is taken for income tax, sales tax, property tax, and what services do your taxes cover... my perception is that in sweden people may be payed less, taxed highly, but are well taken care of by the government.

well said--the best way to look at it might be to compare how the money you get to keep covers housing-food-transportation!

also, with no offense intended to the op, when we lived in germany, we found that many europeans don't grasp how enormous the usa is! we had a neighbor who planned on visiting manhatten and the grand canyon---in the same day!! :bugeyes:

ZippyGBR, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2008

huge amount of different factors at play here

basic salary for a newly qualified Nurse in the UK is 19 454 GBP (38 591 USD according to google on the day of posting)

there are 9 increments to Band 5 in the common NHS pay scale rising to 25 175 GBP (49 940 USD as above) , incremental progression is generally annually although the first two increments may be half yearly if your employer has properly implented the KSF structures

this figure is pretax but excludes the following

- unsocial hours payments

- at +30% for hours worked after 2000 as part of a 'day ' shift, hours worked in a 'night' shift , all hours on a sturday

- +60 % for all hours on a sunday or the 8 public holidays (New Year's day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Early May (May day) , late May ( 'Spring' ) , August bank holiday, Christmas day and Boxing Day (or their compensatory Bank holidays if they fall n the week end - same with new year)

- contribution towards professional registration fee (38 gbp)

for nurses working rotating shift patterns in 24/7 environments unsocial hours can add around a quarter to you overall earnings for those who work predominantly nights and/or weekends it can add over a third ...

this is for a 37.5 hour working week, no 'mandatory overtime' or such like

this includes a minimum of 27 days paid annual leave (7.5 hour 'day') plus the 8 public holidays - m which effectively means for peopel working in 24/7 environments you get a minimum of 35 days / 262.5 hours of paid leave per year

after 5 years NHS service you get an additional 2 days / 15 hours of annual leave so 37 days/ 277.5 hours

after 10 years NHS service you get an additional 4 days / 30 hours of annual leave so 41 days/ 307.5 hours

the NHS pension scheme is contributory at a rate of 6% ( but reduces the amount of tax and NI you pay as it is deduced from you gross wage not your post tax wage) and currently pays an index linked pension of up to 50 or so % of your final salary plus a lump sum of (3 times your annual pension) if you have sufficient contributions for full pension - otherwise it's 1/80 th of your final salary for each year of service

- this is currently changing in terms of the cost of contributions for higher paid staff and the number of years required for maximum contributions

- using the NHS pensions agency calculator http://www.nhspa.gov.uk/pension_calculator.cfm

someone retiring today as a band 5 nurse on top increment with a full 40 year contribution history would get

pension 12587.50 gbp / year

lump sum 37762.50 gbp

i've completely ignored the London and other high cost of living areas weighting , recruitment and retention bonuses and pay protection in the above ... as wellas the temporaryand permanent injuries/ disablement and death in service provisions ...

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Mar 24, 2008

In the USA the salary will depend on location and market. I live in a part of Texas where new RN's in a hospital earn about $35,000/yr and mature RN's can earn twice that. But in the Houston area I understand the salaries are higher---so is the cost of living. So there is variability within one state.

bigreddog1934 · Mar 24, 2008

i just started as an rn in chicago. my yearly earnings are about $48,000/yr. for my wife and (future) kid i will be paying about $300/month for health insurance, without any deductibles. i also paid about $6000 for nursing school.

ohmeowzer RN, RN · Mar 24, 2008

i am a RN , been a nurse for 22 years , i make $63, 200 a year. my sister is a RN for 20 years make $65,000 a year. she does more manager duites than i do, although i have been asked to be a clinical supervisor so i will start making more money. our health insurance is free through the hospital. i think i should be making more money after so long being a nurse... but i'm grateful every day when i get up that i have a good job and a roof over my head and food in my belly. so many people are being laid off and we always have a job. i may have my complaints about the job , but i always get a paycheck. thank you Lord.

newlpn08 · Mar 24, 2008

You will usually make more money in the US than you would in Sweeden. But one country you should consider, which is close, and use a lot of Sweedish and Finnish nurses is Norway. You already speak the language, and you would make more money there. When I called the hospital to check on my dad, 50% of the time I would get a Sweedish or Finnish nurse. If you want the adventure of living in the US, you can definitely make more money here, and you will pay less taxes as well.

swedishnurse · Mar 24, 2008

Is this before taxes or after? In the U.S. the tax burden would be substantially less.
Just want to compare apples to apples.

This is before taxes, and that´s 27%. How much tax do you have?

swedishnurse · Mar 24, 2008

Thank you for your replies, I do understand that the salary varies a lot in your country, In Sweden it´s almost the same everywhere. And the government does take good care of us, so far. But this is slowly changing since we got a new government 1 1/2 year ago. They are lowering the taxes, privatising hospitals and schools...Generally making things tougher for the "lower class", the sick and the unemployed. But still the nurses here are very poorly paid compared to others. That´s why a lot of nurses do go to Norway to work. Nurses there are MUCH better paid.