What is the average salary for a RN graduate in N. California the bay area???

U.S.A. California

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Graduating soon what is the average salary of an RN graduate in the San Francisco bay area???

Not to mention the competition here for jobs- experienced or not- is very tough

Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

Definitely rethink it, it is very difficult to get a job in Northern California. Apartments are terribly expensive, Houses start at 600K. The more money you make also the more money you are taxed, so it's not necessarily going to be as much money as one hopes.

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I think the safe route is make sure you have a job here before you move.

I'm currently in nursing school at University of San Francisco and I hope to graduate in 2014. Do you guys think the job market here in the bay area will improve by then? *fingers crossed.

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.
ninaroque92 said:
I'm currently in nursing school at University of San Francisco and I hope to graduate in 2014. Do you guys think the job market here in the bay area will improve by then? *fingers crossed.

I think the job market has always been tight in the bay area, because you are in the area, you have an advantage in making contacts and connections starting now. I'd do that ASAP.

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I am considering relocating from northern cali to southern cali as well. My pay at this point would be a $20.00 difference. ouch! But thank you for reminding me about the taxes and cost of living decrease. The best difference is the quality of life i am looking for.

ninaroque92 said:
I'm currently in nursing school at University of San Francisco and I hope to graduate in 2014. Do you guys think the job market here in the bay area will improve by then? *fingers crossed.

it should. i heard a few new units/ hospitals will be opening up. and some hospitals in the east bay are in the middle of reconstruction. meaning bigger and newer hospitals. and the baby boomers will be two years since hitting 65. meaning more and more baby boomers will hopefully be retiring.

just NETWORK! get friendly with the nurses whose patients you are working with get friendly with the nurse educators and nurse managers. get a hospital job as an NA, or a Unit clerk or ER tech/ EKG tech and network there. do some volunteer work. its hard to work and do volunteer work and go to nursing school. and they all tell us its practically impossible to do. but seriously thats how we can network in the first place.. good luck and hang in there!

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it's true, but it's very hard finding a job, even with 4 years experience. a lot of hospitals are hiring internally. you can get a job with a registry, but they pay around $40-50/hr. you also have to consider the cost of living is a lot higher in sf than in tx, but if you're lucky enough to get a job in a hospital setting, you will most definitely make over $100,000/yr. it helps if you have critical care/tele experience.

jean36 said:
a former classmate of mine is trying to convince me to relocating to california from texas. he has 4 years of experience, works night, and says he makes up to $75/hr as an rn in the bay area, ca? is this true, because i am seriously in doubt. i am barely making $29/hr here in fort worth, tx
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Salary for new grads (and nurses in general!) totally varies. New grads at the hospital where I work start between $85-90k per year. My mom, who has worked as an RN at our hospital for many years makes $165k/year, while there are other seasoned nurses in our system who have topped out around $110k. ICU nurses at a teaching hospital nearby make $220k. It all depends, but the wages for nurses are very decent throughout the bay area! :) Good luck to all!

I'm a new grad who was fortunate enough to find an RN position at a hospital here in the Bay Area. I'm per diem, hourly wage is $62/hr, no benefits (I buy my own private health insurance). I'm only scheduled 4 days/week and get cancelled ALOT because I have the least seniority. Just to give you an idea, during orientation, when I actually did work 36 hours/week, I was taxed almost $3K per month, federal and state income taxes. That's 3x what I pay rent, for a studio apartment! So yeah, I know it seems like a lot, but in reality you get taxed SO much it's probably pretty comparable to other areas in terms of take home pay relative to cost of living. The sunshine sure is nice, and the mediterranean climate, but it does come at a premium!

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shelbel said:
I'm a new grad who was fortunate enough to find an RN position at a hospital here in the Bay Area. I'm per diem, hourly wage is $62/hr, no benefits (I buy my own private health insurance). I'm only scheduled 4 days/week and get cancelled ALOT because I have the least seniority. Just to give you an idea, during orientation, when I actually did work 36 hours/week, I was taxed almost $3K per month, federal and state income taxes. That's 3x what I pay rent, for a studio apartment! So yeah, I know it seems like a lot, but in reality you get taxed SO much it's probably pretty comparable to other areas in terms of take home pay relative to cost of living. The sunshine sure is nice, and the mediterranean climate, but it does come at a premium!

Shelbel,

I was just wondering if you would be willing to share any tips on how you were able to get an RN position at a hospital in the Bay Area. I just graduated from a BSN program and moved from Portland to the Bay this August. I've talked to quite a few nurses advising me to look out of state for jobs. My husaband's friend's wife which was a new grad spent almost an entire year looking for an RN job. I've found many job postings require 1-3 years experience which makes me under-qualified. I would appreciate any feed back. And congrats on your job! I'm sure it was not easy to find.

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Hi punkdmunkey, I moved here from Portland last September after graduating from OHSU, funny! I know the job search is totally daunting - and there aren't any silver bullets unfortunately, esp in this area. :)

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