Why am I starting out making 19 an hour?

[NewgradMary]

I just got hired into a new grad residency program making 19 an hour. It is a small hospital, but I know other students who got hired at bigger hospitals in big cities also making around the same amount. Yearly this adds up to about 35,000 not including the taxes that will be taken out. This seems extremely low. I was under the impression I would be making at least 50,000 starting out. Is this normal?

[Red Kryptonite]

I do believe you answered your own question, so I'm not sure what the mystery is here.

My advice.... if you want big city money, move to a big city.

Of course, then you're paying big city prices, expenses, and taxes....so it may end up being a wash even though the numbers look bigger.

[flyersfan88]

Of course, then you're paying big city prices, expenses, and taxes....so it may end up being a wash even though the numbers look bigger.

Well....exactly. but the OP doesn't seem to understand that.

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

My assumption was based on the fact that I thought the average salary was 60,000 for nurses (based on sites like salary.com) I didn't think that meant starting out at 35,000

Actually $19 is $39520 if you are scheduled 40 hours per week.

like others have pointed out, location matters. You may be able to able to find a home in your town for $40-50.000, while the median sales price in the Chicago area (cook county) is $225,000

I ran a cost of living comparison, randomly picking Martinsville Va. What $40,000 buys there, requires 52,245 in Chicago. That works out to $25.11 per hour (40 hour week), which is just a little less than what many Chicago hospitals start new grads at (and a very competitive market).

so, you could move to the big city, make more money, but not necessarily have anything more to show for it

[817nurse]

Of course, then you're paying big city prices, expenses, and taxes....so it may end up being a wash even though the numbers look bigger.

I paid $1295/month for an old 400 square foot studio apartment when I lived in a shady Los Angeles neighborhood in 2002. I wonder how much that apartment would cost me in rent in 2015, but I really don't want to know! The point is that I was always flat broke, even with a full-time job, a part-time weekend job, a PRN job, a used car with no payments, and a simple lifestyle. It is pricey to live in LA and the pay does not always keep up.

[Jules A, MSN]

Why are you starting out making $19 an hour? Ummm because you accepted their offer?

As others have pointed out income is largely based on the marketplace but I think nurses often sell themselves short and work for crap rather than shopping around, possibly working off shifts/weekends, in a less desirable specialty or figure out which facilities do pay better. My favorite are the nurses are willing to work for the world renowned prestigious teaching hospitals who don't pay beans under the delusion that the facility's name on their resume is really going to impress anyone.

[CrazyGoonRN]

I am from the Nashville area and 19/hr is around the same amt that hospitals pay new grads here. Sounds reasonable to me.

[SierraBravo]

Wow. As a new grad I started out at $50k and after 2 years I was at $60k with an incredible benefit package. I am in a medium sized city working at a large academic teaching hospital. I totally understand that locations and wages vary, but even in a small town working at a hospital I can't imagine doing this job for $19/hour. Perhaps like others have said it's because there is an abundance of new grads looking for jobs, so employers can afford to pay less. Supply and demand.

[elkpark]

You are starting out at $19/hr because that's what the market will bear in your area. As already noted, it's all about supply and demand. If hospitals could staff their unit by paying RN $3/hr, that's what they'd offer. If they couldn't get RNs to work for them for less than $50/hr, that's what RNs would make. But there are so many RNs, esp. these days, that there are always enough nurses willing to accept jobs for relatively low pay.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Your salary is based on the low cost of living. More importantly, employers have decreased wages and incentives for new and experienced nurses because they're able to select from hundreds of applicants.

[THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN]

Come to Vegas!! Cost of Living is pretty good for the biggest city in the state. Starting $30 at least in acute care.

[Nola009]

Nursing is no way to get rich, believe me.

[VANurse2010]

I'm curious as to which part of Virginia the OP is in. Unless it's the SW coal country, that wage is very, very low. The COL in Virginia, even in the rural parts, is not as low as the rest of the south.