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Highest-Paying Cities for Nurses in 2023

WRITTEN BY Incredible Health Staff
DATE

Dec 10 2022


CATEGORIES Salary

Nurse Salaries / Cities

The average Registered Nurse salary varies significantly from city to city. San Jose, CA and the surrounding area has average RN salaries of $155,230. This makes San Jose the highest-paying city for nurses as of May 2021 (according to the BLS). In the United States, the average salary for RNs is $82,750. Additionally, the median (50th percentile) is $77,600.

Over $100,000 lower than the San Jose’s average nurse salary is Decatur, AL, at $54,410. With such a wide possible salary range, it may pay off for nurses to consider moving to a higher-paying area of the country.

On the other hand, it may not. Considering the cost of living between cities means that the same dollar you earn in one area may not go as far as in another.

Read on to learn more about which cities pay their nurses the most, both in absolute terms and after factoring in cost of living.

[ Looking for more information? Get instant salary estimates and personalized matches with high-paying nursing jobs. ]


Highest-paying cities for Registered Nurses

California is the highest-paying state for nurses. So, it’s no surprise that the highest-paying cities for nurses are located there too. After San Jose is San Francisco and the Bay Area, just to the north, where Registered Nurses earn an average of $151,640. Vallejo, Santa Rosa, and Napa – all California regions, round out the top 5 metro areas by average nursing salary. Not until 20th on the list do you find a non-California city, Honolulu, where Registered Nurses earn $107,680.

Top 10 highest-paying cities for Registered Nurses
RankCity / Metro AreaAverage RN SalaryPersonalized Estimates
1San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$155,230Get Custom Estimate
2San Francisco-Oakland, CA$151,640Get Custom Estimate
3Vallejo-Fairfield, CA$146,360Get Custom Estimate
4Santa Rosa, CA$141,440Get Custom Estimate
5Napa, CA$139,680Get Custom Estimate
6Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA$139,590Get Custom Estimate
7Sacramento-Roseville, CA$135,490Get Custom Estimate
8Salinas, CA$130,520Get Custom Estimate
9Modesto, CA$127,730Get Custom Estimate
10Hanford-Corcoran, CA$124,790Get Custom Estimate

See salaries by city for:

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Of course, not every nurse can or wants to live in California. Looking beyond the Golden State, coastal regions dominate the nurse salary rankings. Cities like Honolulu, maintain an average RN salary of $107,680. Boston averages $99,950, and Portland salaries are about $101,710. These cities are a few among the top non-California regions for nurse wages.

Top 10 highest-paying cities outside California for Registered Nurses
RankCity / Metro AreaAverage RN SalaryPersonalized Estimates
1Urban Honolulu, HI$107,680Get Custom Estimate
2Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI$107,600Get Custom Estimate
3Portland-Vancouver, OR-WA$101,710Get Custom Estimate
4Boston-Cambridge, MA-NH$99,950Get Custom Estimate
5Seattle-Tacoma, WA$99,310Get Custom Estimate
6New York-Newark, NY-NJ-PA$98,460Get Custom Estimate
7Eugene, OR$97,330Get Custom Estimate
8Anchorage, AK$96,160Get Custom Estimate
9Medford, OR$95,020Get Custom Estimate
10Albany, OR$94,820Get Custom Estimate

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Highest-paying cities for RNs, adjusted for cost of living

The cost of living index is a measure of the relative purchasing power of a dollar for things like groceries, housing, and transportation. Regions where these essential goods are more costly than the U.S. average have a higher cost of living index. As of 2021, the San Francisco Bay Area tops the list at 117.4, while Florence–Muscle Shoals, AL comes in lowest, at 82.4.

Adjusting each city’s average RN salary by its cost of living index gives us a potentially more accurate means of comparing where nurses get paid the most.

Some of the same California regions included among the top-paying areas for nurses overall also top the list after adjusting for cost of living.

Though California overall is quite expensive, these areas offer a relatively lower cost of living compared with larger cities like Los Angeles and San Diego. Meanwhile, nurses can still earn a highly competitive salary in these smaller cities, therefore their earnings will go much further.

Top 5 highest-paying cities for Registered Nurses, adjusted for cost of living
RankCity / Metro AreaAvg RN Salary (COL Adjusted)Personalized Estimates
1San Jose-Sunnyvale, CA$138,475Get Custom Estimate
2Vallejo-Fairfield, CA$135,018Get Custom Estimate
3Hanford-Corcoran, CA$129,854Get Custom Estimate
4San Francisco-Oakland, CA$129,165Get Custom Estimate
5Santa Rosa, CA$128,816Get Custom Estimate

Outside of California, coastal regions in the Pacific Northwest come out on top, including Eugene, Portland, and Medford in Oregon. Rounding out the top five are Honolulu and Kahului in Hawaii.

Regions like these may be particularly attractive to nurses since their salary can go much further for things like housing and food costs.

Top 5 highest-paying non-California cities for Registered Nurses, adjusted for cost of living
RankCity / Metro AreaAvg RN Salary (COL Adjusted)Personalized Estimates
1Kahului-Wailuku, HI$98,716
2Eugene, OR$97,427Get Custom Estimate
3Portland-Vancouver, OR-WA$96,225Get Custom Estimate
4Medford, OR$95,402Get Custom Estimate
5Honolulu, HI$94,622Get Custom Estimate

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Questions from the Incredible Health Nurse Community

  • What is the most effective way to negotiate for higher pay? My peers in the same area are making almost $4/hr more than I am.
  • How much should a RN with 22yrs combined specialty get paid in NC when applying straight to a facility, not travel?

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Written by Incredible Health Staff

At Incredible Health, it's a team effort to achieve our vision: Help healthcare professionals live better lives. Many are licensed practitioners themselves; others are simply passionate writers and leaders dedicated to providing valuable resources to nurses.

Read more from Incredible Health
Reviewed by Molly Rindt, RN

Molly leads the West Coast Talent Advocate Team at Incredible Health. After starting her nursing career in the Emergency Department in Baltimore, MD, she has worked in many different states and brings her skills and expertise to Incredible Health. She is passionate about bridging communication between teams to improve workflow. Molly is dedicated to helping empower nurses to find their best jobs. She works hard to provide nurses on our platform with all the details and information to ensure success in their hiring journey. In her free time she enjoys cooking, playing games and spending time with her family. 

Read more from Molly

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