Average Registered Nurse salaries vary significantly from city-to-city. San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area, with RN salaries averaging $149,200, is the highest-paying city for nurses as of May 2020 (according to the BLS). In the United States overall, the average registered nurse salary is $80,010 and the median (50th percentile) is $75,330.
Over $100,000 lower than the Bay Area’s average nurse salary is Joplin, MO, at $48,210. 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; large cost of living differences between cities means 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.
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Highest-paying cities for Registered Nurses
California is the highest-paying state for nurses so it’s no surprise that many of the cities where nurses earn the most on average are located there. After San Francisco is San Jose, just to the south, where Registered Nurses earn an average of $146,870. Vallejo, Sacramento, Salinas, and Santa Rosa – all Californian regions, round out the top 5 metro areas by average nursing salary. Not until 18th on the list do you find a non-California city, Honolulu, where Registered Nurses earn $106,770.
Top 10 highest-paying cities for Registered Nurses
| Rank | City / Metro Area | Average RN Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA | $149,200 |
| 2 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $146,870 |
| 3 | Vallejo-Fairfield, CA | $142,140 |
| 4 | Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA | $134,350 |
| 5 | Salinas, CA | $132,160 |
| 6 | Santa Rosa, CA | $124,840 |
| 7 | Modesto, CA | $121,090 |
| 8 | Stockton-Lodi, CA | $115,860 |
| 9 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $113,120 |
| 10 | Redding, CA | $111,860 |
Of course, not every nurse can or wants to live in California. Looking beyond the Golden State, it’s clear that coastal regions overall dominate the nurse salary rankings. Cities like Honolulu, with an average RN salary of $106,770, Boston ($99,410), and Portland, OR ($98,700) are among the top non-California regions for nurse wages.
Top 10 highest-paying cities outside California for Registered Nurses
| Rank | City / Metro Area | Average RN Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urban Honolulu, HI | $106,770 |
| 2 | Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI | $101,080 |
| 3 | Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH | $99,410 |
| 4 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $98,700 |
| 5 | Eugene, OR | $97,050 |
| 6 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $95,120 |
| 7 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | $94,920 |
| 8 | Anchorage, AK | $94,320 |
| 9 | Olympia-Tumwater, WA | $93,270 |
| 10 | Albany, OR | $93,190 |
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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; areas where these same goods tend to be cheaper are estimated to have a lower cost of living. As of 2019, the San Francisco Bay Area tops the list at 134.5, while Beckley, WV comes in lowest, at 77.8.
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 Californian 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 the larger cities like San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles. 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
| Rank | City / Metro Area | Avg RN Salary (COL Adjusted) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA | $127,709 |
| 2 | Vallejo-Fairfield, CA | $120,152 |
| 3 | Modesto, CA | $119,891 |
| 4 | Salinas, CA | $118,636 |
| 5 | Hanford-Corcoran, CA | $116,565 |
Outside of California, coastal regions like Eugene, OR are still prominent among the ranks for nurse pay adjusted for cost of living. However, cities like St. Cloud, MN, with an adjusted RN salary of $96,264 and Las Vegas ($95,686) are also included among the top five.
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
| Rank | City / Metro Area | Avg RN Salary (COL Adjusted) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eugene, OR | $97,636 |
| 2 | St. Cloud, MN | $96,264 |
| 3 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | $95,686 |
| 4 | Albany, OR | $95,092 |
| 5 | Grants Pass, OR | $94,817 |
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