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Average Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) Salary

WRITTEN BY Incredible Health Staff
DATE

May 23 2022


CATEGORIES Salary

Nurse Salaries / LPN Salary

Licensed practical nurses (LPNs) – sometimes called licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) – provide basic nursing care and comfort to patients, but generally do not perform more complex nursing duties that a registered nurse is responsible for carrying out, such as administering medication, or creating patient care plans.

As of May 2021, the average salary for a licened practical nurse in the United States is $51,850 – an effective hourly rate of $24.93.

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Highest-paying states for licensed practical nurses

In addition to specialty, license, and experience, location also plays a major factor in an LPN’s expected wages – driven by cost-of-living and the overall job market in each area.

For licensed practical nurses, California tops the list of highest-paying states with an average annual wage of $65,140. Alaska comes in at second with an average LPN salary of $63,650, followed by Washington state at $63,250.

Top 10 highest-paying states for licensed practical nurses
RankStateAverage LPN SalaryLocal EstimatesState link
1California$65,140Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/ca
2Alaska$63,650Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/ak
3Washington$63,250Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/wa
4Massachusetts$61,820Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/ma
5Nevada$60,490Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/nv
6Oregon$60,090Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/or
7Rhode Island$59,800Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/ri
8Connecticut$59,440Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/ct
9New Hampshire$59,140Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/nh
10New Jersey$58,590Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/nj
Top 10 highest-paying cities for licensed practical nurses
RankCityAverage LPN SalaryLocal EstimatesState link
1Napa, CA$76,890Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/ca/napa
2San Jose, CA$75,880Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/ca/san-jose
3San Francisco, CA$75,410Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/ca/san-francisco
4Santa Rosa, CA$71,180Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/ca/santa-rosa
5Vallejo, CA$70,720Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/ca/vallejo
6San Luis Obispo, CA$68,940Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/ca/san-luis-obispo
7Santa Cruz, CA$66,800Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/ca/santa-cruz
8Seattle, WA$66,380Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/wa/seattle
9Sacramento, CA$66,090Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/ca/sacramento
10Carson City, NV$65,460Get local estimatehttps://www.incrediblehealth.com/salaries/lpn/nv/carson-city
More local LPN salaries
States

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia

Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland

Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey

New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina

South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Cities

Albuquerque, NM
Anaheim, CA
Anchorage, AK
Atlanta, GA
Baltimore, MD
Billings, MT
Birmingham, AL
Boise City, ID
Boston, MA
Bridgeport, CT
Burlington, VT
Cedar Falls, IA
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV

Charlotte, NC
Cheyenne, WY
Chicago, IL
Columbus, OH
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Des Moines, IA
Detroit, MI
Grand Rapids, MI
Hartford, CT
Houston, TX
Indianapolis, IN
Jackson, MS

Jacksonville, FL
Lafayette, IN
Las Vegas, NV
Lexington, KY
Little Rock, AR
Los Angeles, CA
Manchester, NH
Miami, FL
Milwaukee, WI
Minneapolis, MN
Nashville, TN
New Orleans, LA
New York, NY

Newark, NJ
Oklahoma City, OK
Omaha, NE
Panama City, FL
Pittsburgh, PA
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Portland, ME
Portland, OR
Providence, RI
Salt Lake City, UT
San Angelo, TX
San Diego, CA

Scottsdale, AZ
Sioux Falls, SD
St. Louis, MO
St. Paul, MN
Tampa, FL
Virginia Beach, VA
Washington, DC
Wausau, WI
Wichita, KS
Wilmington, DE

LVN/LPN vs RN Salary

With over 600 thousand LPNs currently employed in the United States, licensed practical nurses are among the largest group of healthcare professionals in the nation. In addition, the job category is projected to grow in demand by 10.7% over the next few years. However, it does pay less than many other healthcare positions – about 37% less than registered nurses earn on average. Below are the average nationwide salaries, according to the BLS, for 5 different nursing categories.

CategoryAverage SalaryProfession link# Employed
Nurse Anesthetists$202,470https://www.incrediblehealth.com/blog/nurse-anesthetists-salary/43,950
Nurse Practitioners$118,040https://www.incrediblehealth.com/blog/nurse-practitioner-salary/234,690
Nurse Midwives$114,210https://www.incrediblehealth.com/blog/nurse-midwife-salary/7,750
Registered Nurses$82,750https://www.incrediblehealth.com/blog/the-highest-paying-states-for-nurses/3,047,530
Licensed Practical / Vocational Nurses$51,850https://www.incrediblehealth.com/blog/lvn-vs-rn-salary/641,240

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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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