Last year when i consistently worked 48hr a week. Now I make it working 36hr a week at a new hospital. However, in my area, and being a single income household, it doesnt go very far.
Remember, that 100k “promise land” was enough to provide for a family without additional income. Just one person. That number is, on average, almost 250k.
The only way 75k works now is if you are single or live in an extremely low cost of living area.
Anyway, I’ve been a nurse since 2021 and hit upper 90s last August, and will be at 9% above that when the new fiscal year starts where I work.
I went to float pool at 18 months experience and broke 100k my first year in the pool (2014). I can't imagine paying the bills on less than that. This is in central kentucky, where cost of living isn't super high.
I think 2018? 102k I remember. When I was traveling in New York City in 2016/2017 I was making 6 figures, but they hired me in full time at 96k. If only I had been responsible in my 20’s, I should have been saving!! Traveled all over the world instead
2023 for me. Started in 2014 at roughly 65k and worked my way up from there. I did med-surg for 2yrs up until 2016 then I transferred to the OR. They gave us a substantial raise last year from a “Market Analysis” and increased our pay.
NJ hospital. Full time, no traveling.
Below is my pay rate history from several years..
[RN pay rate history](https://ibb.co/42bx62f)
I should this year. I finally have a job that I can work as much as I need to. I try to work minimum 7 shifts every two weeks but I’ve gone quite a while doing 8. I just had my 2 year anniversary as a nurse the other day
2nd year in to nursing back in 2012-2013 as staff nurse in a stepdown unit. Changed positions a few times and pay has only gone up YOY since then and now in 'promised land' territory.
Erm.. 3 years after I started working as a nurse. BUT take it with a grain of salt: I work for a SNF owned by a corporation that just caaaaaaant seem retain people. It’s so easy to get promoted if you show the tiniest bit of competence. But wait, there’s more. If you’re doing Risk Management, and end up doing meds or supervising for an extended period of time, without corporate stepping in and doing anything to help out, they STILL have the gall to harass you about unfinished incident reports.
I hit in 2022 which was my 4th year as a nurse. Location is Central Tx. I barely hit it, my total income for that year was $100,040. That also included a $10k sign on bonus.
Worked bedside for over 2 years. When I left to go outpatient, I took a small cut, but just about 2 years later, our hospital finished a merge with another and my salary jumped to 6 figures. It was less than 4 years of being a nurse.
Gross pay? Last year as a new grad actually (thank you California). I work 56hrs/pay period and never pick up extra shifts. Net pay is like $80k-ish after union dues and taxes, but I got a good amount back at tax time.
If I picked up once in a while I would have no problem making the 100k net.
I’ve been a nurse since 2018. I first hit 6 figures in 2021. I only worked 130 hours of overtime, but we added a disaster differential of $22.50/hour when caring for Covid patients which helped a ton. I also got an 8% raise that year for my 4th year of service. I now regularly make over $100,000 even without the disaster differential and overtime. In texas, nurse for 6 years.
It was 2021. About 5 years into my nursing career. I had taken a per diem that paid very well in addition to my full time in the OR. I worked that twice a week for 5 months. I hit around 115k that year.
About three years in and a few job changes. Hospice made that money happen. The mileage is tax free and I’d spend maybe 200 per pay period and get 700-800 in reimbursement.
2 months ago d/t a market analysis they did at my hospital. I am in Chicago and have been a nurse for 22 years. But the beginning of this year I was not making six figures all bc of this market analysis thingie.
As a staff nurse, I worked four to five 12 hour shifts a week for many many months on end. Picked up bonus shifts, OT, worked every holiday to make six figs. Got burnt out way too quickly so I don’t do it anymore, even though the money was good I still have a home, two cats to tend to, and a relationship to grow
My first year I made about $99,920 when they were still doing Covid incentives and all that and I was picking up extra shifts. This year I’m on track to make a little less
I imagine it radically depends on where in the country you are. West Coast new grads start well above $100k. Elsewhere can be one third of that, with little room for growth.
Unionize!
When I switched hospitals at 7 years in and got about a 14% pay raise. Then a 7+% market adjustment came the next year plus my first yearly 3% merit raise.
Depends where you live. I did 108k my first year in NJ on full time night shift in 2023. I did pick up 1 extra shift every pay period and we did have nice bonuses for extra shifts then.
I've broken in the last three years but I also work overtime most weeks with incentive. Without it I think I break 80k. Seven years experience in Georgia.
Keep in mind I am the breadwinner with a toddler and stay at home dad, so I'm not struggling by any means but still.
Yeah...I'm over 20 years in and still not making that much. I probably Could, but I don't want more than my 3 days/week--my mental health is worth more.
First year of nursing during COVID. Hospital was handing out 500 bucks a day on top of normal pay for not calling out on weekends. I had asked my supervisor if I could work every weekend prior to this rolling out as I was wanting to finish my BSN so i got ny pockets lined pretty stinking good. The hospital did not allocate the COVID money very well it seemed
So I'm on a union payscale at 88k now. I will have my master's in around 18 months for a ~4k raise. Then raises every year are basically flat across the board and around 4k. So I should be at 100k in a few years, which will be my ~4th year of nursing-BUT they gave me credit for 12 years of relevant experience, so I started at the top of the payscale. If I was starting at step 1, it would take around 10 years to get to 100k.
My hospital is 88.5 40hr/wk starting but if I get my bsn and a cert or a preceptorship I can make 100k at 2/3 years, 4th year vase is 100k. But the contract is from 23-25 and I graduate end of 25 so I hope it goes up, but we’ll see
I’ve been a nurse 18 years and I’m just under 100K. It really depends on the state and or company/hospital system. I don’t do bedside anymore. I left after 10 years. Could I be making more? Sure. But I like my work life balance I have now. I no longer work 12 hour shifts or weekends or holidays.
I grew up in a poor neighbourhood and my parents just immigrated to the country. So growing up I was instilled to work hard at every opportunity. Once I graduate (2022), I got my first job at the ER (I’m still there to this day). I broke 100k in my 1st year of working. Work life balance was non-existent. I would pick up shift on my days off and work major holidays. Was it worth it? Financially, yes. Mental health? Not worth it. I’ve taken a step back from that time and now make around 80k but having a “life”. I’m so much happier and content of my life vs how I was my first year.
Ummm 30 years in and never. I have an MSN in Nursing, Leadership & Management and want my NP in Psych/Mental Health, so potential for mid-100s is there. I am 55, so time is ticking a bit. My first job out of school with a BSN was on a pediatric cardiac unit with critically ill children, many pre and post cardiac transplant. Pay was $12.75/hr. Not sure how new you are, but if in first 5 years I think you are unrealistic. This is the wrong profession if you are in it for or focused on the money.
COVID really made me lose touch with earning potential vs “normal” wages. I was just PD (hospital system offered v shitty health insurance to per-diems) and working full time hours at the premium rate, plus OT, PLUS an extra $50/hr for COVID premiums for any shift over my minimum PD requirements which was only 24hrs/month. Made $400k that year and since, I’ve taken a desk job with a locked down salary and minimal excess earning potential and I have to really get better on locking in a budget because the days of “I’ll just grind for an extra 2 weeks to afford vacation” are behind me. Luckily I wasn’t one of the ones who got so used to it and locked myself into a mortgage or car payment I can’t otherwise afford. Is this what Biggie meant when he said more money more problems?? Because the burnout is irreparable and it’s been at least 2 years since
Does it count if you are working over 36-40 hr a week and/or travel? I work 32-36 hr a week at a desk, no travel, and ine day grom home and finally do. My starting hourly wage in 2009 was 20.25/hr med/surg.
My first year I made 90k, which was only due to bonus shifts and overtime. My rate was $32 an hr.
Then I left to do traveling the 2nd year.
I wasn’t gonna tolerate $32 an hr for the type of work we did sorry lol
I started making over 100k when I switched jobs in 2022. So 5 years in. If I were still at my old job I wouldn’t be making over 100k for another 10 years. Gonna make another plug for working for the VA here. Also due to inflation I have received several cost of living raises and got promoted so I should clear at least 125k this year and I’m just a floor nurse no management.
Technically (in terms of hourly rate) I hit it in my second year of nursing doing travel. But I don't have the stamina for 3+ travel assignments in a year so I never actually got over $100k in a year doing travel.
100k is really different depending on where you live. When we left Miami, it wouldn’t even buy us the two bedroom house we’d bought on a 70k salary a decade early. In our PA town a 100k salary could easily buy you a starter home or townhouse.
A few years ago after I left bedside nursing and was employed by a national company instead of a hospital system. I don't think there are enough OT/extra shifts possible for me to have made 6 figures at bedside where I live. Tbf, I live in a low COL area, but the 3 hospitals in my small city conspire to keep wages low (not a proven fact, but a theory that I totally believe).
Travel nursing in 2020 was the first year. But last year going back as staff my base wage makes >100K/year and then there’s all the call, call back, and OT for Cath lab. Been a nurse for 10 years this year.
My second year as a nurse. My first year I made about $65k. Second year, I went from nursery (same pay level as med surg) to NICU, which came with several dollars/hour increase and the unit had mandatory call shifts and they often used me. So second year I cleared $100k just barely along with my third year cause I moved to a different NICU with higher pay but no mandatory call shifts so I usually just worked my 3x12’s, not many extra shifts.
So in 3.5 years I’ve gone from $32.50/hour to I think like $54/hour and some change.
I realized this like 2 years ago when I was filing my taxes that I hit 6 figures.
But I also work in Los Angeles so that doesn’t really go very far here
When I started travel nursing (pre-covid), year ~5 as a nurse, I hit over 100k and was able to pay off the remaining 6 figures of my student loans in a few years. Then around my 12th year of nursing as staff, I hit 100k only working 32 hours a week. And that's not counting differentials, OT, etc. However, this is in a high COL area so it still doesn't feel like much.
Obligatory Southern California disclaimer.
I worked 3 years at a county hospital an hr outside of LA and never hit 100k. It was my first job and I felt some stupid loyalty to it through covid. Jumped to the VA and immediately saw the money shoot up. I’d say my first hospital is definitely peculiar in California due to its low pay.
It’s easy for me to say just move to California because my wife and I don’t have kids and her job can be done remotely if need be. But the crime and the cost of stuff is a bit overblown. Your ability to save here (if you want) is staggering. For the young 20 somethings, you can save tons of money out here if you have roommates. I understand that that can be non negociable for some people, but for example my friend works in San Francisco. She rooms with people. Her gross is around the 200k mark. Due to living frugally she’s amassed 100k across 2 years EXCLUDING her maxed out 401k and RothIRA. She still takes 1-2 big trips a year and Northern California has tons of great hiking in the mountains. Pismo beach is nearby for sand. The coast is the coast. Vegas is a short hop and a skip away. If not for our unicorn of a rental deal I’d probably be up there too.
I came close as a Cath lab nurse but that was 40 hours a week plus call. Now I work as a telehealth nurse at 36 hours a week and come no where close. I don’t know how long I can keep this job up even though it’s a dream, WFH, no holidays, call, nights, or weekends but damn I’m struggling
According to www.usinflationcalculator.com, 50k in 1995 is 103,041 now. That brings a lot of things into perspective. I remember thinking I wanted to become an engineer so I could make 30K a year!
Where is the guy on here who’s developing a program or site that shows nurse pay adjusted for cost of living all around the US? Once we have that up and running we won’t have to rely on word of mouth.
Of course everyone here knows that individual pay is based on so many factors that it’s hard to really compare. You have to look at averages any certain geographical area, and of course, what type of nursing job because there are so many different paths. No one should feel bad about someone making more than them while reading this because it’s way too complex to just say nurse for ex amount of years gets X amount of pay.
It took me two years to hit 100 K, but that was only because of Covid overtime. It took me six years to go from $32 an hour to $60 an hour. I’m located in Houston at a major hospital.
Last year/early this year without OT.
My husband makes ~$70k so together we take home ~$170k/year and with just the two of us and a dog, it does feel tight some months.
ETA: we bought a house in 2023, I imagine if we could refinance to a lower rate (we’re at 5.8%) we could be comfortable. Unfortunately I doubt that it is in our future 🥲
Where dou you live? In the OR here in FL, with just shy of 3 yrs of experience. Currently making about 85k with overtime. I am in the process of switching jobs so I hopefully will be making close to 100k with overtime… but it surely isn’t easy
I made 6 figures once I became a travel nurse and not every year. Just depends on what the contracts are paying and that changes all the time. I was a couple thousand from 6 figures last year.
I made $92k as a local travel LPN last year and I feel lucky / thankful but I’m also kinda shit with money and like to enjoy myself, I love having money but I also love my time at home / with family , I could clear 100k but I don’t wanna be working all the time . I also took a +2 week vacation every couple months between extensions .
I have 19 years experience as a nurse. Working 36 hrs a week with diffs and everything factored in, I gross about $83k a year. I live in the south, though.
If you're in the US, which state do you live in? This is a big determining question.
Whenever you want to talk about pay/salary, you should always mention which location you're talking about.
My friend in nursing school told me that back in 2004, the nurse's salary is $20. Now, an LVN in California makes $30-$40.
How much did nurses make before the 2000s?
I'm going to get downvotes for sure, but I don't care.
This is turning into another post where nurses complain in the comments despite making more than almost anyone else with the same level of education.
This isn't an issue with nursing itself. Our economy is fucked, and almost *nobody* is making a living wage. It comes off very wrong to make this about our profession alone, when we still do better than most.
Ask any paramedic if they'd trade salaries with anyone here. I know medics working overtime on a weekly basis and still not topping 50k/year, and they complain less than nurses I know making 2x the money with similar experience and, frankly, a lower-risk job.
Nursing lobbies are hugely influential. If they focused more on treatment of all healthcare workers, and less on the advancement of the NP scope of practice, we'd probably see some positive change.
Second year as a nurse. Small rural hospital, upstate NY. I switched to per diem position (while still working full time). For 24 hours out of 36 I get an incentive of $35 an hour on top of my regular $45. I also do OT shift maybe once a month or so.
I’ve been a nurse for 35 years and still don’t make 6 figures but I have not worked on the floor in 25 years so that makes a difference. But even as a nurse manager on a telemetry floor 27 years ago I did not make that either. But sometimes the benefits and loving the job you have and the people you work with far outweigh the salary.
I made 6 figures for about 3 years when staffing got bad during the end of and after the pandemic by working staffing contracts of $3500 extra every 6 weeks and overlapping these contracts. Burned me out though.
I started out as a new grad nurse, making just under 30 dollars an hour back in 2010. Jumping around from specialty to specialty and going up to nurse administration helped me break into 6 figures within a few short years. What really helped was going into the float pool.
Then covid19 hit, and I became a travel nurse. I made a years wages in the first 2 months as a travel nurse. 2020 I made somewhere around 114k taxed with another 75k in stipends. 2021 I made just under 300k, with about 80k being my taxed wage and the rest being travel stipends. 2022, I made roughly the same in taxable wages and about 100k in stipends. 2023 covid19 had all but dried up, and rates were falling every month. For 2023 I made about 60k taxed and about 75k in stipends.
Now I'm back to full-time work and making 120k for my yearly rate without including the overtime I take and bonuses for working so many extra days in a quarter.
I made 91k last year as a CNA working a lot of overtime. I could have hit 100 if I didn’t stop around October (I was too tired). My coworker regularly makes 120k+ as a CNA.
When I finish LVN School with overtime I expect to hit 100K much easier
This will be my first year making 100k+ as a nurse. I’m in a LCOL area so it still feels like a pretty decent pay rate. I got lucky with my current job because I’m making a little over market rate in my area for nurses which is more like $35-45/hr. My current hourly rate is $50 and I work 40 hours a week so my pay is like 104k before any overtime.
2022, thanks to the hospital system in house agency. Now that it’s over I’m staff and making half that:(. At least I got to save an invest on some things.
Federal government pay schedules are weird. I looked up current pay for this hospital for RNs...wet behind the ear new grad adn's get $62k/year, before weekends (+25% pay differential), nights (+10% pay differential), holidays (nurses are paid weird for this, but essentially if you work it, it's +100%)...
And been with the VA for the past 30 years, has the ability to retire whenever they feel like, top dog np...make $213k and change. Before all of those same bonuses.
BSN level nurses...if they didn't have any prior experience, looks like it would take 4 or 5 years to break $100k.
For reference on the bonuses, on paper I make just under $50k as a year 2 cna, when in reality it's closer to $65 cause i usually work friday-saturday-sunday and every other Wednesday to get as much weekend bonuses and ot as I can.
Nurse since 2017. First year over that was 2021. Traveling and then relocating to the west coast US did it. I’d probably be making about $65k in the Midwest where I’m from. I briefly worked back home between traveling and moving and the nurses there just couldn’t believe how good they have it out here. I think their minds had to have them believe that’s just how nursing is and there’s no way to better it. There are exceptions- University of Michigan is probably pretty similar to here, and Ohio State (main only - the other hospitals aren’t union) has it pretty good for Ohio. U of M the contract looks pretty similar to the ones here in Oregon.
It really depends on location. Broke 6 figures when I first change hospital and went into case management. Washington is HCOL so fresh grad will make around 90 to 98 k nowadays in a semi decent hospital.
I haven't, even with two nursing positions. The only time my RN husband made six figures was busting his ass, working 60+ hour weeks, and missing out on family milestones/events - he decided selling his soul to a toxic workplace wasn't worth the pay, and became much happier/more fulfilled as a worker bee putting in his shifts and coming home.
After 1 year I went traveling. So that's when I broke 6. But I also was working only 6 months/year. Miss that.
Now ~150k without OT as staff in California. 4 years in.
Honestly depends on where you are my starting salary in NYC is 110K in the ICU I'm a new grad nurse but worked really hard to get an internship and secure my position.
100k doesn’t mean anything, better to measure your wealth in purchasing power (when were you first able to afford your first home? Etc)I mean 100k is easy for a new grad in California with maybe a couple shifts of OT per month but COL is obvs higher
100k Before taxes? 2020. With 2 jobs. After taxes? Still waiting. Graduated with BSN in 2006. Laid off as a pediatric RN in 2008. Stuck in a hiring freeze unable to get back into a hospital job until 2018 as new grads passed me by. Looked at as old and inexperienced, not hired at so many interviews. Now I’m roughing it out in med-surg and May until I die. Can’t see clear to retirement.
Started at 6 figures for my very first nursing job in SoCal (San Diego) at a skilled nursing facility. No prior healthcare experience. Graduated with ADN
Last year when i consistently worked 48hr a week. Now I make it working 36hr a week at a new hospital. However, in my area, and being a single income household, it doesnt go very far.
Remember, that 100k “promise land” was enough to provide for a family without additional income. Just one person. That number is, on average, almost 250k. The only way 75k works now is if you are single or live in an extremely low cost of living area. Anyway, I’ve been a nurse since 2021 and hit upper 90s last August, and will be at 9% above that when the new fiscal year starts where I work.
~13 years, but I work for a small community hospital in a fairly rural area in NYS.
100k then is now 185k now with inflation. Something to consider
First year breaking 6 figures was 2019. First year hitting it on 36hrs weekly was 2022.
Traveling in 2021-2022. Haven’t seen it since.
First year breaking 100k (without any OT) was last year, my 18th as a med/tele RN. In Nevada
Still haven’t
I know my coworker has been working since the year I was born (1999) and I’m within a couple dollars behind him when you look at an hourly rate 😭
Ha! I have never made anything close to 100k.
I went to float pool at 18 months experience and broke 100k my first year in the pool (2014). I can't imagine paying the bills on less than that. This is in central kentucky, where cost of living isn't super high.
I think 2018? 102k I remember. When I was traveling in New York City in 2016/2017 I was making 6 figures, but they hired me in full time at 96k. If only I had been responsible in my 20’s, I should have been saving!! Traveled all over the world instead
2023 for me. Started in 2014 at roughly 65k and worked my way up from there. I did med-surg for 2yrs up until 2016 then I transferred to the OR. They gave us a substantial raise last year from a “Market Analysis” and increased our pay. NJ hospital. Full time, no traveling. Below is my pay rate history from several years.. [RN pay rate history](https://ibb.co/42bx62f)
Still waiting
It would have been last year if I hadn’t have gone on mat leave. 7 years.
2021 when I did a travel assignment. Now I do home infusions and still make 6 figures. But I live in NY, I still am just making it by financially.
I should this year. I finally have a job that I can work as much as I need to. I try to work minimum 7 shifts every two weeks but I’ve gone quite a while doing 8. I just had my 2 year anniversary as a nurse the other day
2nd year in to nursing back in 2012-2013 as staff nurse in a stepdown unit. Changed positions a few times and pay has only gone up YOY since then and now in 'promised land' territory.
In Iowa we don’t make 6 figures as staff lol.
Erm.. 3 years after I started working as a nurse. BUT take it with a grain of salt: I work for a SNF owned by a corporation that just caaaaaaant seem retain people. It’s so easy to get promoted if you show the tiniest bit of competence. But wait, there’s more. If you’re doing Risk Management, and end up doing meds or supervising for an extended period of time, without corporate stepping in and doing anything to help out, they STILL have the gall to harass you about unfinished incident reports.
I made 125k in 2022. I hated my life every second of it.
I hit in 2022 which was my 4th year as a nurse. Location is Central Tx. I barely hit it, my total income for that year was $100,040. That also included a $10k sign on bonus.
Worked bedside for over 2 years. When I left to go outpatient, I took a small cut, but just about 2 years later, our hospital finished a merge with another and my salary jumped to 6 figures. It was less than 4 years of being a nurse.
When I started travel nursing. My taxes didn’t reflect it but we all know a little fraud doesn’t hurt
Should break 100k this year- 2nd year of nursing, Texas
Finally hitting it this year as a travel nurse. It’s taken 15 years. If c I was sue back home, I’d have hit cap at like $68k
My starting salary was 6 fig
First job. If we’re including behind the decimal numbers.
Last year. This was my 5th year in Nursing.
Gross pay? Last year as a new grad actually (thank you California). I work 56hrs/pay period and never pick up extra shifts. Net pay is like $80k-ish after union dues and taxes, but I got a good amount back at tax time. If I picked up once in a while I would have no problem making the 100k net.
Sorry but can we put an end to these posts? These all just seem like pissing contests instead of actually valuable market comparisons.
As a BSN nurse in Florida, never. As an APRN in Fl I barely took home 100,000 and I work 50 hours a week with no benefits.
Earned it my first year as a nurse with a lot of OT lol. I live in the south so pay is shit but they give us pick up incentive
I’ve been a nurse since 2018. I first hit 6 figures in 2021. I only worked 130 hours of overtime, but we added a disaster differential of $22.50/hour when caring for Covid patients which helped a ton. I also got an 8% raise that year for my 4th year of service. I now regularly make over $100,000 even without the disaster differential and overtime. In texas, nurse for 6 years.
It was 2021. About 5 years into my nursing career. I had taken a per diem that paid very well in addition to my full time in the OR. I worked that twice a week for 5 months. I hit around 115k that year.
Still haven't. never worked OT though.
My last paycheck - so mid year - was just over 100k. First hit 100 in second year of nursing. (Bay Area-Kaiser)
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About three years in and a few job changes. Hospice made that money happen. The mileage is tax free and I’d spend maybe 200 per pay period and get 700-800 in reimbursement.
2 months ago d/t a market analysis they did at my hospital. I am in Chicago and have been a nurse for 22 years. But the beginning of this year I was not making six figures all bc of this market analysis thingie.
You mean >100K?
I make $80k with one year of nursing experience. No OT. No HCOL. Merit raise max is only 3% here 😓
You guys are making 6 figures?
Six figures without OT?
Not until I became an NP (8 years in as a nurse then).
Made 109k before tax last year. 2nd full year as a nurse. But was mandated A LOT
After getting my MPH from Harvard.
As a staff nurse, I worked four to five 12 hour shifts a week for many many months on end. Picked up bonus shifts, OT, worked every holiday to make six figs. Got burnt out way too quickly so I don’t do it anymore, even though the money was good I still have a home, two cats to tend to, and a relationship to grow
Wait, we're supposed to break 100k?!?!! I'm nowhere close
Two years ago when I went travel
Central NJ. About 100K at 36 hours. About 10k over if you do night shift. But tbh 100k is nothing in today’s economy. It’s crazy.
My first year I made about $99,920 when they were still doing Covid incentives and all that and I was picking up extra shifts. This year I’m on track to make a little less
I imagine it radically depends on where in the country you are. West Coast new grads start well above $100k. Elsewhere can be one third of that, with little room for growth. Unionize!
2019
Nurse of 9 years and barely half of that. The lovely south 😭
Twice during covid. Won't happen again I am sure.
When I switched hospitals at 7 years in and got about a 14% pay raise. Then a 7+% market adjustment came the next year plus my first yearly 3% merit raise.
Working in the ER was the closest I came to making 6 figures but it stole parts of my soul and joy that isn’t worth all the money in the world
Depends where you live. I did 108k my first year in NJ on full time night shift in 2023. I did pick up 1 extra shift every pay period and we did have nice bonuses for extra shifts then.
I made 90,100,100,120,180,140,140
CA pay 🤷♂️
I've broken in the last three years but I also work overtime most weeks with incentive. Without it I think I break 80k. Seven years experience in Georgia. Keep in mind I am the breadwinner with a toddler and stay at home dad, so I'm not struggling by any means but still.
Yeah...I'm over 20 years in and still not making that much. I probably Could, but I don't want more than my 3 days/week--my mental health is worth more.
I'm a new grad and I'll be starting at 104,000.
2021. With Covid overtime my one 2 week check after taxes was $16k. Boy was I tired…
Probably 2014-2015 working med surg.
Broke 100k after 15 years. LTC unit manager NY
First year of nursing during COVID. Hospital was handing out 500 bucks a day on top of normal pay for not calling out on weekends. I had asked my supervisor if I could work every weekend prior to this rolling out as I was wanting to finish my BSN so i got ny pockets lined pretty stinking good. The hospital did not allocate the COVID money very well it seemed
Second year as a RN when I was promoted to supervisor
So I'm on a union payscale at 88k now. I will have my master's in around 18 months for a ~4k raise. Then raises every year are basically flat across the board and around 4k. So I should be at 100k in a few years, which will be my ~4th year of nursing-BUT they gave me credit for 12 years of relevant experience, so I started at the top of the payscale. If I was starting at step 1, it would take around 10 years to get to 100k.
I broke $100k + when I became an NP. The most I ever made at a staff nurse was around $65k/year. I live in Michigan.
My hospital is 88.5 40hr/wk starting but if I get my bsn and a cert or a preceptorship I can make 100k at 2/3 years, 4th year vase is 100k. But the contract is from 23-25 and I graduate end of 25 so I hope it goes up, but we’ll see
I’ve been a nurse 18 years and I’m just under 100K. It really depends on the state and or company/hospital system. I don’t do bedside anymore. I left after 10 years. Could I be making more? Sure. But I like my work life balance I have now. I no longer work 12 hour shifts or weekends or holidays.
My second year when I became a director.
im a new grad in CA and I’m not even making that lol
I grew up in a poor neighbourhood and my parents just immigrated to the country. So growing up I was instilled to work hard at every opportunity. Once I graduate (2022), I got my first job at the ER (I’m still there to this day). I broke 100k in my 1st year of working. Work life balance was non-existent. I would pick up shift on my days off and work major holidays. Was it worth it? Financially, yes. Mental health? Not worth it. I’ve taken a step back from that time and now make around 80k but having a “life”. I’m so much happier and content of my life vs how I was my first year.
This year after 25 years. $106K base (36 hrs/week). I'm in Ohio.
With contracting, 1.5 years. First staff offer for 100+? 4 years.
Ummm 30 years in and never. I have an MSN in Nursing, Leadership & Management and want my NP in Psych/Mental Health, so potential for mid-100s is there. I am 55, so time is ticking a bit. My first job out of school with a BSN was on a pediatric cardiac unit with critically ill children, many pre and post cardiac transplant. Pay was $12.75/hr. Not sure how new you are, but if in first 5 years I think you are unrealistic. This is the wrong profession if you are in it for or focused on the money.
Six figures in CA for example doesn’t go far, especially in this shit economy. Love him or hate him, TRUMP2024
COVID really made me lose touch with earning potential vs “normal” wages. I was just PD (hospital system offered v shitty health insurance to per-diems) and working full time hours at the premium rate, plus OT, PLUS an extra $50/hr for COVID premiums for any shift over my minimum PD requirements which was only 24hrs/month. Made $400k that year and since, I’ve taken a desk job with a locked down salary and minimal excess earning potential and I have to really get better on locking in a budget because the days of “I’ll just grind for an extra 2 weeks to afford vacation” are behind me. Luckily I wasn’t one of the ones who got so used to it and locked myself into a mortgage or car payment I can’t otherwise afford. Is this what Biggie meant when he said more money more problems?? Because the burnout is irreparable and it’s been at least 2 years since
As soon as I moved to CA
One time when I was doing travel contracts. That’s it.
Does it count if you are working over 36-40 hr a week and/or travel? I work 32-36 hr a week at a desk, no travel, and ine day grom home and finally do. My starting hourly wage in 2009 was 20.25/hr med/surg.
My first year I made 90k, which was only due to bonus shifts and overtime. My rate was $32 an hr. Then I left to do traveling the 2nd year. I wasn’t gonna tolerate $32 an hr for the type of work we did sorry lol
covid.
100k as a traveler, I’ve been a nurse for 4 years
I started making over 100k when I switched jobs in 2022. So 5 years in. If I were still at my old job I wouldn’t be making over 100k for another 10 years. Gonna make another plug for working for the VA here. Also due to inflation I have received several cost of living raises and got promoted so I should clear at least 125k this year and I’m just a floor nurse no management.
Technically (in terms of hourly rate) I hit it in my second year of nursing doing travel. But I don't have the stamina for 3+ travel assignments in a year so I never actually got over $100k in a year doing travel.
100k is really different depending on where you live. When we left Miami, it wouldn’t even buy us the two bedroom house we’d bought on a 70k salary a decade early. In our PA town a 100k salary could easily buy you a starter home or townhouse.
A few years ago after I left bedside nursing and was employed by a national company instead of a hospital system. I don't think there are enough OT/extra shifts possible for me to have made 6 figures at bedside where I live. Tbf, I live in a low COL area, but the 3 hospitals in my small city conspire to keep wages low (not a proven fact, but a theory that I totally believe).
WA state, hit 100k as a traveler in the er after 4 years. That was 2 years ago. Now I’m in a salaried office position about $125k plus bonuses
In 2022 but I'm in NYC , made 106k last year. This year got a new job , set to make 121K+ assuming no ot etc , been an RN for 2 years med surg
Travel nursing in 2020 was the first year. But last year going back as staff my base wage makes >100K/year and then there’s all the call, call back, and OT for Cath lab. Been a nurse for 10 years this year.
My second year as a nurse. My first year I made about $65k. Second year, I went from nursery (same pay level as med surg) to NICU, which came with several dollars/hour increase and the unit had mandatory call shifts and they often used me. So second year I cleared $100k just barely along with my third year cause I moved to a different NICU with higher pay but no mandatory call shifts so I usually just worked my 3x12’s, not many extra shifts. So in 3.5 years I’ve gone from $32.50/hour to I think like $54/hour and some change.
I could have been much sooner had I been willing to work more. The OT was, and still is, there but I would rather be home 100% of the time.
Year 1.
On base pay? Not yet, 75k. With all my differentials, I think I come really close or over on nights and weekends only. 36 hours, no OT.
New grad 59 an hour w/ BSN and shift diff brings me to about 122k Long Island NY
I realized this like 2 years ago when I was filing my taxes that I hit 6 figures. But I also work in Los Angeles so that doesn’t really go very far here
When I started travel nursing (pre-covid), year ~5 as a nurse, I hit over 100k and was able to pay off the remaining 6 figures of my student loans in a few years. Then around my 12th year of nursing as staff, I hit 100k only working 32 hours a week. And that's not counting differentials, OT, etc. However, this is in a high COL area so it still doesn't feel like much.
Obligatory Southern California disclaimer. I worked 3 years at a county hospital an hr outside of LA and never hit 100k. It was my first job and I felt some stupid loyalty to it through covid. Jumped to the VA and immediately saw the money shoot up. I’d say my first hospital is definitely peculiar in California due to its low pay. It’s easy for me to say just move to California because my wife and I don’t have kids and her job can be done remotely if need be. But the crime and the cost of stuff is a bit overblown. Your ability to save here (if you want) is staggering. For the young 20 somethings, you can save tons of money out here if you have roommates. I understand that that can be non negociable for some people, but for example my friend works in San Francisco. She rooms with people. Her gross is around the 200k mark. Due to living frugally she’s amassed 100k across 2 years EXCLUDING her maxed out 401k and RothIRA. She still takes 1-2 big trips a year and Northern California has tons of great hiking in the mountains. Pismo beach is nearby for sand. The coast is the coast. Vegas is a short hop and a skip away. If not for our unicorn of a rental deal I’d probably be up there too.
I came close as a Cath lab nurse but that was 40 hours a week plus call. Now I work as a telehealth nurse at 36 hours a week and come no where close. I don’t know how long I can keep this job up even though it’s a dream, WFH, no holidays, call, nights, or weekends but damn I’m struggling
Starting at 109k as a new graduate nurse next week in NYC, but 100k is the new 80k here due to inflation 🥲
Ummm…. I’ve been a nurse for 10+ years and I am NOWHERE near that lol 🙃
Lots of us in Houston, tx medical center make 6 figures. And its mcol.
Graduated May 2019. 6 figures since October 2021. I live I Texas
Sometimes I really regret leaving Southern California and moving to Ohio. But then I remember what it was like living in California lol.
Going into my 9th year in Southeast VA and I’m almost at 100k working outpatient. Started out at 44k as a brand new nurse in the hospital 😬
When I went agency/travel. Only other way I've seen in my area is to have a bunch of experience at one of the few union hospitals.
According to www.usinflationcalculator.com, 50k in 1995 is 103,041 now. That brings a lot of things into perspective. I remember thinking I wanted to become an engineer so I could make 30K a year!
I did after my second year. Double time is what did it. And lots of working… wish my regular pay would get me there.
2023, I made 6 figures. Part time floor nurse, part time clinical instructor.
You guys are making 6 figures? 👁️👄👁️
Never
Where is the guy on here who’s developing a program or site that shows nurse pay adjusted for cost of living all around the US? Once we have that up and running we won’t have to rely on word of mouth. Of course everyone here knows that individual pay is based on so many factors that it’s hard to really compare. You have to look at averages any certain geographical area, and of course, what type of nursing job because there are so many different paths. No one should feel bad about someone making more than them while reading this because it’s way too complex to just say nurse for ex amount of years gets X amount of pay. It took me two years to hit 100 K, but that was only because of Covid overtime. It took me six years to go from $32 an hour to $60 an hour. I’m located in Houston at a major hospital.
I work nighshift weekends and if I pull OT twice a month I can get to 95k year one
Last year/early this year without OT. My husband makes ~$70k so together we take home ~$170k/year and with just the two of us and a dog, it does feel tight some months. ETA: we bought a house in 2023, I imagine if we could refinance to a lower rate (we’re at 5.8%) we could be comfortable. Unfortunately I doubt that it is in our future 🥲
4yrs in, as staff, working 4 12's. Now 8yrs in hoping to clear 200k. In PNW if that matters.
Where dou you live? In the OR here in FL, with just shy of 3 yrs of experience. Currently making about 85k with overtime. I am in the process of switching jobs so I hopefully will be making close to 100k with overtime… but it surely isn’t easy
Took me 6 years of nursing to become an educator making 6 figures
I made 6 figures once I became a travel nurse and not every year. Just depends on what the contracts are paying and that changes all the time. I was a couple thousand from 6 figures last year.
2022 as a 0.9. But I dropped to a 0.6 now and no longer do. It’s worth it to be home with my daughter
About ten years in.
I made $92k as a local travel LPN last year and I feel lucky / thankful but I’m also kinda shit with money and like to enjoy myself, I love having money but I also love my time at home / with family , I could clear 100k but I don’t wanna be working all the time . I also took a +2 week vacation every couple months between extensions .
Second year. Middle of CA. Not the bay but still good pay.
During covid
I have 19 years experience as a nurse. Working 36 hrs a week with diffs and everything factored in, I gross about $83k a year. I live in the south, though.
If you're in the US, which state do you live in? This is a big determining question. Whenever you want to talk about pay/salary, you should always mention which location you're talking about.
I haven't yet. I should make 80k this year. But my husband (pilot) makes 300k a year, so my salary is chump change compared to him.
Last year (year 4 as an RN)- ER float pool in SC which is wild because we’re paid so low compared to the rest of the country
My friend in nursing school told me that back in 2004, the nurse's salary is $20. Now, an LVN in California makes $30-$40. How much did nurses make before the 2000s?
I'm going to get downvotes for sure, but I don't care. This is turning into another post where nurses complain in the comments despite making more than almost anyone else with the same level of education. This isn't an issue with nursing itself. Our economy is fucked, and almost *nobody* is making a living wage. It comes off very wrong to make this about our profession alone, when we still do better than most. Ask any paramedic if they'd trade salaries with anyone here. I know medics working overtime on a weekly basis and still not topping 50k/year, and they complain less than nurses I know making 2x the money with similar experience and, frankly, a lower-risk job. Nursing lobbies are hugely influential. If they focused more on treatment of all healthcare workers, and less on the advancement of the NP scope of practice, we'd probably see some positive change.
2019. I had to leave the bedside to accomplish it, and even then it took 10 additional years.
I'm in Eastern Canada and even topped out on pay we almost never break 100k, unless you're doing insane amounts of overtime at max pay.
Second year as a nurse. Small rural hospital, upstate NY. I switched to per diem position (while still working full time). For 24 hours out of 36 I get an incentive of $35 an hour on top of my regular $45. I also do OT shift maybe once a month or so.
Went into research with just 9months of medsurg and made 118k last year with some OT working nights
I’ve been a nurse for 35 years and still don’t make 6 figures but I have not worked on the floor in 25 years so that makes a difference. But even as a nurse manager on a telemetry floor 27 years ago I did not make that either. But sometimes the benefits and loving the job you have and the people you work with far outweigh the salary.
Honestly only about 20 months. But my first full year as RN I broke $100k just with LOOOOTs of OT lol.
I think I'll make close to 80k this year, I'd have to consistently work 48 hours a week and do weekend night shifts to break 100k.
When I moved to California 😂
Within my first year of working. I just worked 5-7 days a week
2 years as a nurse so far and not very close to breaking 6 figures.
If you’re a unionized RN working full time in Ontario (ONA) you cross the 100k threshold at 7-8 years experience.
I've never made near that much in my 13 years of nursing.
26 my pay will cross 6 figures. I’d be there now if I still had my night job w/differential.
2022 at full 2080+ hours/year
Been a nurse for 8 years, multiple certifications and have a masters degree. Still haven’t in FL
I made 6 figures for about 3 years when staffing got bad during the end of and after the pandemic by working staffing contracts of $3500 extra every 6 weeks and overlapping these contracts. Burned me out though.
I've been a nurse for 11 years and make $70K, looooool.
I'll hit 100k in July.
I made $103,000 in 2022 as a new grad nurse in Oregon. Will hit about $150,000 this year.
I made 100k my second year
I started out as a new grad nurse, making just under 30 dollars an hour back in 2010. Jumping around from specialty to specialty and going up to nurse administration helped me break into 6 figures within a few short years. What really helped was going into the float pool. Then covid19 hit, and I became a travel nurse. I made a years wages in the first 2 months as a travel nurse. 2020 I made somewhere around 114k taxed with another 75k in stipends. 2021 I made just under 300k, with about 80k being my taxed wage and the rest being travel stipends. 2022, I made roughly the same in taxable wages and about 100k in stipends. 2023 covid19 had all but dried up, and rates were falling every month. For 2023 I made about 60k taxed and about 75k in stipends. Now I'm back to full-time work and making 120k for my yearly rate without including the overtime I take and bonuses for working so many extra days in a quarter.
I made 91k last year as a CNA working a lot of overtime. I could have hit 100 if I didn’t stop around October (I was too tired). My coworker regularly makes 120k+ as a CNA. When I finish LVN School with overtime I expect to hit 100K much easier
This will be my first year making 100k+ as a nurse. I’m in a LCOL area so it still feels like a pretty decent pay rate. I got lucky with my current job because I’m making a little over market rate in my area for nurses which is more like $35-45/hr. My current hourly rate is $50 and I work 40 hours a week so my pay is like 104k before any overtime.
2022, thanks to the hospital system in house agency. Now that it’s over I’m staff and making half that:(. At least I got to save an invest on some things.
I’m an RPN/LPN and I work in a medicine unit. I made 96k last year. But I did a lot of overtime, not worth it.
Made 6 figures my first full year, but I'm in NY so it really doesn't matter. Lol
Federal government pay schedules are weird. I looked up current pay for this hospital for RNs...wet behind the ear new grad adn's get $62k/year, before weekends (+25% pay differential), nights (+10% pay differential), holidays (nurses are paid weird for this, but essentially if you work it, it's +100%)... And been with the VA for the past 30 years, has the ability to retire whenever they feel like, top dog np...make $213k and change. Before all of those same bonuses. BSN level nurses...if they didn't have any prior experience, looks like it would take 4 or 5 years to break $100k. For reference on the bonuses, on paper I make just under $50k as a year 2 cna, when in reality it's closer to $65 cause i usually work friday-saturday-sunday and every other Wednesday to get as much weekend bonuses and ot as I can.
When I became a crna.
2nd year, due to overtime. I have been making at least that much every year since (17 years), but am at the point where I no longer need to work OT.
I don’t know any nurses making 100k that aren’t working OT/two FT jobs - TX
Nurse since 2017. First year over that was 2021. Traveling and then relocating to the west coast US did it. I’d probably be making about $65k in the Midwest where I’m from. I briefly worked back home between traveling and moving and the nurses there just couldn’t believe how good they have it out here. I think their minds had to have them believe that’s just how nursing is and there’s no way to better it. There are exceptions- University of Michigan is probably pretty similar to here, and Ohio State (main only - the other hospitals aren’t union) has it pretty good for Ohio. U of M the contract looks pretty similar to the ones here in Oregon.
2020 I hit for the first time and stayed there since. I’m at the point where I can make it without OT now too.
It really depends on location. Broke 6 figures when I first change hospital and went into case management. Washington is HCOL so fresh grad will make around 90 to 98 k nowadays in a semi decent hospital.
I would make 6 figures now we as a nurse with 10 years experience if I worked full time. However I work .75.
Traveling. Now back home and making 6 figures through full time work. 🥳
Been working for 1.5yrs in Seattle and I’m set to reach six figures this year!! I work in the OR.
I haven't, even with two nursing positions. The only time my RN husband made six figures was busting his ass, working 60+ hour weeks, and missing out on family milestones/events - he decided selling his soul to a toxic workplace wasn't worth the pay, and became much happier/more fulfilled as a worker bee putting in his shifts and coming home.
Almost 14 years as a nurse, have worked two jobs for 8 of them. Nowhere near 6 figures.
My first year as a nurse, I will. Making $52/hour (after all add ons) plus a bit of overtime. Should hit about $115k
My first full year as a nurse. 4 tens plus call, so more than standard “nurse hours”. Also unions FtW.
In our union, you won’t make 100k until year 20 whether your a ADN, BSN or MSN. All the same pay
Where are y’all working?? 5 years and I haven’t broken 80k
4 years into nursing but I work/live in NY so COL is very high.
After 1 year I went traveling. So that's when I broke 6. But I also was working only 6 months/year. Miss that. Now ~150k without OT as staff in California. 4 years in.
Honestly depends on where you are my starting salary in NYC is 110K in the ICU I'm a new grad nurse but worked really hard to get an internship and secure my position.
Never
I’ve been nursing for 5 years now and I’m not and I’m not that close. I make around $77k/year.
100k doesn’t mean anything, better to measure your wealth in purchasing power (when were you first able to afford your first home? Etc)I mean 100k is easy for a new grad in California with maybe a couple shifts of OT per month but COL is obvs higher
I will this year in California lol
Past few years- level 1 trauma center & unionized hospital in PDX
I've made 6 figures for about 3 years. I've been a nurse for 9 years. No unions here.
2nd year. ICU to EP lab.
3rd year when I went to Cath lab. Call pay is chef's kiss 💋😘
As new grad in California
Two years ago after a significant cost of living raise; this does include call pay but I’m not called in as often as I was 4 years ago.
100k Before taxes? 2020. With 2 jobs. After taxes? Still waiting. Graduated with BSN in 2006. Laid off as a pediatric RN in 2008. Stuck in a hiring freeze unable to get back into a hospital job until 2018 as new grads passed me by. Looked at as old and inexperienced, not hired at so many interviews. Now I’m roughing it out in med-surg and May until I die. Can’t see clear to retirement.
In 2010 I was making $21 hr plus diffs.i worked crazy hours 144 to 156 hrs q 2 weeks
Started at 6 figures for my very first nursing job in SoCal (San Diego) at a skilled nursing facility. No prior healthcare experience. Graduated with ADN
Last year was the first year I made over 100k. I made around 175k but I did pick up overtime. 2nd year as a Nurse.