How Much Do Registered Nurses in California Earn?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that job growth for registered nurses will be excellent overall. In California as elsewhere, educational paths to the position of RN include diploma programs in hospitals, community college programs and bachelor's of science degrees in nursing. In addition, some nurses go on earn master's degrees. Earnings for nurses in California are above-average, with promotions to the highest-paying jobs open to those with bachelor's degrees and higher.
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California Registered Nurses' Earnings
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2009 estimates, California had 233,030 registered nurses. Their mean or average hourly wage was $$40.90, which produced a yearly income of $85,080. The BLS computes the yearly wage by multiplying the hourly wage by 2,080 hours and rounding. This represents 40 hours of work per week times 52 weeks.
Comparison with National Earnings
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Approximately 2,583,770 nurses were working nationwide in 2008. The mean hourly wage nationally was $31.99, with an annual income of $66,530 for 2,080 hours per year. The range by percentiles was from $21.14 an hour for the bottom 10 percent of nurses to $45.05 per hour for the top 10 percent nationwide. California nurses therefore earned much better than the average for the nation.
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Comparison with Selected States
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Nurses in South Dakota earned only an average of $25.73 per hour, and those in Mississippi earned only $27.70 per hour in 2008. Thus California nurses earned more than $10 more per average than nurses in those states. Other states with nearly the same earning potential as California for RNs included Massachusetts, with average earnings of $39.32 per hour; Hawaii, with pay of $38.47 per hour; and Maryland, with $36.70 per hour. None of them offered as many as California's 233,030 positions, however. The nearest, Massachusetts, offered 83,060.
Importance of Employer
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Nurses make up the largest group of health care workers -- approximately 2.6 million nationwide as of 2008. About 60 percent of RNs worked in hospitals, with the rest working in doctor's offices, nursing care facilities, home health care, schools, government and other jobs. Pay nationwide varies with the employer. Nurses in employment services earned $68,160 yearly, while hospital nurses earned $63,880. At the low end, RNs in nursing care facilities averaged $57,060 yearly nationwide.
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