What Is the Hourly Wage of a BSN?

BSNs prepare nurses for managerial positions.

Bachelor's degrees in nursing, or BSNs, are more often becoming the minimum requirement for nursing positions, especially for more advanced case management and administration positions. Accordingly, nurses with BSNs in higher-level nursing positions typically earn more than registered nurses on the floor. Nurses with BSNs who work on the floor may receive slightly higher salaries than nurses with diplomas or associate degrees.

Average

Registered nurses in the U.S. earned an average of $32.56 per hour, or $67,720 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics as of May 2010. The 10th percentile earned up to $21.24 per hour, and the 25th percentile earned up to $25.47 per hour. The 75th percentile made up to $37.99 per hour, and the 90th percentile made at least $45.74 per hour. These figures include advanced practice nurses with master's degrees and certifications, as well as nurses with BSNs, associate degrees and diplomas.

Comparisons

Indeed.com listed the average salary of a nurse with a master's degree as $81,000 per year. A BSN earned an average of $75,000 per year, and a nurse with an associate degree earned $70,000 per year on average. Divide each of these salaries by the average 2,080 hours per week in a year that a full-time nurse works, and the hourly salaries are $38.94 for a nurse with a master's degree, $36.06 per hour for a nurse with a BSN, and $33.65 per hour for a nurse with an associate degree.

Growing Number

More nurses are earning bachelor's degrees than ever before. In 1980, only 27.5 percent of nurses had earned a bachelor's degree. By 2008, that number had risen to 50 percent.

Example

Huntington Hospital, part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, listed jobs on its website as of June 20, 2011, that required or preferred BSNs. The jobs ranged from assistant nurse manager to case manager to Women's Health Center RN. Certain positions were supervisory in nature, but others were regular staff nurse positions.

References

• American Association of Colleges of Nursing; Your Nursing Career --- A Look at the Facts; 2002
• Bureau of Labor Statistics; Registered Nurses; Dec. 2009
• Bureau of Labor Statistics; Occup. Empl. & Wages --- May 2010 --- Registered Nurses; May 2010
• Indeed.com; MSN Nurse, BSN Nurse, ASN Nurse, LPN Nurse Salary; June 2011
• U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services: HRSA Study Finds Nursing Workforce Is Growing and More Diverse; March 2010
• North Shore-LIJ Huntington Hospital; Nursing Department; June 2011