A registered nurse in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara has a median wage of $216,740. In Arecibo the median is $37,460. That is a 5.79-fold difference for the same job title, which is unusually wide even by the standards of a country this large — and it means a national average for this role is close to meaningless.
Ten per cent of registered nurses earn below $68,940 and ten per cent above $137,470 — a 1.99× band. The upside from median to 90th percentile is 41%, which is a normal amount of room for experience and specialisation to matter. An offer below the 25th percentile is worth questioning; one above the 75th is worth taking seriously.
8 of the ten best-paying metros for registered nurses are in CA. When one state dominates the top of the table like this, cost of living is doing part of the work but rarely all of it — state licensing rules, public-sector pay scales and the presence of a few large employers usually explain the rest. If you are comparing an offer in CA against one elsewhere, adjust for housing before concluding anything.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA | $216,740 | $104.20 | 0.93 | 22,930 |
| Vallejo CA | $203,290 | $97.74 | 1.32 | 4,120 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA | $186,610 | $89.71 | 0.81 | 41,750 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma CA | $174,550 | $83.92 | 0.83 | 3,720 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom CA | $171,460 | $82.43 | 1 | 23,590 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville CA | $170,960 | $82.19 | 0.82 | 1,750 |
| Yuba City CA | $149,320 | $71.79 | 0.97 | 1,080 |
| Kahului-Wailuku HI | $144,350 | $69.40 | 0.79 | 1,270 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad CA | $139,520 | $67.08 | 0.86 | 28,680 |
| Urban Honolulu HI | $139,260 | $66.95 | 1 | 9,680 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles CA | $138,820 | $66.74 | 0.82 | 2,180 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara CA | $137,360 | $66.04 | 0.75 | 3,280 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $135,560 | $65.18 | 0.8 | 109,360 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region of California nonmetropolitan area | $135,560 | $65.17 | 0.71 | 1,610 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area | $135,270 | $65.04 | 0.94 | 1,290 |
| Bend OR | $135,010 | $64.91 | 1.06 | 2,500 |
| Salinas CA | $134,910 | $64.86 | 0.79 | 3,180 |
| Stockton-Lodi CA | $134,580 | $64.70 | 0.87 | 5,460 |
| Redding CA | $134,350 | $64.59 | 1.11 | 1,720 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario CA | $133,940 | $64.40 | 0.95 | 35,290 |
| North Coast Region of California nonmetropolitan area | $133,830 | $64.34 | 0.92 | 2,200 |
| Modesto CA | $132,590 | $63.75 | 1.14 | 4,850 |
| Salem OR | $131,750 | $63.34 | 0.98 | 4,010 |
| Merced CA | $131,620 | $63.28 | 0.61 | 1,050 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura CA | $131,160 | $63.06 | 0.81 | 5,710 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arecibo PR | $37,460 | $18.01 | 1.15 | 870 |
| Aguadilla PR | $38,000 | $18.27 | 0.57 | 600 |
| Ponce PR | $38,570 | $18.54 | 1.43 | 1,980 |
| Guayama PR | $38,800 | $18.65 | 1.31 | 350 |
| Puerto Rico nonmetropolitan area | $39,130 | $18.81 | 0.66 | 420 |
| Mayaguez PR | $39,280 | $18.88 | 1.83 | 2,070 |
| San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas PR | $41,980 | $20.18 | 1 | 14,940 |
| Northwest Alabama nonmetropolitan area | $64,540 | $31.03 | 0.9 | 1,330 |
| Lower East Mississippi nonmetropolitan area | $65,040 | $31.27 | 1.22 | 3,270 |
| Florence-Muscle Shoals AL | $66,360 | $31.90 | 1.08 | 1,320 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morgantown WV | $80,130 | $38.52 | 3.08 | 4,510 |
| Rochester MN | $101,660 | $48.87 | 2.39 | 6,390 |
| Ann Arbor MI | $103,450 | $49.74 | 2.3 | 10,980 |
| Gainesville FL | $81,870 | $39.36 | 2.25 | 7,470 |
| Greenville NC | $81,670 | $39.26 | 2.15 | 3,770 |
| Iowa City IA | $85,940 | $41.32 | 2 | 4,090 |
| Sioux Falls SD-MN | $75,350 | $36.23 | 1.98 | 7,680 |
| Charleston WV | $80,230 | $38.57 | 1.92 | 4,320 |
| Springfield IL | $84,220 | $40.49 | 1.87 | 4,110 |
| Mayaguez PR | $39,280 | $18.88 | 1.83 | 2,070 |
| Huntington-Ashland WV-KY-OH | $81,010 | $38.95 | 1.82 | 5,580 |
| Shreveport-Bossier City LA | $80,080 | $38.50 | 1.81 | 6,390 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | $119,720 | $57.56 | 0.96 | 197,740 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $135,560 | $65.18 | 0.8 | 109,360 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN | $100,490 | $48.31 | 1.02 | 100,240 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX | $101,420 | $48.76 | 0.87 | 76,680 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | $101,180 | $48.64 | 1.17 | 73,790 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $99,830 | $48.00 | 0.92 | 65,910 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA-NH | $106,180 | $51.05 | 1.09 | 64,240 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach FL | $91,380 | $43.93 | 1.01 | 61,670 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell GA | $100,490 | $48.31 | 0.9 | 56,460 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler AZ | $100,830 | $48.48 | 1.04 | 53,700 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV | $102,710 | $49.38 | 0.69 | 46,830 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn MI | $97,280 | $46.77 | 1.07 | 44,310 |
Figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme, May 2025 release, SOC code 29-1141. OEWS surveys employers, so it reports what is actually paid rather than what job advertisements claim, and it excludes the self-employed. Estimates cover 513 of 528 metropolitan areas — near-complete coverage, which means the ranges above are reliable rather than drawn from a handful of markets. Read the methodology.