What is a Registered Nurse's Starting Salary?

Registered Nurses are often paid by the hour rather than with a yearly salary, so for a Registered Nurse, "starting salary" usually means "starting hourly wage." Looking at the Registered Nurse starting salary report above, we can see that Registered Nurses typically start out making around $20 an hour. From that jumping-off point, a Registered Nurse average salary can increase to around $30 an hour. However, there are many steps along the road from Registered Nurse starting salary to the salary range for a registered nurse with more experience. It's important to research other factors in order to get a balanced picture of average nursing salary.

Salary Range for a Registered Nurse

PayScale's Nurse Salary Data by Job shows that Registered Nurse is one of the highest-paid nursing jobs, second only to Nurse Practitioners. This higher salary range for a Registered Nurse is due to the extensive training a Registered Nurse must go through, as well as an RN's key role as patient advocate. The Registered Nurse Average Salary by Hospital Setting report will give you some insight into the salary range for a registered nurse working in a hospital. However, these days a Registered Nurse's services are needed by a wide variety of companies outside the hospital, such as sports teams, insurance companies, school districts, and more. It's definitely worth looking at Registered Nurse Average Salary by Employer type to see what other options are available and how well they pay. The salary range for a Registered Nurse, as with most careers, is also affected by location. Nurses who love to live where it's warm are in luck - Registered Nurse Average Salary Data by City shows that Houston and Phoenix currently offer some of the highest median nurse salaries.

Paging Dr. Salary! You won't find him in the operating room, but he can help answer your salary questions. Find out why asking "what are median nurse salaries" is a better question than "what is a registered nurse's average salary" in the Ask. Dr. Salary article, "Why is Median Better than Mean for a Typical Salary?"