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Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) represent an important class within the nation’s highly-valued nursing workforce. These pros come with a graduate-level education, national certification, and state licensure to practice as an advanced practice clinician in their chosen APRN role and specialty. In about half the states in the nation, APRNs can serve as independent practitioners, providing diagnoses and treatment plans in an autonomous fashion, while in the other half they still serve as front-line practitioners, but under the formal supervision of a physician.
Clinical Nurse Specialist Salaries
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist Salaries
Certified Nurse Midwife Salaries
Whatever setting they work in or whichever conditions they work under, APRNs are transforming healthcare by providing cost-efficient, patient-centered care, often to people in rural and medically underserved areas. They’re answering the call for qualified clinicians who provide individualized, comprehensive care, and they’re improving patient outcomes along the way.
Their advanced level of knowledge, skills, and education allow them to remain the highest paid practitioners in the nursing field. Salaries among APRNs, which frequently exceed six figures, reveal their value not just in the nursing profession, but in our nation’s healthcare system.
Thanks to a swiftly growing senior population that demands more healthcare services due to age-related, co-morbid conditions, coupled with a persistent shortage of physicians, it’s all hands on deck when it comes to the delivery of healthcare in the U.S., and APRNs are leading the charge.
APRN Salary Trends
A 2019 Medscape APRN Compensation Report provides a comprehensive overview of what APRNs are earning, and salaries are as impressive as ever.
APRNs employed by a hospital or medical group earned an annual average salary of $118,000 as of 2018. APRNs working for NP-led practices earned less, at $103,000, but those APRNs allowed to practice to the full extent of their education and training while running their own practices earned the most, at $124,000.
Salaries for Nurse Practitioners
Nurse practitioners (NPs) comprise the largest number of APRNs in the nation – 290,000 and counting, according to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).
As of May 2019, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported an annual, average salary of $109,820 for NPs. The highest paid in the profession (top 10%) earned an average of $152,160 during this time.
The BLS also provides an overview of what NPs are earning in different settings. Nurse practitioners working outside of an office setting earn more than their colleagues working in physician-led practices:
- Physician offices: $108,930
- Outpatient care centers: $119,920
- General medical and surgical hospitals: $115,790
- Offices of other healthcare practitioners: $108,660
A September 2020 PayScale report provided more insight into what NPs are earning at different stages in their careers:
Experience in the field does make a difference in earning potential. NPs with between 5-10 years of experience can expect to make about $10,000 more annually then those fairly new to the field:
- Less than 1 year of experience: $90,000
- 1-4 years’ experience: $94,000
- 5-9 years’ experience: $100,000
- 10-19 years’ experience: $105,000
- 20+ years’ experience: $107,000
Not all NP specialties will earn you a similar salary. PayScale reported the following average salaries, according to specialty:
- Acute care: $101,346
- Geriatrics: $101,307
- Internal medicine: $99,084
- Family nurse practitioner: $95,434
According to PayScale, NPs specializing in surgery earn about 8% more than the national average, followed by ICU NPs, who earn about 6% more, and acute care and geriatric NPs, who earn about 5% more.
Check out the latest BLS salaries for nurse practitioners (50th-90th percentile), by state:
- Alabama: $96,470 – $129,270 (approximately 3,800 nurse practitioners)
- Alaska: $116,480 – $165,680 (approximately 490 nurse practitioners)
- Arizona: $113,840 – $155,340 (approximately 4,310 nurse practitioners)
- Arkansas: $101,520 – $132,070
- California: $129,960 – $189,950 (approximately 13,900 nurse practitioners)
- Colorado: $106,950 – $140,990 (approximately 2,870 nurse practitioners)
- Connecticut: $115,680 – $158,650 (approximately 2,670 nurse practitioners)
- Delaware: $112,170 – $148,330 (approximately 820 nurse practitioners)
- District of Columbia: $112,350 – $142,670 (approximately 900 nurse practitioners)
- Florida: $99,980 – $131,680 (approximately 12,310 nurse practitioners)
- Georgia: $104,110 – $140,620 (approximately 7,690 nurse practitioners)
- Hawaii: $129,850 – $164,920 (approximately 420 nurse practitioners)
- Idaho: $111,750 – $158,650 (approximately 820 nurse practitioners)
- Illinois: $107,420 – $139,520 (approximately 6,750 nurse practitioners)
- Indiana: $106,580 – $131,990 (approximately 5,330 nurse practitioners)
- Iowa: $108,220 – $140,320 (approximately 2,000 nurse practitioners)
- Kansas: $100,630 – $128,930 (approximately 2,790 nurse practitioners)
- Kentucky: $96,640 – $133,610 (approximately 3,620 nurse practitioners)
- Louisiana: $101,610 – $151,670 (approximately 3,170 nurse practitioners)
- Maine: $106,060 – $131,730 (approximately 1,380 nurse practitioners)
- Maryland: $110,980 – $152,490 (approximately 3,680 nurse practitioners)
- Massachusetts: $119,730 – $164,430 (approximately 6,520 nurse practitioners)
- Michigan: $105,310 – $133,440 (approximately 4,840 nurse practitioners)
- Minnesota: $119,010 – $155,010 (approximately 3,970 nurse practitioners)
- Mississippi: $104,360 – $154,250 (approximately 3,390 nurse practitioners)
- Missouri: $101,860 – $132,570 (approximately 5,200 nurse practitioners)
- Montana: $109,310 – $135,270 (approximately 620 nurse practitioners)
- Nebraska: $104,830 – $132,030 (approximately 1,190 nurse practitioners)
- Nevada: $115,530 – $152,860
- New Hampshire: $111,120 – $142,760 (approximately 1,090 nurse practitioners)
- New Jersey: $120,040 – $158,200 (approximately 6,460 nurse practitioners)
- New Mexico: $111,720 – $147,410 (approximately 1,110 nurse practitioners)
- New York: $119,490 – $162,460 (approximately 14,060 nurse practitioners)
- North Carolina: $103,770 – $135,940 (approximately 5,540 nurse practitioners)
- North Dakota: $110,180 – $142,190 (approximately 520 nurse practitioners)
- Ohio: $103,480 – $133,680 (approximately 8,950 nurse practitioners)
- Oklahoma: $111,410 – $152,760 (approximately 1,750 nurse practitioners)
- Oregon: $114,140 – $152,960 (approximately 2,190 nurse practitioners)
- Pennsylvania: $100,390 – $129,250 (approximately 7,820 nurse practitioners)
- Rhode Island: $116,070 – $147,790 (approximately 700 nurse practitioners)
- South Carolina: $97,100 – $127,530 (approximately 2,450 nurse practitioners)
- South Dakota: $101,830 – $128,590 (approximately 550 nurse practitioners)
- Tennessee: $97,200 – $128,460 (approximately 7,850 nurse practitioners)
- Texas: $112,580 – $157,280 (approximately 13,620 nurse practitioners)
- Utah: $102,190 – $143,340 (approximately 1,640 nurse practitioners)
- Vermont: $101,920 – $142,860 (approximately 440 nurse practitioners)
- Virginia: $107,440 – $140,670 (approximately 5,200 nurse practitioners)
- Washington: $125,000 – $161,590 (approximately 3,870 nurse practitioners)
- West Virginia: $97,680 – $133,060 (approximately 1,200 nurse practitioners)
- Wisconsin: $113,040 – $134,050
- Wyoming: $115,050 – $160,030 (approximately 310 nurse practitioners)
Salaries for Clinical Nurse Specialists
According to the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS), clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) have been providing safe, evidence-based care for specific populations for more than 60 years. These APRNs may focus on a population, a type of care, a setting, or a disease/medical subspecialty. Regardless of whether they specialize in geriatrics, diabetes, oncology, women’s health, critical care, or another setting/specialty/population, today’s CNSs enjoy the same, strong salaries commonly associated with advanced practice licensure.
According to a September 2020 PayScale report, CNSs earn an average salary of $90,823, but those at the top end of the pay scale (top 10%) earn closer to $120,000.
According to PayScale, salaries for CNSs don’t vary much according to specialization:
- Acute care: $90,876
- Intensive care: $91,608
- Medicine/surgery: $91,714
- Oncology: $89,057
- Geriatrics: $91,295
However, experience does make a difference in your earning potential. With between 5-10 years of experience on your resume, you can expect to earn, on average, about $8,000 more annually than your newly certified and licensed colleagues.
- Less than one year of experience: $83,000
- 1-4 years’ experience: $87,000
- 5-9 years’ experience: $92,000
- 10-19 years’ experience: $93,000
- 20+ years’ experience: $98,000
Salaries for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists
It would be a vast understatement to say that certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) are an important part of our nation’s healthcare system. According to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA), CRNAs administered anesthetics to some 49 million patients in 2019 alone. You’ll find them in any setting where anesthesia is administered, including the military where they are particularly valued. In many rural and medically underserved parts of the country, they are the sole providers of anesthesia care.
Their value in our healthcare system is reflected in their average salaries, which far exceed other APRN roles. In fact, as of May 2019, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported an average, annual salary of $174,790 for CRNAs. The top earners in the profession (top 10%) earned an average salary of $203,730 during this time.
The setting in which CRNAs work influences their earning power. According to the BLS, CRNAs working in outpatient care centers earned, in many cases, as much as $30,000 more annually than their colleagues working in other settings:
- Outpatient care centers: $224,630
- General medical and surgical hospitals: $193,380
- Home health care: $192,300
- Specialty hospitals: $184,200
- Physicians’ offices: $171,220
- Offices of other health practitioners: $169,140
A September 2020 PayScale report revealed that some specialties come with higher average paychecks than other:
- General anesthesia: $160,434
- General surgery: $162,799
- Obstetrical anesthesia: $167,435
- Pediatrics: $163,287
- Emergency/trauma: $168,956
Experience is a major factor in average salaries for CRNAs, according to the PayScale report. In fact, CRNAs with just about five years of experience make about $20,000 more annually than those relatively new to the field:
- Less than 1 year of experience: $138,000
- 1-4 years’ experience: $148,000
- 5-9 years’ experience: $158,000
- 10-19 years’ experience: $167,000
- 20+ years’ experience: $176,000
The following BLS stats highlight what nurse anesthetists are earning in your state (50th-90th percentile):
- Alabama: $156,680 – <$208,000 (approximately 1,200 nurse anesthetists)
- Arizona: $153,730 – $191,310 (approximately 260 nurse anesthetists)
- Arkansas: $157,000 – <$208,000 (approximately 360 nurse anesthetists)
- California: <$208,000 (approximately 1,270 nurse anesthetists)
- Colorado: $177,530 – <$208,000 (approximately 430 nurse anesthetists)
- Connecticut: $190,290 – <$208,000
- Florida: $151,620 – <$208,000
- Georgia: $163,830 – <$208,000 (approximately 1,110 nurse anesthetists)
- Hawaii: $193,160 – <$208,000 (approximately 90 nurse anesthetists)
- Idaho: $150,630 – $180,270
- Illinois: $192,250 – <$208,000 (approximately 1,660 nurse anesthetists)
- Indiana: $153,140 – <$208,000
- Iowa: $193,510 – <$208,000 (approximately 340 nurse anesthetists)
- Kansas: $152,400 – $207,900
- Kentucky: $158,100 – <$208,000
- Louisiana: $157,610 – $201,790 (approximately 810 nurse anesthetists)
- Maine: $187,450 – <$208,000 (approximately 350 nurse anesthetists)
- Maryland: $189,440 – <$208,000 (approximately 440 nurse anesthetists)
- Massachusetts: $192,250 – <$208,000 (approximately 690 nurse anesthetists)
- Michigan: $193,210 – <$208,000 (approximately 2,330 nurse anesthetists)
- Minnesota: $187,210 – <$208,000 (approximately 1,900 nurse anesthetists)
- Mississippi: $175,590 – <$208,000 (approximately 260 nurse anesthetists)
- Missouri: $158,480 – <$208,000 (approximately 890 nurse anesthetists)
- Montana: <$208,000 (approximately 60 nurse anesthetists)
- Nebraska: $186,100 – <$208,000 (approximately 380 nurse anesthetists)
- Nevada: <$208,000 (approximately 60 nurse anesthetists)
- New Hampshire: $184,640 – <$208,000 (approximately 170 nurse anesthetists)
- New Jersey: $182,850 – <$208,000 (approximately 700 nurse anesthetists)
- New Mexico: $165,650 – <$208,000 (approximately 170 nurse anesthetists)
- New York: $185,580 – <$208,000 (approximately 1,900 nurse anesthetists)
- North Carolina: $179,520 – <$208,000 (approximately 3,190 nurse anesthetists)
- North Dakota: $190,190 – <$208,000 (approximately 130 nurse anesthetists)
- Ohio: $168,070 – <$208,000 (approximately 2,450 nurse anesthetists)
- Oklahoma: $178,970 – <$208,000 (approximately 360 nurse anesthetists)
- Oregon: <$208,000 (approximately 270 nurse anesthetists)
- Pennsylvania: $172,880 – <$208,000 (approximately 2,010 nurse anesthetists)
- South Carolina: $168,320 – <$208,000 (approximately 1,020 nurse anesthetists)
- South Dakota: $184,430 – <$208,000 (approximately 370 nurse anesthetists)
- Tennessee: $157,920 – $200,480 (approximately 2,680 nurse anesthetists)
- Texas: $167,490 -<$208,000 (approximately 4,300 nurse anesthetists)
- Utah: $149,880 – $189,270
- Virginia: $182,800 – <$208,000 (approximately 980 nurse anesthetists)
- Washington: $189,100 – <$208,000 (approximately 620 nurse anesthetists)
- West Virginia: $188,910 – <$208,000 (approximately 690 nurse anesthetists)
- Wisconsin: <$208,000 (approximately 760 nurse anesthetists)
- Wyoming: <$208,000 (approximately 50 nurse anesthetists)
Salaries for Certified Nurse-Midwives
According to the American Colleges of Nurse-Midwives, the workforce of certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) in the U.S. was 12,000+ strong as of 2019. Nurse-midwives have long been valued as fierce patient advocates and for their holistic, patient-centered approach to practice, and their role in the field of obstetrics/gynecology continues to grow by leaps and bounds, particularly in rural and other medically underserved areas of the country that report a severe lack of OB/GYN physicians.
The BLS reports that as of May 2019, certified nurse-midwives earned an average, annual salary of $105,030 and the top earners in the field (top 10%) earned $158,990.
The BLS also broke down what CNMs earned based on the setting in which they worked, with average salaries revealing that those working in outpatient care centers earned far more than their colleagues in other settings – sometimes as much as $40,000 or more annually:
- Outpatient care centers: $123,620
- General medical and surgical hospitals: $110,180
- Physicians’ offices: $106,760
- Specialty hospitals: $84,500
- Offices of other healthcare practitioners: $80,560
A September 2020 PayScale report revealed that CNMs working in triage earned the highest average salary, at $100,753, followed by OB/GYN practices/labor and delivery, at $97,061 – $98,354.
While newly certified and licensed CNMs earn an average salary of about $90,000, according to the PayScale report, those with just a few years of experience (1-4 years) saw a significant pay bump to $95,000, then again to about $101,000 once they hit between 10-19 years in the field. The top earners here had more than 20 years of experience, earning an average salary of $108,000.
The following BLS numbers can give you a good idea of what nurse-midwives are earning in your state (50th-90thpercentile):
- Alaska: $78,450 – $137,360 (approximately 50 CNMs)
- Arizona: $112,450 – $185,160 (approximately 110 CNMs)
- California: $159,630 – $204,130 (approximately 690 CNMs)
- Colorado: $104,900 – $138,120 (approximately 170 CNMs)
- Connecticut: $114,230 – $137,600 (approximately 80 CNMs)
- Delaware: $95,410 – $123,240 (approximately 60 CNMs)
- District of Columbia: $87,630 – $140,060 (approximately 40 CNMs)
- Florida: $90,840 – $118,780 (approximately 330 CNMs)
- Georgia: $94,410 – $132,020 (approximately 520 CNMs)
- Illinois: $102,680 – $134,030 (approximately 290 CNMs)
- Indiana: $111,920 – $136,420 (approximately 80 CNMs)
- Iowa: $97,470 – $161,590 (approximately 40 CNMs)
- Kentucky: $102,040 – $141,720 (approximately 70 CNMs)
- Maine: $114,450 – $133,820 (approximately 60 CNMs)
- Maryland: $108,630 – $145,360 (approximately 170 CNMs)
- Massachusetts: $113,580 – $174,060 (approximately 310 CNMs)
- Michigan: $99,080 – $134,820 (approximately 280 CNMs)
- Minnesota: $116,920 – $157,270 (approximately 220 CNMs)
- Mississippi: $115,530 – $182,550 (approximately 40 CNMs)
- Missouri: $112,900 – $153,730 (approximately 50 CNMs)
- New Hampshire: $106,190 – $143,080 (approximately 70 CNMs)
- New Jersey: $112,460 – $154,550 (approximately 170 CNMs)
- New Mexico: $104,230 – $131,630 (approximately 90 CNMs)
- New York: $116,040 – $161,820 (approximately 480 CNMs)
- North Carolina: $100,410 – $128,080 (approximately 180 CNMs)
- Ohio: $97,720 – $135,320 (approximately 330 CNMs)
- Oregon: $116,640 – $159,030 (approximately 180 CNMs)
- Pennsylvania: $98,890 – $127,920 (approximately 400 CNMs)
- Rhode Island: $109,690 – $149,430 (approximately 50 CNMs)
- South Carolina: $94,060 – $130,880 (approximately 30 CNMs)
- Tennessee: $92,070 – $116,370 (approximately 40 CNMs)
- Texas: $84,080 – $128,410 (approximately 540 CNMs)
- Utah: $99,990 – $151,720 (approximately 60 CNMs)
- Vermont: $94,520 – $129,180 (approximately 50 CNMs)
- Virginia: $99,050 – $125,070 (approximately 180 CNMs)
- Washington: $109,510 – $130,640 (approximately 110 CNMs)
- Wisconsin: $112,240 – $163,520 (approximately 100 CNMs)
Salary and employment data compiled by the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics in May of 2019. Figures represent accumulated data for all employment sectors in which nurse practitioners work. BLS salary data represents average and median earnings for the occupations listed and includes workers at all levels of education and experience. This data does not represent starting salaries.
Salary and employment data compiled by the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics in May of 2019. Figures represent accumulated data for all employment sectors in which nurse anesthetists work. BLS salary data represents average and median earnings for the occupations listed and includes workers at all levels of education and experience. This data does not represent starting salaries.
Salary and employment data compiled by the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics in May of 2019. Figures represent accumulated data for all employment sectors in which nurse-midwives work. BLS salary data represents average and median earnings for the occupations listed and includes workers at all levels of education and experience. This data does not represent starting salaries.
All salary and employment data accessed September 2020.
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