Where will you earn the most as a nurse? The beginning hourly salary for registered nurses varies hugely depending on a number of factors, including what state you live in. In Alabama, you may start out earning $18-$20 an hour. In Florida, you may start out earning $20-22 an hour. In New York, it would not be unreasonable to expect $30-35 an hour. Woo hoo! Pack your bags, you’re headed to New York, right? Or what about sunny Hawaii? In the same salary range as New York. Think of that beautiful weather and all those beaches. Forget New York. Throw some bikinis and suntan lotion in that suitcase!
Wait - not so fast with the packing. Put down your suitcases, back away slooowly. We’re going to show you why hourly salary ISN’T the biggest factor in determining the lifestyle you’ll be able to live once you get that nursing degree.
The most important factor to consider is quality of life. Salaries are generally higher in big cities, but if you hate them and are miserable fighting traffic to get to work every day, the money isn’t going to matter much
The next factor to consider is cost of living, especially housing. The starting pay in California would make nurses in Alabama green with envy - until you consider the fact that even with the current housing market crash, there are many cities in California where it’s hard to buy a house for less than $750,000, but in Alabama, it would not be unreasonable to expect a nice house in the area of $100,000-150,000.
We’re going to direct you to this fantastic article which ranks states by both nursing salary and cost of living. California was ranked number one in salary for registered nurses, at a very nice $69,140. However, once cost of living is factored in, California drops to FORTY-FOUR in terms of purchasing power for those nursing dollars.
Good news for those nurses that love cowboys, warm weather, and wide-open spaces: Texas is number one, in this study.
You prefer seasons and leaves that change and a white Christmas? Don’t despair. Minnesota is number two, Washington is number three, Wyoming is number four…and for the rest, click on the article, go to page 3, and click on Table 1, towards the top of the page, for the full list.