Clinical Nurse Specialist: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
BLS does not publish pay for clinical nurse specialists separately. Every pay figure on this page is for the BLS occupation “Registered Nurses” (SOC 29-1141), which includes clinical nurse specialists and other jobs; it is not a figure for clinical nurse specialists alone.
10% of workers in the BLS occupation “Registered Nurses” earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $68,940
- Hourly
- $33.14
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of workers in the BLS occupation “Registered Nurses” earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $80,330
- Hourly
- $38.62
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of workers in the BLS occupation “Registered Nurses” earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $97,550
- Hourly
- $46.90
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of workers in the BLS occupation “Registered Nurses” earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $112,350
- Hourly
- $54.02
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of workers in the BLS occupation “Registered Nurses” earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $137,470
- Hourly
- $66.09
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Clinical Nurse Specialists direct nursing staff in the provision of patient care in a clinical practice setting, such as a hospital, hospice, clinic, or home. The median pay is $97,550 a year ($46.90 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a master's degree (86% of workers surveyed by O*NET).
- Median pay
- $97,550
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 3,379,720
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 5 of 5
- extensive preparation
- Most common education
- Master's Degree
- 86% of workers
Clinical Nurse Specialists at a glance
Workers in the BLS occupation “Registered Nurses” (which includes clinical nurse specialists) in the United States earned a median annual wage of $97,550 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for clinical nurse specialists in the United States.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS projects employment of clinical nurse specialists in the United States to grow 5.6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 180,800 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS estimates that 1.1% of registered nurses in the United States had the ability to telework in 2025, a preliminary estimate of whether the job allows it, not a count of remote jobs.
Source: BLS Occupational Requirements Survey, 2025 preliminary
Every page for Clinical Nurse Specialists
What clinical nurse specialists do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).
- Provide specialized direct and indirect care to inpatients and outpatients within a designated specialty, such as obstetrics, neurology, oncology, or neonatal care.
- Collaborate with other health care professionals and service providers to ensure optimal patient care.
- Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in nursing.
- Develop, implement, or evaluate standards of nursing practice in specialty area, such as pediatrics, acute care, and geriatrics.
- Maintain departmental policies, procedures, objectives, or infection control standards.
- Instruct nursing staff in areas such as the assessment, development, implementation, and evaluation of disability, illness, management, technology, or resources.
- Develop and maintain departmental policies, procedures, objectives, or patient care standards, based on evidence-based practice guidelines or expert opinion.
- Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of nursing practice or organizational systems.
What the job requires
Data BLS figures for registered nurses (SOC 29-1141), 2025 preliminary BLS Occupational Requirements Survey. This TryHired page covers a specialty within that occupation; the figures describe the whole occupation.
- Telework available
- 1.1%
- of workers had the ability to telework
- Most common strength level
- Light
- 50.5% of workers
- Can pause work
- 15.0%
- of workers could take short, unscheduled breaks
- Self-paced workload
- 2.9%
- of workers set their own workload
On TryHired lists: Jobs that don't require experience.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey. Estimates are preliminary; ranges are shown as published.
Industries that employ it
Data Share of all clinical nurse specialist jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix). Figures cover all registered nurses (SOC 29-1141), the broader occupation.
- Hospitals; state, local, and private59.1% of all jobs in this occupation · +3.9% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $104,420
- Ambulatory healthcare services18.9% of all jobs in this occupation · +12.3% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $97,510
- Nursing and residential care facilities5.8% of all jobs in this occupation · -1.2% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $88,610
- Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals5.2% of all jobs in this occupation · +8.2% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $116,410
- Administrative and support services3.2% of all jobs in this occupation · +2.6% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $95,700
- Educational services; state, local, and private3.0% of all jobs in this occupation · +0.8% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $83,750
Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: Medicine and Dentistry, Education and Training, Psychology, English Language, Biology, Therapy and Counseling.
Software clinical nurse specialists use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- eClinicalWorks EHR softwareMedical softwareHot technology
- Allscripts Professional EHRMedical software
- Amkai AmkaiChartsMedical software
- Bizmatics PrognoCIS EMRMedical software
- Cerner MillenniumMedical software
- ChartWare EMRMedical software
- GE Healthcare Centricity EMRMedical software
- Medscribbler EnterpriseMedical software
- MicroFour PracticeStudio.NET EMRMedical software
- NextGen Healthcare Information Systems EMRMedical software
- Online medical databasesInformation retrieval or search software
- SOAPware EMRMedical software
Also called: APN (Advanced Practice Nurse), Board Certified Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS-BC), CNS (Clinical Nurse Specialist), Critical Care CNS (Critical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist), Emergency Clinical Nurse Specialist (Emergency CNS), ICU CNS (Intensive Care Unit Clinical Nurse Specialist).
How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.