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Salary · LPN · United States

LPN salary: $64,400 median, and how to negotiate yours.

The full pay range by percentile, every state, the top-paying metro areas and similar roles, from the latest BLS survey. Place your own offer on the range.

Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025
Annual wage range · U.S. · BLS May 2025
$64,400median ($30.96/hr)

Quick answer

The median annual wage for licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses in the United States was $64,400 in May 2025 (BLS). The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $49,740 and the top 10% earned more than $83,440. That median is 1.3 times the $50,980 median for all occupations. The highest-paying state was Washington ($83,150).

Data Government data groups this job as Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses (O*NET-SOC 29-2061.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

10th percentile
$49,740
lowest-paid 10% earn less
25th percentile
$59,000
a quarter earn less
75th percentile
$76,030
a quarter earn more
90th percentile
$83,440
top 10% earn more
Pay by state

LPN salary in every state

Data BLS state estimates, May 2025. 51 states and DC published a median for this occupation. Sort by pay or by number employed.

Highest median pay
  1. Washington$83,150
  2. Alaska$80,800
  3. Oregon$80,470
  4. Massachusetts$80,220
  5. Rhode Island$80,090
Most people employed
  1. California82,850
  2. Texas57,560
  3. Ohio39,900
  4. New York39,400
  5. Florida38,620
Median annual wage by state
State10th–90th percentile
Washington$83,150$64,230–$100,9506,780
Alaska$80,800$62,400–$96,700290
Oregon$80,470$64,000–$98,9904,260
Massachusetts$80,220$61,690–$93,98013,210
Rhode Island$80,090$65,650–$94,5401,290
California$79,750$64,390–$100,45082,850
New Hampshire$77,110$59,860–$93,6602,220
Arizona$77,070$61,050–$89,8506,530
Nevada$76,160$61,750–$89,4203,350
District of Columbia$75,740$62,880–$87,4701,040
New Jersey$75,160$63,210–$85,40017,410
Illinois$75,000$58,880–$89,81017,440
Maryland$74,660$60,720–$90,0109,560
Colorado$73,880$50,820–$84,4404,920
Connecticut$73,690$62,610–$81,0608,540
Maine$73,200$56,160–$82,600760
Hawaii$71,140$59,620–$88,340840
Vermont$69,930$50,230–$84,7101,130
Delaware$68,710$59,210–$77,5802,240
New York$67,180$54,480–$81,53039,400
Indiana$65,720$50,550–$77,22014,480
Michigan$65,460$56,160–$77,78010,880
Virginia$64,920$50,580–$79,17015,550
Pennsylvania$63,940$51,500–$77,75038,260
Idaho$63,800$47,890–$77,8501,880
Wisconsin$63,760$51,820–$78,4907,390
Minnesota$63,750$51,700–$77,38012,840
Wyoming$63,460$46,700–$77,000480
North Carolina$63,270$50,480–$74,73018,010
Utah$63,230$37,480–$77,5401,680
Nebraska$62,660$50,890–$77,9404,580
Iowa$62,630$50,550–$77,7105,510
North Dakota$62,300$50,950–$74,1301,920
Texas$62,240$48,910–$76,14057,560
Montana$62,210$49,230–$74,3301,620
Georgia$62,030$46,010–$76,69021,060
Ohio$61,950$50,030–$74,12039,900
South Carolina$61,820$50,370–$76,4209,400
Florida$61,770$50,450–$74,32038,620
Kansas$61,760$49,780–$77,2907,530
Missouri$61,530$48,580–$77,12014,700
Kentucky$60,460$48,420–$73,2208,570
New Mexico$59,330$38,090–$78,1102,460
Tennessee$58,870$41,110–$67,54020,830
Oklahoma$58,320$45,440–$66,41011,540
Louisiana$57,470$45,810–$66,15017,600
Alabama$57,030$39,880–$69,12011,580
Arkansas$56,620$44,670–$65,02010,010
West Virginia$55,360$45,690–$70,9606,050
South Dakota$52,750$40,770–$67,7002,050
Mississippi$50,220$39,320–$60,9109,850
Top-paying metro areas

Where the median is highest

Data Metropolitan areas with at least 100 people employed in the occupation, BLS May 2025.

  1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$95,320
  2. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$94,310
  3. Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA$92,580
  4. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA$85,690
  5. Vallejo, CA$85,430
  6. Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA$83,940
  7. Napa, CA$83,690
  8. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA$83,510
  9. Bend, OR$83,260
  10. Grants Pass, OR$82,410
Similar roles

How the pay compares

Data National medians for related occupations (O*NET related roles, BLS pay).

  1. Anesthesiologist$391,490
  2. Physician Assistant$135,880
  3. Nurse Practitioner$132,300
  4. Registered Nurse$97,550
  5. LPN$64,400
  6. Paramedic$60,600
  7. Medical Assistant$45,690
Negotiation script builder

Ask for more, calmly and in writing

Advice Uses only what you type. Replace anything in brackets with something true.

Our view If you cite market data, cite this page's source: the BLS median for your state and the percentile your offer sits at. A specific, sourced number is easier to agree to than a feeling.

Method

How this page is built

Wages are BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates for May 2025 (national, state and metropolitan area), for the occupation shown. OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay: they include base pay, commissions, production bonuses and tips, and exclude overtime, shift differentials, non-production bonuses and benefits. Percentiles describe all workers in the occupation, not entry or senior levels.

What this page can't tell you
  • Pay at a specific employer, or for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Experience level: percentiles are not seniority bands.
  • Equity, bonuses outside OEWS's definition, and benefits.
Sources
  1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
  2. 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.
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