Nurse salary and education: what each kind of nurse earns and needs.
“Nurse” is a family of jobs, not one occupation. Here is what each one pays, how many people do it, the education BLS lists to start, and where it is heading, from U.S. government data.
$64,400 – $236,590
No BLS occupation is called “nurse”; this is the range of medians across the occupations below.
There is no single BLS occupation called “nurse”. Across the 5 BLS nurse occupations on this page, median annual pay in the United States in May 2025 ran from $64,400 (licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses) to $236,590 (nurse anesthetists); registered nurses, the largest occupation (3,379,720 employed), earned a median of $97,550. BLS lists a postsecondary nondegree award as the typical entry-level education for some of these jobs and a master's degree for others.
Nurses at a glance
Registered Nurses are the largest occupation on this page, with 3,379,720 employed and a median annual wage of $97,550 in May 2025 (BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Among the occupations on this page, nurse anesthetists had the highest median annual wage in May 2025: $236,590 (BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
BLS projects employment of nurse practitioners to grow 41.0% from 2025 to 2035, the fastest projected change among the occupations on this page.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
What each kind of nurse earns
Data One row per BLS occupation, sorted by median annual pay. Hourly pay is shown only where BLS publishes it.
| Occupation (BLS title) | Median annual pay | Median hourly | Employed | Typical entry-level education | Projected change 2025–35 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse Anesthetists | $236,590 | $113.75 | 51,840 | Master's degree | +9.7% |
| Nurse Midwives | $134,040 | $64.44 | 7,920 | Master's degree | +11.5% |
| Nurse Practitioners | $132,300 | $63.61 | 323,040 | Master's degree | +41.0% |
| Registered Nurses | $97,550 | $46.90 | 3,379,720 | Bachelor's degree | +5.6% |
| Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses | $64,400 | $30.96 | 648,410 | Postsecondary nondegree award | +3.0% |
What education do you need to be a nurse?
Data BLS typical entry-level education by occupation, 2025–35 projections. Typical, not a legal requirement; licensing rules vary by state, so check your state's licensing board.
- Postsecondary nondegree awardLicensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
- Bachelor's degreeRegistered Nurses
- Master's degreeNurse Anesthetists; Nurse Midwives; Nurse Practitioners
How this page is built
Pay and employment are BLS OEWS national estimates for May 2025, for each BLS detailed occupation listed. No family-wide figure is shown because BLS publishes none for this word. Typical entry-level education and projected change are from BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Which occupations count is a TryHired editorial choice, listed below.
Which occupations this page counts. BLS has no single occupation called “nurse”. This page counts the five BLS nursing occupations; nursing assistants (CNAs) are a separate BLS occupation and are not counted here.
- Pay at a specific employer, union contract or school district.
- Licensing or certification rules in your state.
- Which of these careers suits you personally.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025–35 (public domain): typical entry-level education and projected employment change.