Nurse salary in California: what each kind of nurse earns.
There is no single nurse wage. Here is the BLS median for each kind of nurse in California, how many people do the work there, and how it compares with the national figure.
$79,750 – $292,410
Range of medians across the 5 nurse occupations BLS publishes for California. No BLS figure combines them.
BLS publishes no single “nurse” wage for California. Across the 5 nurse occupations with a published May 2025 median in California, median annual pay ran from $79,750 (licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses) to $292,410 (nurse anesthetists). Registered nurses, the largest of them in California (338,940 employed), earned a median of $140,270, compared with $97,550 nationally.
Nurses in California at a glance
Registered nurses are the largest nurse occupation with a published median in California, with 338,940 employed and a median annual wage of $140,270 in May 2025 (BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Among the nurse occupations with a published median in California, nurse anesthetists had the highest: $292,410 (May 2025, BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
All of the 5 nurse occupations with a published median in California were paid above their own national median in May 2025 (BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
What each kind of nurse earns in California
Data One row per BLS occupation with a published state median, sorted by median annual pay. Hourly pay is shown only where BLS publishes it.
| Occupation (BLS title) | Median annual pay, California | Median hourly | Employed in California | National median | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse Anesthetists | $292,410 | $140.58 | 2,230 | $236,590 | +24% vs national |
| Nurse Midwives | $203,840 | $98.00 | 870 | $134,040 | +52% vs national |
| Nurse Practitioners | $168,520 | $81.02 | 25,120 | $132,300 | +27% vs national |
| Registered Nurses | $140,270 | $67.44 | 338,940 | $97,550 | +44% vs national |
| Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses | $79,750 | $38.34 | 82,850 | $64,400 | +24% vs national |
How this page is built
Pay and employment are BLS OEWS state estimates for California, May 2025, for each BLS detailed occupation on the national Nurses page. BLS publishes no nurse-wide state figure; nothing on this page is averaged or combined by TryHired. “Difference” compares each occupation's state median with its own national median. Top-coded medians (BLS “#”) are shown as “$239,200 a year or more”, never as a number.
- Pay at a specific employer, hospital system, union contract or school district.
- Pay in a specific city: metro figures differ from the state median.
- Licensing rules in California.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).