The biggest paycheck I ever got as a nurse was $11,361.22. Monica’s biggest was $8,197.56. Those checks didn’t make us rich. They got us out of $128,000 of debt in under a year, and Sacramento is the reason it worked.
These rates are from August 2025, when this was first written. Pay changes every year, so check current rates in Map My Pay.
How we got those checks
In 2021, Monica and I were grinding hard. We picked up every shift we could: nights, weekends and holidays. Any time we could stack shifts for overtime or double time, we took it.
One of my paychecks from that run was for $11,361.22. I worked 112.7 hours in a two-week period for it.
A little over a year later, Monica got one for $8,197.56. She stacked premiums and differentials until her check went over $8,000. Together, those two checks came to nearly $20,000.
Those huge paychecks were not about living large. They were about getting out.
Why we worked like that
We first moved to California in 2017. By then, we were buried in debt:
- $70,000 borrowed for a down payment on a house
- $25,000 of credit card debt from moving costs
- $20,000+ in school loans
- A $76,000 Volvo that we owned, but kept pouring thousands of dollars into for repairs
It came to $128,000+ of debt.
Then came COVID. Patient volumes dropped, and layoffs started. The fear of a layoff pushed us into overdrive.
So we worked. We put every last dime toward our debt, and within a year we were debt free. You can read more about that year in how we paid off $128K of debt.
Why Sacramento made all the difference
If we had stayed in New York, the numbers would not have worked, no matter how hard we worked. Rent and taxes would have taken it all.
Sacramento gave us an edge:
- High hourly rates. I started at $86 an hour, and Monica’s base was over $100 an hour.
- Lower cost of living. Our home cost $697,000 here. It would have been $1.2M+ in the Bay Area.
- Safe ratios. California has a nurse-to-patient ratio law. It kept us from drowning with 7-8 patients like we did in NYC.
High pay, a lower cost of living and safe ratios let us work hard for one season, pay off six figures of debt and then take a step back.
Where we are now
These days, we are not chasing $11,000 checks. We don’t need to.
Here is what we had earned so far in 2025 when I wrote this:
| Name | Total hours worked | Gross pay (YTD) | Average weekly hours | Average hourly pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason | 522.48 | $78,921.10 | ~20.1 hrs/week | $151/hr |
| Monica | 606.29 | $96,259.74 | ~23.3 hrs/week | $158/hr |
My pay
My base pay plus shift differential is $110 an hour. My average comes out to $151 an hour because of two things:
- Vacation and sick leave. I still get paid when I don’t work.
- Holiday pay. If I work a holiday, I get 2.5x my base rate. If I don’t, I still get 4 hours of straight-time pay because I’m 0.5 FTE.
That’s why my checks don’t drop when I take time off.
Monica’s pay as a per diem nurse
Monica’s base is $142 an hour. She gets no PTO and no set hours. When she works, she makes it count.
- On holidays, she gets 1.5x her rate for the whole shift. That comes to $213 an hour.
- On a double-time shift, the first 8 hours pay $142 an hour, the next 4 pay $213 an hour and the last 4 pay $284 an hour.
Our family is on my health and dental plan, so she doesn’t lose much by not having her own. She also puts money into a 401k with a match. For the full breakdown of these numbers, see our nurse pay in 2025, down to the hour.
Why this matters
The point is not that we pulled in $20K in two weeks. The point is this: you don’t need to grind like that forever. You just need to do it long enough to reset your life.
- We paid off $128,000 of debt in less than a year.
- We got free from the stress of student loans, credit cards and other debts.
- Working 20-23 hours a week, we are still on track to make over $175K combined this year.
When we aren’t working, we spend time with our family. We take time to build our business. We take time to live.
The biggest checks changed our path
Our biggest checks didn’t make us rich. They let us change our path.
We went from living paycheck to paycheck in New York with a mountain of debt to being debt free and semi-retired in Sacramento.
Every paycheck feels lighter now. It’s not just the money. It’s that we are no longer chained to it. That is the part I want every nurse to see.
Your next move
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The Nurses to Riches Accelerator is the plan Monica and I used to go from $37 an hour in New York to $143 an hour in California: license, city, hospital, and what to do with the money after.
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Written by Jason, RN. I went from $37 an hour in New York to $143 an hour in California and paid off $128K of debt in under a year. I share our numbers in the Nurses to Riches newsletter and on YouTube.