Nurses in California take home the most money in the country, even after taxes and cost of living. A study from MoneyGeek backs this up, and Sacramento came out on top.
I have been saying this on our YouTube channel for 3 years. I have been telling our friends and old coworkers for 7 years. Now a study shows it too.
These numbers are from May 2024, when this was first written. Pay changes every year, so check current rates in Map My Pay.
What the study looked at
MoneyGeek looked at nurse pay in about 100 US cities. It adjusted each salary for taxes and the cost of living.
The average gross pay for a nurse was $86,070. That looks good at first. After taxes and cost of living, it drops to about $65,414.
To me, this shows that most nurses are not paid what they should be, mainly in high-cost cities.
The worst cities for nurse pay
Look at Washington, D.C. Nurses there earn $98,000 before taxes. After taxes and the cost of living, they end up with only $48,000.
That is like losing half your salary. A big salary does not mean much when the cost of living eats it up.
The best cities for nurse pay
If you have followed us for a while, this list should not surprise you. You can read more about the city in why nurses still move to Sacramento.
The study left out 600 cities
The study only looked at about 100 cities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects nurse pay for 600 other cities too.
When you add those cities and take taxes and cost of living into account, California has 8 of the top 10 cities for nurses.
To see what nurses take home at the top hospitals, read our net pay breakdown by California hospital.
Run the numbers yourself
In this video, I show you how to work out these numbers for any city.
Your next move
See what you’d take home, then make the move
Map My Pay shows what nurses take home after taxes and rent at 465+ hospitals and in 21,000+ cities. It’s the app I co-founded so you can compare cities before you pack a single box.
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.