California costs a lot, but it still tops the list of places where nurses keep the most money. The pay is so high that it more than covers the cost of living.
I built a spreadsheet of over 590 cities for nurses. It ranks them by pay, taxes and cost of living, for people who rent and people who own. Here’s what it shows.
These rates are from October 2024, when this was first written. Pay changes every year, so check current rates in Map My Pay.
Top cities for nurses who rent
| City | Rent per month | Left per year after taxes and rent |
|---|---|---|
| Oakland, CA | $2,295 | $94,286 |
| Hayward, CA | $2,500 | $91,826 |
| Vallejo, CA | $2,100 | $90,658 |
In Oakland, nurses make $173,510. Rent averages $2,295 a month. Oakland nurses still keep $94,286 after rent and taxes.
Hayward is a lot like Oakland. Rent is a bit higher at $2,500 a month, but nurses still keep $91,826 after all costs.
Rent is lower in Vallejo at $2,100 a month. Nurses there have $90,658 left after taxes and rent.
Top cities for nurses who own a home
| City | Mortgage per month | Left per year after taxes and mortgage |
|---|---|---|
| Vallejo, CA | $4,303 | $64,222 |
| Redding, CA | $3,125 | $59,148 |
Vallejo is one of the cheaper places to buy a home. The mortgage is $4,303 a month, and nurses keep $64,222 after all costs.
Redding has an even lower mortgage at $3,125 a month. Nurses there keep $59,148 a year after the mortgage and taxes.
Renting leaves you with more in a lot of these cities. I dig into that in why nurses should rethink buying a home.
The first city outside California: Kahului, Hawaii
The first city outside California is Kahului, Hawaii, at number 23. Life in Hawaii sounds great, but the math is tough.
| Kahului, HI | Amount |
|---|---|
| Yearly salary | $122,740 |
| Yearly pay after taxes | $93,817 |
| Average home price | $1,031,367 |
| Mortgage per month | $7,182 |
| Left per year after mortgage | $7,633 |
| Rent per month | $2,550 |
| Left per year after rent | $63,217 |
Nurses in Kahului earn about $122,740 a year. After taxes, that drops to $93,817.
Homes cost a lot. The average home price is $1,031,367, so the mortgage is $7,182 a month. After the mortgage, nurses have only $7,633 left for the whole year.
Renting is the better choice there. Rent is $2,550 a month, which leaves nurses with $63,217 a year. Read more about the Hawaii nursing crisis.
Why California comes out on top
The numbers show that high nurse pay in California makes up for the high cost of living. That makes it the best choice for nurses who want to get ahead.
Monica and I used this same kind of data when we moved to Sacramento. It’s one reason we now work fewer than 20 hours a week and still earn around $300k a year.
What the spreadsheet tracks
It doesn’t matter if you want to stay in your state or move. The spreadsheet helps you compare cities with actual data. You can sort by:
- Median salary: what nurses make in each city and state.
- Home prices: so you know where you can afford to buy.
- Monthly mortgage: what your payment would look like.
- Money left if you own: monthly and yearly, after taxes and the mortgage.
- Rent prices: average rent in each city.
- Money left if you rent: monthly and yearly, after taxes and rent.
- Other jobs: how nurse pay stacks up to other jobs in health care.
- States: the same data across states.
This spreadsheet is part of the Nurses to Riches Accelerator, along with our other spreadsheets. To see what each top hospital pays after taxes, read net pay at the top-paying California hospitals.
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.