How much can you make as a nurse practitioner?

That answer depends on several things, namely specialty and location.  In January of 2009, Advance for Nurse Practitioners* reported the average annual salary for NPs as $89,579.  NPs that work in acute care settings have notoriously been among the top earners, along with entrepreneurs with their own practice. This year, however, hospital and surgery setting earners dropped out of the top five spots for the first time in 10 years. Mental health increased 4 spots and a new category added to the survey this year, house call, ranked 5. Those working in educational settings still tend to earn the least.  Geography also matters when it comes to pay scale, and California took the lead again with an average salary of $106,481.  The lowest salary was in South Dakota, with an average of $77,192. 


The Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners** presented their April/May 2008 compensation survey data showing an average total income of $92,110.  Once again, acute care was the highest paying specialty, with a total income average of $98,370.  AANP’s data showed women’s health at the lowest earner at $87,520.  The far west geographic region (included Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington) was the highest average income at $106,840.

By setting (Advance):

2007
2009 (average/median)
Emergency Department: $95,157
 Own practice (across all settings): $116,021 / $100,000
Neonatal unit:$93,959
 Aesthetics/Skin care practice: $105,152 / $100,000
Own practice (across all settings): $89,634
 Emergency Department: $104,369 / $100,000
Skin care/aesthetics: $87,773
 Mental health setting: $100,140 / $92,345
Hospital: $86,639
 House calls (Not asked in 2007): $98,915 ave/ median $85,500

Surgery setting: $86,256

 Neonatal unit: $95,280 / $94,000

Oncology clinic: $84,578

 Hospital: $93,694 / $90,000
Mental health setting: $82,978
 Gerontology: $91,863 / $88,000
Gerontology: $82,556 Surgery setting: $90,959 / $86,500
Cardiology Clinic: $82,460 Cardiology Clinic: $90,159 / $88,000
Internal Medicine: $81,671 Retail clinic: $89,049 / $88,000
Retail Clinic: $81,154 Internal Medicine: $88,903 / $85,000
Corrections: $79,538 Corrections: $88,880 / $88,000
HIV Clinic: $79,204 Oncology Clinic: $88,856 / $88,000
Family Practice: $79,091 HIV Clinic: $88,086 / $88,000
Diabetes/Endocrinology Clinic: $79,032 Family practice: $86,520 / $83,000
Pediatric practice: $78,120 Diabetes/Endocrine clinic: $85,244 / $82,000
Women’s Health Practice: $76,483 Pediatric practice: $83,926 / $80,000
College Health (12 months): $72,236 Women's health practice: $83,319 / $80,000
Elementary/secondary school: $71,512 College Health (12mo): $81,981 / $80,000
Academia: $68,624 Academia: $81,552 / $76,500
College Health (9 months): $55,185 Elementary/secondary school: $76,965 / $78,000
  College health (9mo): $63,452 / 61,728


Top 5, by state (Advance):

2007
2009 (average/ median)
CA- $96,225 CA- $106,481 / $104,000
RI- $96,024 AK- $102,710 / $103,000
DC- $90,530 NJ- $98,896 / $96,250
HI- $89,814 NV- $97,836 / $100,000
AZ- $89,641 AZ- $97,242 / $91,000


Bottom 3, by state (Advance):

2007
2009 (average/ median)
VT- $62,505 SD- $77,192 / $78,000
WV- $71,905 AL- $79,733 / $80,000
ME- $73,653 NE- $79,782 / $79,650

 

By specialty (AANP):
Acute Care- $98,370
Adult- $92,840
Pediatrics- $90,760
Family- $90,440
Gerontology- $90,101
Women’s Health- $87,520

* To see the full report, visit Advance for Nurse Practitioners.

** Published in Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 21, (2009) pages 186-188 by Mary Jo Goolsby. To access this article visit the Journal's Home.

 

top of page