By Location, location, location!
The state of California boasts the highest annual salaries for RNs—on average, about $95,000. Compare that to a national salary range that puts most RNs somewhere between $40,112 and $79,763, with the median RN salary sitting at $55,114 (according to September 2011 data published by PayScale, an online market research company that specializes in salary analysis), and it sounds as if California RNs must be downright rich. Consider, however, that California also has an extremely high cost of living, which makes that $95,000 lose some of its sparkle.
Compare that to RN salaries in the state of Oklahoma. Mynurserecruiter.com estimates that in 2009 they were approximately 11 percent below the national average, but business magazines continue to rank Oklahoma as one of the top states to live because of its low cost of living.
The bottom line is that a higher nursing salary doesn’t necessarily correlate with a higher standard of living.
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