For the past few years, the U.S. Department of Labor has reported that the largest job growth in the job market has been in health care.
But industry analysts say there remains a nationwide nursing shortage. So some states are trying to attract more people by offering higher salaries.
College ranking site Research.com analyzed official data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to find out where nurses earn the most. They compared the median annual wage in all 50 states and the number of registered nurses employed in each state.
In some states, such as California, nurses’ salaries exceed $100,000.
Despite official warnings about the impending health crisis and nursing shortage in the United States, Florida has been named one of the best states for nurses amid a national nursing shortage.
Nurses in Florida earn an average annual salary of $82,850, making it the 28th best state, making it a great place for new nurses to start their careers or for experienced nurses to move for the best opportunities and pay.
Imed Boukrika, co-founder and chief data scientist at Research.com, said the pay survey results come as health officials are sounding the alarm about staffing. The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration projects a shortage of 78,610 full-time registered nurses by 2025.
“Significant differences in wages between states reflect differences in the cost of living, union presence, and local health care demands. Nurses need to take these pay differences into account when making career decisions, especially given the expected national nursing shortage. It appears that the more nurses a state needs, the higher their salaries tend to be.”
“New nurses should not only consider salary, but also job availability and growth potential. States with high wages but approaching saturation may have fewer opportunities than states with moderate wages but growing demand,” Bushlica said.
