Insights / Nursing pay versus the U.S. median / California
Nursing pay in California
California's nurse premium is real, and it is the wrong wage to paste onto an aide req.
The aide posting borrowed the registered-nurse story. The people who do the aide work already know those are different markets.
Registered nurses in California have a median of $140,270, against $97,550 nationally, and the state employs 338,940 of them. That premium is the number everyone forwards.
Aides in home health and personal care are the larger workforce, 970,150 jobs, at a median of $34,320. The national aide median is $35,800, so California aides are at 0.96 of that national figure. An offer built from the nurse wage looks generous in a deck and low to the aide who already has the local rate.
Ranked table
| Rank | Occupation | State median | 75th percentile | U.S. median | State vs U.S. | State employment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nurse Practitioners | $168,520 | $209,350 | $132,300 | 1.27 | 25,120 |
| 2 | Registered Nurses | $140,270 | $173,170 | $97,550 | 1.44 | 338,940 |
| 3 | Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses | $79,750 | $93,720 | $64,400 | 1.24 | 82,850 |
| 4 | Nursing Assistants | $47,630 | $54,800 | $42,260 | 1.13 | 110,060 |
| 5 | Home Health and Personal Care Aides | $34,320 | $36,550 | $35,800 | 0.96 | 970,150 |
Takeaways
- Nurse practitioners lead these medians at $168,520, with a 75th percentile of $209,350 and employment of 25,120.
- Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses are at $79,750, against $64,400 nationally, across 82,850 jobs.
- Nursing assistants are at $47,630 against $42,260 nationally, with 110,060 employed. They are above the country, and they are not aides.
- California is 1 of 51 when this page is sorted on the registered-nurse median. That rank is not permission to copy the nurse wage down the sheet.
For recruiters
- Split the intake by license before you split it by facility.
- If the open req is aides, read the last row before the first. The biggest group on the page is the one under the country.
FAQ
- Are these posted wages or open jobs?
- No. The table is a government survey or a designation file.
- What should a recruiter do first?
- Follow the recruiter note on this page.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Related hiring pages
Methodology
Occupations are the fixed set named in the series, kept only when both the California median and the U.S. median are published. A 75th percentile or an employment count that is unpublished stays blank in the table. The article is omitted when fewer than 4 occupations qualify. OEWS May 2025. A comparison of 1.00 matches the U.S. median. Sorted by the Registered Nurses state median when that occupation qualifies, otherwise by the highest median in the table. California is 1 of 51. A row links to the California metro page with the highest public market difficulty score for that occupation when one is published, and otherwise to the occupation page on the hiring grid. An unpublished percentile or employment count is shown as unpublished rather than replaced with a zero. The wages are annual OEWS figures. They are not job listings and they are not an employer's current offer. Read the comparison beside the dollar figures: a high state wage can still sit under the national median for that occupation, and a lower state wage can still sit above it. Rounded figures in the prose: $168,520 is stated as about $168.5K. $132,300 is stated as about $132.3K. a comparison of 1.27 is stated as 27 percent. $209,350 is stated as about $209.4K. $34,320 is stated as about $34.3K. a comparison of 0.96 is stated as 4 percent. $35,800 is stated as about $35.8K. Rounded figures in the prose: $140,270 is stated as about $140.3K. a comparison of 1.44 is stated as 44 percent. $79,750 is stated as about $79.8K. a comparison of 1.24 is stated as 24 percent.
Sources
Run this opening as a Hiring Pack
The figures above are public statistics. A Hiring Pack starts from the role and the city on the req. One pack is $24.00. Starter is $149 a month for 30 packs and 3 users, Team is $299 for 100 packs and 10 users, and Pro is $699 for 300 packs and 25 users. Annual billing is 20% off, so those monthly prices are $119, $239, and $559. Enterprise is self-serve at $1,499, $2,499, and $3,999 a month. Through Oct 16, 2026, one pack is free with no account, and a verified account can run unlimited packs.