Insights / States and national healthcare benchmarks
15 states where healthcare practitioner pay outpaces the U.S. median
This ranking is practitioner pay only. California's lead is not a ranking of aide wages.
A comp committee used the top of this list to set support-staff ranges, and the occupations were never on the page.
The wage here is the state median for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations. The U.S. median for that group is $86,530. California leads at $123,330, which is 1.43 times the country. Oregon is next at $118,020, 1.36 times the country.
Mississippi, not on this top 15, is the low end of the 51 areas at $66,630, 0.77 of the country figure. Support-occupation pay is a different group and is not averaged in. If the req is an aide or an assistant, this ranking will send you to the wrong states.
Ranked table
| Rank | State | State median | U.S. median | State vs U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $123,330 | $86,530 | 1.43 |
| 2 | Oregon | $118,020 | $86,530 | 1.36 |
| 3 | Washington | $108,780 | $86,530 | 1.26 |
| 4 | Hawaii | $106,080 | $86,530 | 1.23 |
| 5 | Alaska | $105,600 | $86,530 | 1.22 |
| 6 | New York | $103,970 | $86,530 | 1.20 |
| 7 | New Jersey | $102,650 | $86,530 | 1.19 |
| 8 | District of Columbia | $100,400 | $86,530 | 1.16 |
| 9 | Massachusetts | $100,240 | $86,530 | 1.16 |
| 10 | Connecticut | $99,850 | $86,530 | 1.15 |
| 11 | Maryland | $98,600 | $86,530 | 1.14 |
| 12 | Minnesota | $98,840 | $86,530 | 1.14 |
| 13 | Colorado | $98,030 | $86,530 | 1.13 |
| 14 | Delaware | $97,270 | $86,530 | 1.12 |
| 15 | Rhode Island | $96,900 | $86,530 | 1.12 |
Takeaways
- Washington is third at $108,780. Hawaii is fourth at $106,080. Alaska is fifth at $105,600.
- Rhode Island closes the 15 at $96,900, still 1.12 times the country, the same comparison as Delaware at $97,270.
- Twenty-two of 51 areas are at or above the U.S. practitioner median. This page is only the top 15 of that group.
- District of Columbia is at $100,400 and Massachusetts is at $100,240. Both are 1.16 times the country, side by side rather than a gap.
For recruiters
- Confirm the req is a practitioner occupation before you cite California's $123,330.
- Leave support wages off this brief. They are a separate table.
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
The wage is the OEWS May 2025 median for SOC 29-0000, Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, not a blend with support occupations. The U.S. median is $86,530. A comparison of 1.00 matches that U.S. median. 22 of 51 areas are at or above 1.00. The table shows the 15 highest comparisons. The lowest comparison is 0.77 in Mississippi, where the group median is $66,630. Support-occupation pay is a different group and is not averaged in. The table ranks published cells. It is not a forecast of hiring difficulty and it is not a tally of openings posted by employers. Where a state has hiring pages, the state name links to those pages. A state with no metro on the hiring grid still appears when the source file publishes the figure, and that row has no hiring link. Rounded figures in the prose: $123,330 is stated as about $123.3K. $86,530 is stated as about $86.5K. a comparison of 1.43 is stated as 43 percent. $66,630 is stated as about $66.6K. a comparison of 0.77 is stated as 23 percent. Rounded figures in the prose: $96,900 is stated as about $96.9K. $118,020 is stated as about $118.0K. a comparison of 1.36 is stated as 36 percent. $108,780 is stated as about $108.8K. a comparison of 1.26 is stated as 26 percent. $106,080 is stated as about $106.1K.
Sources
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