What Is the Average National RN's Salary?

Registered nurses held 2,583,770 jobs in May 2009, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures. They earned average salaries of $59,000 to $68,000.

Average Salary

• Across the country, registered nurses earned average wages of $31.99 per hour, or $66,530 annually, in May 2009, according to the BLS. The median yearly salary was $63,750, and salaries ranged from $43,970 or less for the lowest-paid 10 percent to $93,700 or more for the highest-paid tenth.

Top Employers

• More than half of all registered nurses -- 1,492,000 -- worked in general medical and surgical hospitals in May 2009, where they made an average of $67,740 per year. Doctors' offices employed 223,970 registered nurses at an average annual salary of $67,290, and home health care services provided jobs to another 134,420, who earned $63,300 per year. The other top employers were nursing care facilities, where nurses earned an average of $59,320, and outpatient care centers ($65,690).

Experience Pays

• The middle 50 percent of registered nurses with less than one year of experience made $38,155 to $52,261 per year, as of October 2010, according to a survey of 13,188 people in the occupation by Payscale. Those with five to nine years of experience made $47,307 to $65,351 per year, while registered nurses with 20 years or more of experience earned $50,752 to $73,284.