Across the 29 states we track, California gives Registered Nurses the strongest cost-of-living-adjusted pay: about $132,100 real pay on a median of $145,400. Oregon follows at about $110,900 real pay, then Massachusetts at about $102,400. The table ranks every state by real pay, so a high nominal salary in an expensive state cannot masquerade as a raise.
Registered Nurse Salary by State (2026): Real Pay Ranked
California ranks first for Registered Nurse real pay: about $132,100 after cost of living. Median and real pay for all 29 states, ranked.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS) & BEA Regional Price Parities · Updated October 2026
States ranked
29
Metros counted
45
National average
$94,480
Registered Nurse pay by state, ranked by real pay
| State | Median pay | Real pay (COL-adjusted) | Metro(s) counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. California | $145,400 | $132,100 | Los Angeles-Long Beach, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco-Oakland, Fresno, Sacramento |
| 2. Oregon | $116,900 | $110,900 | Portland |
| 3. Massachusetts | $110,900 | $102,400 | Boston |
| 4. Washington | $109,700 | $98,700 | Seattle |
| 5. New York | $108,500 | $96,400 | New York |
| 6. Nevada | $96,500 | $96,300 | Las Vegas |
| 7. Minnesota | $100,800 | $96,200 | Minneapolis |
| 8. Pennsylvania | $96,700 | $94,200 | Philadelphia |
| 9. Georgia | $92,200 | $92,100 | Atlanta |
| 10. District of Columbia | $98,000 | $90,000 | Washington |
| 11. Arizona | $89,200 | $89,100 | Phoenix-Mesa, Tucson |
| 12. Texas | $87,100 | $89,000 | Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, El Paso |
| 13. Oklahoma | $79,500 | $88,500 | Oklahoma City, Tulsa |
| 14. Louisiana | $81,400 | $87,900 | New Orleans |
| 15. New Mexico | $83,400 | $87,300 | Albuquerque |
| 16. Missouri | $79,900 | $86,400 | Kansas City |
| 17. Maryland | $89,300 | $85,500 | Baltimore |
| 18. Wisconsin | $82,800 | $85,400 | Milwaukee |
| 19. Kentucky | $79,300 | $85,200 | Louisville |
| 20. Nebraska | $78,100 | $85,000 | Omaha |
| 21. Ohio | $81,000 | $84,800 | Columbus |
| 22. Colorado | $86,800 | $84,100 | Denver, Colorado Springs |
| 23. Indiana | $80,300 | $83,900 | Indianapolis |
| 24. Michigan | $83,900 | $83,600 | Detroit |
| 25. North Carolina | $81,400 | $83,200 | Charlotte, Raleigh |
| 26. Tennessee | $77,800 | $82,500 | Nashville, Memphis |
| 27. Illinois | $85,200 | $82,200 | Chicago |
| 28. Florida | $82,600 | $77,300 | Jacksonville, Miami |
| 29. Kansas | $67,400 | $75,800 | Wichita |
Method: each state aggregates the BLS OEWS metro medians we track for Registered Nurse in that state - an employment-weighted mean where every counted metro publishes employment (27 of 29 states), otherwise a simple mean (2 states). Real pay = state median divided by (state RPP / 100), where the state RPP is the mean BEA Regional Price Parity of its counted metros; figures are rounded to the nearest $100. Twin cities sharing one metro estimate (for example Phoenix-Mesa) are counted once. Arlington, TX and Cleveland, OH metros lack a cost-of-living index in our dataset and are excluded from their state's figures. States without a tracked metro are omitted rather than estimated.
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Frequently Asked Questions
On cost-of-living-adjusted pay, California leads at about $132,100 real pay (median $145,400), ahead of Oregon at about $110,900.
We aggregate the BLS median wages of the metros we track in each state (an employment-weighted mean where employment data exists, otherwise a simple average), then divide by the mean Regional Price Parity of those metros to get real pay.
The full city-level table with 10th-90th percentiles and every metro's cost-of-living index is on the Registered Nurse salary hub at /salary/registered-nurse/.