A licensed practical nurse in Florida earns a median of $61,770 a year, or $29.70 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2025 wage data for the occupation, the newest state wage figures the government publishes. Half of Florida's LPNs earn between $58,540 and $64,710; the lowest-paid tenth earn under $50,450 and the highest-paid tenth more than $74,320. That median is $2,630 (4.1%) below the national LPN median of $64,400, which puts Florida in the lower half of the states for LPN pay: see where it ranks in LPN salary by state. Inside the state, the gap between the best-paying metro (Naples-Marco Island, median $64,590) and the lowest (Panama City-Panama City Beach, $56,120) is $8,470 a year. Every figure below is a BLS estimate for licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses; nothing is self-reported or blended from salary sites.
The Florida LPN pay range
The BLS publishes wages at five points of the distribution. Florida's range is narrower than the country's: the state's 75th percentile ($64,710) is only $2,940 above its median, against $11,630 nationally, so experience and seniority move an LPN's pay less in Florida than in the higher-paying states. The bottom of the range, though, is about the same as the national one.
| Percentile | 10% | 25% | 50% (median) | 75% | 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida, annual | $50,450 | $58,540 | $61,770 | $64,710 | $74,320 |
| Florida, hourly | $24.25 | $28.14 | $29.70 | $31.11 | $35.73 |
| United States, annual | $49,740 | $59,000 | $64,400 | $76,030 | $83,440 |
| United States, hourly | $23.91 | $28.37 | $30.96 | $36.55 | $40.12 |
These are base wages as reported by employers for a full-time, year-round schedule (the annual figure is the hourly wage times 2,080 hours). Night and weekend differentials, overtime and agency premiums sit on top and vary by employer; how shift differentials work explains what to expect. Florida has no state income tax, so the same gross wage goes further than in most states with a higher headline figure.
LPN pay by Florida metro area
The same release breaks Florida into 22 metropolitan areas and two nonmetropolitan areas, ranked here by median annual wage. 8 of the 24 areas pay above the statewide median; the Gulf coast south of Tampa leads, with Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville close behind, and the Panhandle, the Big Bend and the inland counties trail. Where the board has an LPN hub for a metro's main city, the area name links to its open jobs.
| # | Area | Median hourly | Median annual | 10th percentile | 90th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naples-Marco Island | $31.05 | $64,590 | $55,570 | $72,450 |
| 2 | North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota | $30.66 | $63,770 | $51,750 | $74,000 |
| 3 | South Florida nonmetropolitan area | $30.58 | $63,610 | $49,960 | $76,330 |
| 4 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | $30.10 | $62,610 | $52,070 | $74,840 |
| 5 | North Florida nonmetropolitan area | $30.09 | $62,590 | $46,820 | $71,050 |
| 6 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater | $30.04 | $62,490 | $50,740 | $74,720 |
| 7 | Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor | $29.86 | $62,110 | $48,860 | $68,640 |
| 8 | Jacksonville | $29.84 | $62,070 | $50,810 | $73,500 |
| 9 | Cape Coral-Fort Myers | $29.58 | $61,530 | $51,260 | $72,480 |
| 10 | Port St. Lucie | $29.47 | $61,300 | $49,960 | $75,150 |
| 11 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford | $29.34 | $61,030 | $49,950 | $74,190 |
| 12 | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville | $29.33 | $61,000 | $50,090 | $72,880 |
| 13 | Wildwood-The Villages | $29.28 | $60,900 | $49,910 | $70,160 |
| 14 | Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach | $29.14 | $60,620 | $49,780 | $73,780 |
| 15 | Punta Gorda | $29.03 | $60,380 | $48,810 | $71,910 |
| 16 | Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent | $28.84 | $59,990 | $49,300 | $72,990 |
| 17 | Gainesville | $28.83 | $59,970 | $50,790 | $69,600 |
| 18 | Lakeland-Winter Haven | $28.82 | $59,940 | $46,110 | $70,470 |
| 19 | Homosassa Springs | $28.61 | $59,510 | $50,890 | $75,460 |
| 20 | Ocala | $28.40 | $59,070 | $48,170 | $66,330 |
| 21 | Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin | $28.40 | $59,060 | $48,400 | $68,150 |
| 22 | Tallahassee | $28.39 | $59,040 | $49,140 | $72,430 |
| 23 | Sebring | $28.04 | $58,320 | $44,360 | $70,560 |
| 24 | Panama City-Panama City Beach | $26.98 | $56,120 | $48,440 | $67,020 |
Two patterns are worth reading off the table. First, the medians are close: 19 of the 24 areas sit between $59,000 and $63,000, so moving within Florida changes an LPN's base pay far less than changing setting or shift does. Second, the top of the range varies more than the middle. The 90th percentile in Port St. Lucie ($75,150) and the South Florida nonmetropolitan area ($76,330) is above Naples' ($72,450) even though Naples has the highest median, which points to a few well-paid agency, home-health and specialty roles rather than a uniformly higher market.
How LPN pay compares with RNs and CNAs in Florida
The LPN sits between the two other licensed or certified nursing roles. A Florida registered nurse earns a median of $84,190 ($40.48 an hour), $22,420 more than an LPN; a Florida nursing assistant earns $37,510 ($18.03), $24,260 less. All three Florida medians are below their national counterparts, and the RN gap is the widest: Florida RNs earn 13.7% less than the national RN median, against 4.1% for LPNs.
| Occupation (2025 wage data) | Florida median | Florida median hourly | Florida 10th to 90th percentile | U.S. median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered nurses | $84,190 | $40.48 | $67,970 to $120,330 | $97,550 |
| Licensed practical nurses | $61,770 | $29.70 | $50,450 to $74,320 | $64,400 |
| Nursing assistants | $37,510 | $18.03 | $34,350 to $46,790 | $42,260 |
The $22,420 step up to the RN median is why LPN-to-RN bridge programs in Florida stay full; the state's RN pay by metro is in nurse jobs and pay in Florida, and the licensing route for both roles in how to become a nurse in Florida.
Which settings pay LPNs the most
The BLS publishes pay by setting nationally, not by state, but the order holds in Florida because the same employers hire the same way everywhere: the settings that employ the most LPNs are not the lowest paid. National median annual wages for the occupation by setting, May 2025:
| Setting | Median annual wage (U.S.) |
|---|---|
| Government (excluding education and hospitals) | $68,970 |
| Nursing and residential care facilities | $68,020 |
| Home healthcare services | $63,580 |
| Hospitals (state, local and private) | $61,160 |
| Offices of physicians | $59,520 |
Nursing and residential care facilities, the largest LPN employer, pay a median $6,860 above hospitals and $8,500 above physicians' offices. Florida's older population makes skilled nursing, assisted living and home health a large part of the state's LPN market, so the setting you choose moves your pay at least as much as the metro does.
Where the LPN jobs in Florida are right now
Betterleap's job board counts open postings on hospital and health-system career sites. As of October 26, 2026, Florida employers had 14,188 open healthcare postings on 80 career sites, 371 of them for LPNs against 3,461 for registered nurses. Hospital career sites post many more RN than LPN roles, because most LPN jobs are in long-term care, home health and clinics whose postings sit elsewhere, so treat the counts as the hospital slice of the market. Start from LPN jobs in Florida, or go straight to a city:
| City | Open healthcare postings | of which RN | Employers posting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville, FL | 1,334 | 333 | 21 |
| Miami, FL | 1,086 | 226 | 12 |
| Orlando, FL | 859 | 215 | 9 |
| Tampa, FL | 684 | 185 | 18 |
| Fort Lauderdale, FL | 535 | 103 | 10 |
| Gainesville, FL | 477 | 104 | 6 |
| Pensacola, FL | 427 | 119 | 12 |
| Melbourne, FL | 347 | 93 | 12 |
Health systems posting the most jobs in Florida
Counted by open postings on each system's own career site, statewide, as of October 26, 2026. A system that lists every unit and shift separately ranks higher than one that posts one evergreen requisition per role.
| # | Employer | Open postings in Florida |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UF Health | 1,544 |
| 2 | Baptist Health South Florida | 1,302 |
| 3 | AdventHealth | 1,168 |
| 4 | Orlando Health | 1,053 |
| 5 | Broward Health | 729 |
Outlook for LPNs in Florida
Florida's own long-term projections expect LPN employment to grow from 37,000 in 2024 to 40,580 in 2034, a 10% rise, with about 3,460 openings a year once retirements and moves into RN roles are counted. That is faster than the national picture: the BLS projects 3% growth for the occupation from 2025 to 2035 (666,900 jobs in 2025) and about 51,800 openings a year nationwide. The difference is Florida's population: it keeps adding older residents, and long-term care is the setting that hires the most LPNs.
The license: compact, renewal and the next step
- Florida is a Nurse Licensure Compact state (it joined on January 19, 2018). The compact covers LPNs as well as RNs, so an LPN whose primary state of residence is another compact state and who holds a multistate license can work in Florida on it; a nurse who moves to Florida applies to the Florida Board of Nursing by endorsement. The compact states list shows which states are in, and transferring a nursing license covers endorsement.
- Renewal. A Florida LPN license renews every two years (the current cycle expires on July 31, 2027); the active renewal fee is $75 and the Board requires 24 continuing-education hours a cycle, including its mandatory courses on medical errors, Florida laws and rules, human trafficking and impairment in the workplace. Nurse CE requirements by state lists the details beside the other states'.
- New to the role. The practical nursing program, the NCLEX-PN, fingerprinting and the Board's fees are laid out step by step in how to become an LPN in Florida.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Labor, O*NET OnLine, Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses, wages in Florida (Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics), 2025 wage data, state and metropolitan area percentiles, read 14 November 2026.
- U.S. Department of Labor, O*NET OnLine, Registered Nurses, wages in Florida and Nursing Assistants, wages in Florida (Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics), 2025 wage data, read 14 November 2026.
- U.S. Department of Labor, O*NET OnLine, Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses, employment trends in Florida (state long-term projections, Projections Central), 2024-34, read 14 November 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses, May 2025 pay by industry and 2025-35 projections, read 14 November 2026.
- Florida Board of Nursing, Licensed Practical Nurse renewal, 2025-27 biennium, read 14 November 2026.
- National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Nurse Licensure Compact member states map, current status, read 14 November 2026.
- Betterleap job board, open postings on hospital and health-system career sites in Florida, counted October 26, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an LPN make in Florida?
The median wage for licensed practical nurses in Florida is $61,770 a year, or $29.70 an hour, in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2025 wage data. The lowest-paid tenth earn under $50,450 and the highest-paid tenth more than $74,320.
Is LPN pay in Florida above or below the national average?
Below. Florida's LPN median of $61,770 is $2,630 (4.1%) under the national median of $64,400, though Florida has no state income tax, which narrows the gap in take-home pay.
Which part of Florida pays LPNs the most?
Naples-Marco Island, with a median of $64,590 a year ($31.05 an hour), followed by North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota ($63,770). Among the large metros, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach ($62,610), Tampa ($62,490) and Jacksonville ($62,070) all pay above the state median; Orlando ($61,030) is just below it.
How much more does an RN make than an LPN in Florida?
$22,420 a year at the median: Florida registered nurses earn a median of $84,190 against $61,770 for LPNs in the same 2025 BLS data. Florida nursing assistants earn a median of $37,510.
Is demand for LPNs in Florida growing?
Yes. Florida's long-term projections expect LPN employment to rise 10% from 2024 to 2034, from 37,000 to 40,580, with about 3,460 openings a year, faster than the 3% the BLS projects nationally for 2025 to 2035.
