Nurse Practitioner Salaries by State (BLS May 2025 Data)

A nurse practitioner in California earns, on average, almost $66,000 a year more than one in Alabama for the same credential. This guide ranks every state and the District of Columbia by what nurse practitioners actually earn, using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for May 2025, the newest state-level wage data the government publishes. Every figure is a BLS estimate; nothing here is self-reported or blended from salary sites.

National estimates for nurse practitioners (May 2025)

The BLS counts 323,040 nurse practitioners employed in the United States. The mean annual wage is $137,300 ($66.01 an hour) and the median is $132,300 ($63.61 an hour). Half of nurse practitioners earn between $117,990 and $156,700; the top 10% earn more than $174,420.

Which states pay nurse practitioners the most?

California pays nurse practitioners the most, with a mean annual wage of $176,760: $39,460 above the national mean and more than $20,000 clear of second-placed Oregon. Oregon, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts round out the top five, and every state in the top ten averages more than $143,000 a year. The ten highest-paying states:

1. California: $176,760 a year ($84.98 an hour)
2. Oregon: $155,780 a year ($74.89 an hour)
3. New Jersey: $155,750 a year ($74.88 an hour)
4. New York: $153,900 a year ($73.99 an hour)
5. Massachusetts: $152,320 a year ($73.23 an hour)
6. Washington: $152,180 a year ($73.16 an hour)
7. Alaska: $149,120 a year ($71.69 an hour)
8. District of Columbia: $146,470 a year ($70.42 an hour)
9. New Mexico: $143,510 a year ($68.99 an hour)
10. Rhode Island: $143,150 a year ($68.82 an hour)

Which states pay nurse practitioners the least?

At the other end, Alabama has the lowest mean nurse practitioner wage at $110,970. Alabama and Tennessee are the only two states whose mean sits below the national 25th percentile ($117,990). The five lowest-paying states:

1. Alabama: $110,970 a year ($53.35 an hour)
2. Tennessee: $115,510 a year ($55.53 an hour)
3. Ohio: $122,910 a year ($59.09 an hour)
4. South Carolina: $124,170 a year ($59.70 an hour)
5. Kentucky: $125,010 a year ($60.10 an hour)

These are means, not offers. The spread between states is narrower for nurse practitioners than for RNs or LPNs: 39 of the 51 jurisdictions have a mean between $125,000 and $145,000, so setting, specialty and years of practice move an individual offer more than the state line does.

Nurse practitioner salaries in all 50 states (and D.C.)

Ranked by mean annual wage. "Median" is the annual wage at the midpoint of the state's nurse practitioners, and "NPs employed" is the BLS employment estimate for the state. Each state's name links to our guide to nursing jobs and pay in that state.

In fifteen states the median sits above the mean (New Jersey, Washington, Alaska, Nevada, Texas, Ohio and Tennessee among them), which means pay there is clustered near the top of the range rather than pulled up by a few high earners. The District of Columbia, Massachusetts and California show the opposite pattern: a typical nurse practitioner there earns $8,000 to $10,600 less than the jurisdiction's mean, because a smaller group of very high earners lifts the average.

Where the nurse practitioner jobs are

Pay and headcount line up better for nurse practitioners than for most nursing roles: California and New York are top-five payers and top-five employers. The six states with the most nurse practitioners:

• Texas: 25,970 NPs, mean $131,420
• California: 25,120 NPs, mean $176,760
• New York: 22,890 NPs, mean $153,900
• Florida: 21,790 NPs, mean $130,410
• Ohio: 15,400 NPs, mean $122,910
• Tennessee: 12,150 NPs, mean $115,510

Texas, California, New York, Florida and Ohio together employ more than 111,000 nurse practitioners, a third of the country's total. Browse the openings on our board for nurse practitioner jobs in Texas, California, New York and Florida, or every nurse practitioner job we list.

Top-paying industries for nurse practitioners

Setting matters as much as geography. National mean annual wages for nurse practitioners by industry, May 2025:

Physician offices employ almost half of all nurse practitioners and pay below the national mean. Hospitals and outpatient centers, the next two largest settings, pay $7,000 to $11,600 more; the specialty and psychiatric hospitals at the top of the table pay the most but together employ fewer than 6,000 NPs.

Job outlook for nurse practitioners

The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook groups nurse practitioners with nurse anesthetists and nurse midwives. It counts 399,000 jobs across the three roles in 2025 and projects employment to grow 36% from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the average for all occupations, adding 144,000 jobs. The BLS projects about 32,200 openings a year over the decade. The handbook's median pay for the combined group is $134,920 a year ($64.87 an hour); for nurse practitioners on their own it reports the same $132,300 median as the state data above. The typical entry-level education is a master's degree, and every state requires an RN license plus APRN licensure or certification.

What the numbers don't tell you

• Cost of living. BLS wages are gross pay, not adjusted for housing or taxes. California, Oregon, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts lead the pay table and are also among the most expensive places to live; New Mexico, Arizona, Iowa and Oklahoma sit in the top 25 with cheaper housing. Compare what is left after rent or a mortgage, not the headline figure.
• Specialty and setting. The industry table above is national; the same spread between a physician office and a specialty hospital exists inside every state, and psychiatric, acute care and emergency roles tend to post above a state's primary care offers. Shift differentials, on-call pay and productivity bonuses are inside these averages too.
• Experience. The 10th-to-90th percentile spread at the national level is $101,340 to $174,420, a range wider than the gap between most states. Where you fall in it depends more on years in practice, specialty and setting than on the state line.
• Licensure is still state by state. The Nurse Licensure Compact covers RN and LPN licenses, not advanced practice. The separate APRN Compact has been enacted in four states (Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah) and is not yet operating, so a nurse practitioner needs an APRN license from every state where they practice, including the highest-paying ones. Practice authority also differs: some states let NPs practice independently, others require a collaborating physician, which affects both the jobs on offer and what they pay.
• The step up from RN. The national nurse practitioner median ($132,300) is about $35,000 above the registered nurse median ($97,550), which is the arithmetic behind most RN-to-NP decisions. Our state guides, for example how to become a nurse in California and in Texas, cover the RN license every NP starts from.

Sources

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics query system, Nurse Practitioners (29-1171), May 2025 national, state and industry estimates, read 8 October 2026.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners, 2025 pay and 2025-35 projections, read 8 October 2026.
• National Council of State Boards of Nursing, APRN Compact, enacted and pending states, read 8 October 2026.
• National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Nurse Licensure Compact, licenses covered, read 8 October 2026.