Hospice Nurse salary
A hospice nurse earns about $92,660 a year — roughly $44.55/hour, with most earning between $75,230 and $99,770. This is an estimate — a starting point, not an exact figure.
Hospice Nurse — U.S. national
Specialty estimateMedian annual pay
$92,660
Hourly
$44.55/hr
- Typical range
- $75,230–$99,770
- What most nurses earn
- High end
- $133,970
- Top earners
- Entry level
- $65,370
- Newer nurses
What affects this pay
- Home visits vs inpatient hospice unit
- On-call and after-hours coverage
- Nonprofit agency vs for-profit chain
- Rural territory size and drive time
- CHPN certification
About Hospice Nurses
What they do
Hospice nurses manage pain and symptoms for dying patients, titrate comfort medications under standing orders, teach families what to expect and how to help, coordinate the interdisciplinary team of aides, chaplains, and social workers, pronounce deaths in many states, and document eligibility for the hospice benefit.
How to become a Hospice Nurse
Most agencies hire licensed RNs with prior medical-surgical, oncology, or home-care experience, valuing strong independent assessment skills since visits happen without a physician present. The Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse (CHPN) credential is the recognized specialty certification and typically requires substantial hours of hospice practice.
What drives the pay
Because occupational wage data lumps hospice nursing in with all registered nurses, the estimates shown derive from RN pay overall. Earnings typically sit near or a bit under the RN midpoint: much of the field is community-based and staffed by home-care and nonprofit agencies, whose budgets and reimbursement rates generally run leaner than acute-care hospitals, though on-call stipends and continuous-care shifts can narrow the gap.
Hospice Nurse pay by state
Where this role tends to pay the most.
| State | Annual pay | vs U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| California | $127,880 | +38% vs national |
| Hawaii | $111,200 | +20% vs national |
| Alaska | $109,340 | +18% vs national |
| Oregon | $109,340 | +18% vs national |
| Washington | $109,340 | +18% vs national |
| Massachusetts | $106,560 | +15% vs national |
| New York | $104,710 | +13% vs national |
| District of Columbia | $103,780 | +12% vs national |
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Hospice Nurse salary FAQ
- How much do Hospice Nurses make?
- Hospice Nurses earn an estimated $92,660 a year — about $44.55 an hour, with most between $75,230 and $99,770. Hospice Nurses aren't reported as a separate role in public wage data, so this is a specialty estimate that starts from registered nurse pay.
- What is the hourly pay for Hospice Nurses?
- Most Hospice Nurses are paid an hourly wage. The national estimate works out to about $44.55 an hour at a full-time schedule, with a typical range of $36.17 to $47.97. Nights, weekends, and overtime differentials push the real hourly rate higher.
- Which state pays Hospice Nurses the most?
- California is among the highest-paying states for Hospice Nurses, at roughly $127,880 a year, followed by other West Coast and Northeast states. State figures are estimates based on national pay and local cost of living.
- Why is Hospice Nurse pay shown as an estimate?
- No public source measures Hospice Nurses as a separate occupation, so we start from registered nurse pay and apply the pay difference these nurses typically see. The figure is clearly labeled an estimate and sharpens as nurses submit their own pay.
- Why are some figures verified and others estimates?
- National pay for the main nursing roles — registered nurses, LPNs/LVNs, nurse practitioners, CRNAs, nurse midwives, and nursing assistants — comes from verified public wage data. State, city, and specialty figures that aren't reported on their own start from that national pay and are labeled "Estimated" or "Specialty estimate." We never show an estimate as a verified figure.
Source & confidence— An estimate for a specialty that public pay data does not list on its own. A ballpark to start from, not an exact figure.
Modeled specialty estimate
Hospice Nurse is not broken out by BLS. Figures are modeled from the SOC 29-1141 median using a specialty differential of 0.99×, reflecting commonly reported pay differences. Treat as directional, not precise.
Source year 2024. Last reviewed June 1, 2025. Full methodology
This role isn’t broken out in public wage data, so the figure starts from registered nurse pay and sharpens as nurses submit their pay. Last reviewed June 1, 2025.