RN vs Nurse Practitioner Salary
Nurse Practitioners earn more — a national median of $132,050 vs $93,600, a gap of about $38,450 per year.
Registered Nurse
Verified public wage data$93,600 / yr median
Nurse Practitioner
Verified public wage data$132,050 / yr median
Annual pay, side by side
- Registered NurseVerified public wage data$93,600$45.00/hr
- Nurse PractitionerVerified public wage data$132,050$63.49/hr
What the difference comes down to
Nurse Practitioners — advanced practice nurses who diagnose and prescribe — earn well above staff RNs. Scope of practice, required education, and autonomy are the biggest drivers of the gap. Use the calculator to personalize either path by your state, experience, and work setting.
Source & confidence— A verified figure from official U.S. public wage data.
BLS OEWS (May 2024, national)
National wage figures for SOC 29-1141 are seeded from published BLS OEWS May 2024 national data. Run `npm run import:oews` to replace seed values with figures parsed directly from official OEWS files.
Source year 2024. Last reviewed June 1, 2025. Full methodology
Last reviewed June 1, 2025.
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