Trauma Nurse salary
A trauma nurse earns about $103,400 a year — roughly $49.71/hour, with most earning between $85,150 and $119,090. This is an estimate — a starting point, not an exact figure.
Trauma Nurse — U.S. national
Specialty estimateMedian annual pay
$103,400
Hourly
$49.71/hr
- Typical range
- $85,150–$119,090
- What most nurses earn
- High end
- $145,720
- Top earners
- Entry level
- $73,080
- Newer nurses
What affects this pay
- Trauma certification (TCRN)
- Level I/II trauma-center setting
- Night and weekend differentials
- Metro labor market
About Trauma Nurses
What they do
Trauma nurses stabilize and treat severely injured patients — from car crashes, falls, and violence — in trauma centers and emergency departments. They work as part of a rapid trauma team during resuscitations, manage airways, hemorrhage, and rapid transfusion, and move patients quickly toward imaging, surgery, or the ICU while tracking rapidly changing conditions.
How to become a Trauma Nurse
Trauma nurses are RNs who typically build emergency or critical-care experience first, then add trauma-specific training such as the Trauma Nursing Core Course and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support. With experience at a Level I or II trauma center they can pursue the Trauma Certified Registered Nurse (TCRN) credential.
What drives the pay
Trauma nursing has no separate federal wage line, so these figures are specialty estimates derived from registered nurse pay. The premium reflects the high acuity and unpredictability of trauma resuscitation, the concentration of the work at designated trauma centers, and the night, weekend, and on-call demands common in the role.
Trauma Nurse pay by state
Estimated trauma nurse pay where this role tends to earn the most. Open a state for the full local picture.
| State | Est. annual pay | vs U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| California | $142,700 | +38% vs national |
| Hawaii | $124,080 | +20% vs national |
| Alaska | $122,020 | +18% vs national |
| Oregon | $122,020 | +18% vs national |
| Washington | $122,020 | +18% vs national |
| Massachusetts | $118,910 | +15% vs national |
| New York | $116,850 | +13% vs national |
| District of Columbia | $115,810 | +12% vs national |
Trauma Nurse salary by state
Open any state for estimated trauma nurse pay, local metros, and how it compares to the U.S. average.
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Trauma Nurse salary FAQ
- How much do Trauma Nurses make?
- Trauma Nurses earn an estimated $103,400 a year — about $49.71 an hour, with most between $85,150 and $119,090. Trauma 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 Trauma Nurses?
- Most Trauma Nurses are paid an hourly wage. The national estimate works out to about $49.71 an hour at a full-time schedule, with a typical range of $40.94 to $57.25. Nights, weekends, and overtime differentials push the real hourly rate higher.
- Which state pays Trauma Nurses the most?
- California is among the highest-paying states for Trauma Nurses, at roughly $142,700 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 Trauma Nurse pay shown as an estimate?
- No public source measures Trauma 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
Trauma Nurse is not broken out by BLS. Figures are modeled from the SOC 29-1141 median using a specialty differential of 1.06×, reflecting commonly reported pay differences. Treat as directional, not precise.
Source year 2025. Last reviewed July 3, 2026. 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 July 3, 2026.