How you can make the most money as a nurse

• 2-minute read •
2016 was great for continued job growth in the health care sector. That’s not news at this point; in terms of job growth, the sector has been one of the top sectors in each monthly U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation report of 2016.

But wait, that’s not all. This sector has not only seen job creation, but wage growth as well, according to the most recent monthly BLS employment report.

For nurses, though, this uptick in wages, in particular, has been going on for a couple years now. In nursing, salaries increased, on average, about 1.3% per year from 2008 to 2014, according to BLS data. But in the past two years, that rate has doubled, with nurses’ salaries increasing about 2.6% per year since then.

We dived further into BLS data and unearthed three things you could do—go back to school, relocate to another state or work for a different company or organization—to rake in the most cash as a nurse.

More education means more money
According to BLS data, the more schooling you have, the greater your paycheck could potentially be.

Nurses with a post-secondary certificate typically enter the workforce as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) or licensed vocational nurse (LVN) and generally earn an average of $43,170 per year.

Not bad, but investing in a college education will most likely lead to a greater payout in the long haul. Those with a bachelor’s in nursing (BSN) can get a job as a registered nurse and expect to take home an average of $67,490 a year.

Should you decide to get your master’s degree after that, a job as a nurse practitioner would have you looking at a six-figure paycheck, an average of $104,740, to be exact.

A change in locale could mean more change in your pocket
Where you live also has an effect on how much money you’re pulling in. Average salaries vary depending on geographic region, according to BLS data, with nurses in the west raking in the most cash.

The top-paying state for nurses is California, with an average annual salary of $101,260, followed by Hawaii, with Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Nevada not far behind. Nurses in the Northeast also command a high salary, with Massachusetts being the top-paying state for nurses in this region (No. 3 in the U.S.), averaging $88,650 a year.

Some of this correlates with cost of living—the coastal areas typically have the highest in the country. But the two states with higher paying nursing jobs combined with a lower cost of living are Michigan and Idaho, according to recent data from Drexel University.

Where you work could lead to higher wages
According to BLS data, nursing jobs within outpatient care centers command the highest median annual wages, followed by general medical and surgical hospitals, then home health care services, offices of physicians and skilled nursing facilities.

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