If you want to be a nurse, you’re probably curious about what the highest-paying nursing jobs are. You know, because life is expensive…and unpredictable.
Despite the AI panic that’s distorted the job market in recent years, nursing remains a stable and high-paying career for folks to break into. Nursing currently has a demand that’s higher than its supply, with more than 189,100 new job openings for registered nurses (RNs) being projected each year through 2034, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
On top of that, higher paying roles like advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) are projected to grow by 32,700 job openings each year at that same time. If you want to make a living taking care of and healing others, the money and opportunity is there. Let’s take a look at the roles that pay the most.
Key points:
- Some of the highest-paying nursing jobs are nurse anesthetists and nurse practitioners.
- Nursing jobs have faster than average job growth over the next decade, according to the BLS.
- You don’t have to get a bachelor’s degree to get into nursing but will need it to move on to advanced degrees and programs for higher-paying roles.
- Browse thousands of individually reported high-paying nursing salaries on our Salary Database.
8 Highest Paying Nursing Jobs With Increasing Demand 2026
We’ve ranked the highest-paid nursing jobs using job data from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, our Salary Database of thousands of self-reported and validated salaries, and interviews with real nurses. The results are sorted by highest to lowest median salaries, as reported by the BLS.
To get a sneak peak of a few nursing jobs that pay well, the video below features a few of our recent interviews with nurses about what they make and how they got started:
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You can find all of the nursing salaries we recorded by searching for any of the below positions in our Salary Database. Don’t forget to join and add your salary too!
1. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
BLS median annual salary: $223,210
Highest self-reported salary in our database: $400,000
Job outlook up to 2034: 9% increase in job growth
Nurse anesthetists make the most amount of money out of any other nursing job title on this list and is ranked 5th on our highest-paying healthcare jobs report because their work goes a little beyond normal nursing responsibilities. They’re advanced practice registered nurses that can administer anesthesia to patients for procedures and are often the only anesthesia providers in underserved areas. We interviewed a CRNA that makes $280,000 a year with 2 years of experience!
They typically work in operating rooms, surgery centers, pain clinics, hospitals, and dental offices.
Education needed: A bachelor’s or master’s degree in nursing while becoming an RN with 1 year of experience working in an intensive care unit (ICU). As of 2025, CRNAs also need a doctorate in nurse anesthesia (DNP) from an accredited program and to pass the National Certification Examination administered by the National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists.
Start learning skills for this job: Integrative Health and Medicine Specialization Course
2. Nurse Practitioner (NP)
BLS median annual salary: $129,210
Highest self-reported salary in our database: $225,000
Job outlook up to 2034: 40% increase in job growth
Nurse practitioners are another role under APRNs whose work is very similar to physicians within their scope of practice and is ranked 3rd on our top-paying careers of the future report. They can diagnose conditions, prescribe medication, and perform procedures, but the scope of what they’re permitted to do varies by state.
NPs work in clinics, hospitals, urgent care, specialty practices, and telehealth, and specialize in a variety of areas, such as family, adult-gerontology, psychiatric, pediatric, women’s health, and neonatal care.
Education needed: A bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing, an active RN license in their state, pass the national NP certification board exam, and obtain an NP license.
Start learning skills for this job: Healthcare Career Explorer Nurse Practitioner Course
3. Nurse Midwife (CNM)
BLS median annual salary: $128,790
Highest self-reported salary in our database: $142,000
Job outlook up to 2034: 11% increase in job growth
Nurse midwives are another subset of APRNs, but they distinctly specialize in women’s reproductive health, pregnancy, childbirth, and newborn care. They provide prenatal and postpartum care, manage births, and can prescribe medication to patients. You’ll normally see them working in hospitals, OB/GYN or midwifery practices, health clinics, and home birth settings in states where it’s supported.
Education needed: A bachelor’s degree in nursing, a master’s degree from a nursing-midwifery program accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education, and pass the national AMCB certification exam.
Start learning skills for this job: Global Quality Maternal and Newborn Care
4. Nurse Manager
BLS median annual salary: $117,960
Highest self-reported salary in our database: $155,000
Job outlook up to 2034: 23% increase in job growth
Nurse managers supervise over a nursing departments and combine their clinical nursing background with administrative responsibilities. They’re in charge of staffing and scheduling, budgets, compliance, and implement policies within the nursing staff. They also liaison and have some clinical involvement, typically working in hospitals, surgery centers, clinics, nursing homes, and home health agencies.
Education needed: A bachelor’s degree in nursing and an active RN license in their state with 2 years of clinical experience, but some healthcare providers may prefer a master’s degree with some focus on management and leadership.
Start learning skills for this job: Nursing Leadership Course
5. Registered Nurse (RN)
BLS median annual salary: $93,600
Highest self-reported salary in our database: $205,000
Job outlook up to 2034: 5% increase in job growth
RNs are the backbone of the healthcare industry. They provide patient care across every specialty and care setting, assessing patients, advocating for them, administering treatments, and coordinating their care.
RNs have several areas they can choose to specialize in, including (but not limited to) ICU/critical care, emergency room (ER), oncology, psychiatric, labor and delivery, and case management. They have the option to work in hospitals, outpatient clinics, surgery centers, nursing homes, schools, public health departments, and home health, among many others.
We interviewed a registered nurse who makes $43 an hour and a nursing student who is still working towards her degree in the video below to give you a good idea of what you can expect to make as a nurse and what to expect while still in school.
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Education needed: An associate’s or a bachelor’s degree in nursing and pass the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) to obtain an active RN license in their state.
Start learning skills for this job: The Nurse’s Toolkit
6. Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)
BLS median annual salary: $93,600
Highest self-reported salary in our database: $137,000
Job outlook up to 2034: 5% increase in job growth
Clinical nurse specialists are APRNs who use their clinical expertise in a specific speciality, such as pediatric, critical care, diabetes, oncology, etc, in roles that focus on improving care quality and education through direct patient care, nursing staff development, and systems leadership.
They typically work in hospitals, academic medical centers, outpatient specialty clinics, long-term care facilities, and healthcare consulting.
Education needed: A bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing, an active RN license in their state, and 1 or more years of work experience as an RN.
Start learning skills for this job: Getting Started with Clinical Skills: A Focus on the Patient
7. Clinical Research Nurse
BLS median annual salary: $93,600
Highest self-reported salary in our database: $150,000
Job outlook up to 2034: 5% increase in job growth
A clinical research nurse specializes in coordinating clinical trials and research studies and is a role that’s growing in demand with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. They support their research by recruiting and screening patients for trials, implementing protocols, collecting data, collecting specimens, and monitoring patients, perfectly combining their clinical experience with their love for research.
They have the option to work in academic medical centers, research departments in hospitals, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, contract research organizations (CROs), government research institutions (like the NIH), and specialized research clinics.
Education needed: A bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing, an active RN license in their state, and 1 to 2 years of clinical work experience as an RN.
Start learning skills for this job: Clinical Trials Operations Specialization Course
8. Nursing Instructor
BLS median annual salary: $79,940
Highest self-reported salary in our database: $140,000
Job outlook up to 2034: 17% increase in job growth
Nursing instructors or educators are RNs who teach nurses in academic or clinical training programs, and are highly needed. Nursing schools have had trouble in recent years accepting all qualified applicants because they lack the staff to handle them.
Nursing educators have many options for where they can teach, including universities and colleges, like nursing schools, community colleges, vocational/technical nursing programs, and hospitals. Private colleges and universities tend to pay the highest salaries, according to the BLS.
Education needed: A bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing with a focus on education, an active RN license in their stature, and 2 years of experience working in a clinical setting.
Start learning skills for this job: Teaching and Assessing Clinical Skills
How to Get Into Nursing
The best place to start if you want to get into nursing is with an accredited associate’s or bachelor’s degree program in nursing to work toward passing the NCLEX-RN exam.
You also have the option to enroll in a licensed practical nurse (LPN) program approved by your state’s Board of Nursing that lasts anywhere from 12 to 18 months to qualify for the NCLEX-PN licensing exam. This shorter route can help you break into working in clinical settings quicker as you work towards advanced degrees and specialties.
You can also look at online course work and entry-level work in surgery centers, hospitals, and clinics to get more experience while still in school, which also gets you access to licensed nurses that you can shadow while you figure out what specialty you want to focus on.
Whatever program and route you decide on, don’t get too ahead of yourself. It takes years to become a nurse with intensive training, so take your time to figure out what you really want to do in the field and what’s the best fit for you versus *not so much*. If you’re looking for more guidance, our free Healthcare Career Quiz can also help you decide if nursing is the right place for you in healthcare with additional resources.
That wraps it up for this week. I’m Daniella Flores, a former engineer who writes about tech, money, and careers, former member of the CNET Money Expert Review Board, and career researcher that’s appeared in TIME, CNBC, and Investopedia (among many others). I’m extremely passionate about workers' rights and financial freedom, so it’s a pleasure to be able to bring you this type of content through the Resource Hub (thank you for the opportunity, Hannah!) You can also follow me on Linkedin. Chat soon!
If this guide helps you land a top-paying nursing job, let us know! Send us an email ➡️ hello@checksalaries.com
For more transparent resources:
- Want to join the movement? Explore thousands of individually reported salaries nationwide across all industries in our Salary Database!
- Do you know if you're being underpaid? Take our free quiz to find out!
- Want to break into healthcare? Read the full Healthcare Career Guide!
- Need help determining your market rate? Download our free Market Research Guide to learn what you should be making.
- Need help negotiating your salary? Download our free Salary Negotiation Guide!
