Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Above-baseline growth SOC 29-1171

Nurse Practitioners

Projected +40% employment change leads this card; pay sits next to Pediatric Surgeons, Psychiatrists, Surgeons, All Other, Cardiologists.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Nurse Practitioners: Pediatric Surgeons ($559K) , Psychiatrists ($282K) , Surgeons, All Other ($414K) , Cardiologists ($496K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Nurse Practitioners publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 29-1171 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Maintain complete and detailed records of patients' health care plans and prognoses
  2. 2. Develop treatment plans, based on scientific rationale, standards of care, and professional practice guidelines
  3. 3. Provide patients with information needed to promote health, reduce risk factors, or prevent disease or disability
  4. 4. Analyze and interpret patients' histories, symptoms, physical findings, or diagnostic information to develop appropriate diagnoses
  5. 5. Diagnose or treat complex, unstable, comorbid, episodic, or emergency conditions in collaboration with other health care providers as nec…
  6. 6. Prescribe medication dosages, routes, and frequencies, based on such patient characteristics as age and gender
  7. 7. Diagnose or treat chronic health care problems, such as high blood pressure and diabetes
  8. 8. Prescribe medications based on efficacy, safety, and cost as legally authorized
  9. 9. Recommend diagnostic or therapeutic interventions with attention to safety, cost, invasiveness, simplicity, acceptability, adherence, and…
  10. 10. Detect and respond to adverse drug reactions, with special attention to vulnerable populations such as infants, children, pregnant and la…
  11. 11. Diagnose or treat acute health care problems, such as illnesses, infections, or injuries
  12. 12. Counsel patients about drug regimens and possible side effects or interactions with other substances, such as food supplements, over-the…

Nurse Practitioners: O*NET ranks Reading Comprehension first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 29-1171 - lead skill Reading Comprehension at 4.1 ; lead knowledge Medicine and Dentistry. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Reading Comprehension 4.1
  2. 2. Active Listening 4.1
  3. 3. Critical Thinking 4.1
  4. 4. Complex Problem Solving 4.1
  5. 5. Writing 4.0
  6. 6. Speaking 4.0
  7. 7. Active Learning 4.0
  8. 8. Monitoring 4.0

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Medicine and Dentistry 4.8
  2. 2. English Language 4.3
  3. 3. Biology 4.2
  4. 4. Psychology 4.2
  5. 5. Customer and Personal Service 4.1
  6. 6. Therapy and Counseling 4.0
Projected employment change 2024-2034
↑ +40%
much faster than average (3.1%)
National median $132,300/yr
$132K
National median
29,500
Annual openings
323,040
Estimated US jobs
Pediatric Surgeons
Highest-pay peer · $559K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Master's degree

Top Paying States for Nurse Practitioners

1. Massachusetts $142,440
2. New Hampshire $137,550
3. New Jersey $159,310
4. Alaska $155,170
5. Connecticut $138,470
6. Washington $156,100
7. Nevada $140,670
8. New York $153,510
9. Oregon $155,680
10. California $168,520

Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations titles

  1. 1. Surgeons, All Other $414,010
  2. 2. Cardiologists $496,010
  3. 3. Psychiatrists $281,870
  4. 4. Dermatologists $328,730
  5. 5. Pediatric Surgeons $559,030
  6. 6. Obstetricians and Gynecologists $292,910

BLS projects +40% employment change for Nurse Practitioners (2024-2034), much faster than average vs the all-occupations baseline of 3.1%. Published median pay is $132,300.

BLS assigns Master's degree as typical entry education. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal employer rules. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Massachusetts at $142,440. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Pediatric Surgeons at $559,030. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Nurse Practitioners pay-rank #30 in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations

Nurse Practitioners sits at pay-rank #30 of 71 detailed Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, the middle third of the major-group median table. ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.

Other mid-table titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

Projected change +40.1% puts Nurse Practitioners ahead of most peers. Open the state map or compare it directly against a slower-growing role.

Nurse Practitioners salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 29-1171

Massachusetts · top state for Nurse Practitioners

$142K published median

New Hampshire · #2 state pay

$138K · behind Massachusetts

Pediatric Surgeons

Highest-pay peer vs Nurse Practitioners · $559K

Psychiatrists

Lower-pay peer beside Nurse Practitioners · $282K

Compare Nurse Practitioners

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Nurse Practitioners with another occupation →

Growth and outlook next reads

Fastest-Growing Rankings

National projection leaders

Highest-Paying Careers

Where growth meets pay

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Nurse Practitioners mid-table among Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #30 of 71 detailed Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Nurse Midwives ($134K), Veterinarians ($130K), Physician Assistants ($136K), Optometrists ($137K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do nurse practitioners do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Nurse Practitioners. Leading ones include: Maintain complete and detailed records of patients' health care plans and prognoses; Develop treatment plans, based on scientific rationale, standards of care, and professional practice guidelines; Provide patients with information needed to promote health, reduce risk factors, or prevent disease or disability; Analyze and interpret patients' histories, symptoms, physical findings, or diagnostic information to develop appropriate diagnoses. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for nurse practitioners? ▼
For SOC 29-1171, O*NET importance scores lead with Reading Comprehension (4.1), Active Listening (4.1), Critical Thinking (4.1), Complex Problem Solving (4.1). Knowledge areas emphasize Medicine and Dentistry, English Language, Biology. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Nurse Practitioners? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $132,300 as the national median for Nurse Practitioners. The published 10th-90th range is $101,340 to $174,420. Beside Pediatric Surgeons ($559,030), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
How fast is Nurse Practitioners projected to grow? ▼
BLS Employment Projections put Nurse Practitioners at +40% change for 2024-2034, with about 29,500 annual openings. Versus the all-occupations baseline (3.1%): much faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Nurse Practitioners? ▼
BLS assigns Master's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Nurse Practitioners. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Nurse Practitioners? ▼
Massachusetts ($142,440), New Hampshire ($137,550), New Jersey ($159,310) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Nurse Practitioners card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 29-1171. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Nurse Practitioners. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics