Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages High openings flow SOC 29-1141

Registered Nurses

About 189,100 projected annual openings shape how to read Registered Nurses against Pediatric Surgeons, Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Emergency Medicine Physicians, Anesthesiologists.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Registered Nurses: Pediatric Surgeons ($559K) , Obstetricians and Gynecologists ($293K) , Emergency Medicine Physicians ($336K) , Anesthesiologists ($391K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Registered Nurses publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 29-1141 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Record patients' medical information and vital signs
  2. 2. Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects
  3. 3. Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records
  4. 4. Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions
  5. 5. Provide health care, first aid, immunizations, or assistance in convalescence or rehabilitation in locations such as schools, hospitals…
  6. 6. Consult and coordinate with healthcare team members to assess, plan, implement, or evaluate patient care plans
  7. 7. Direct or supervise less-skilled nursing or healthcare personnel or supervise a particular unit
  8. 8. Monitor all aspects of patient care, including diet and physical activity
  9. 9. Perform administrative or managerial functions, such as taking responsibility for a unit's staff, budget, planning, or long-range goals
  10. 10. Order, interpret, and evaluate diagnostic tests to identify and assess patient's condition
  11. 11. Prescribe or recommend drugs, medical devices, or other forms of treatment, such as physical therapy, inhalation therapy, or related ther…
  12. 12. Direct or coordinate infection control programs, advising or consulting with specified personnel about necessary precautions

Registered Nurses: O*NET ranks Social Perceptiveness first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 29-1141 - lead skill Social Perceptiveness at 4.1 ; lead knowledge Psychology. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Social Perceptiveness 4.1
  2. 2. Active Listening 4.0
  3. 3. Speaking 4.0
  4. 4. Critical Thinking 4.0
  5. 5. Coordination 4.0
  6. 6. Service Orientation 4.0
  7. 7. Reading Comprehension 3.9
  8. 8. Judgment and Decision Making 3.9

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Psychology 4.6
  2. 2. Customer and Personal Service 4.4
  3. 3. Medicine and Dentistry 4.4
  4. 4. English Language 4.2
  5. 5. Administrative 3.5
  6. 6. Mathematics 3.4
Projected annual openings
189,100
growth + transfers + exits
National median $97,550/yr
$98K
National median
↑ +5%
Growth 2024-2034
3,379,720
Estimated US jobs
Pediatric Surgeons
Highest-pay peer · $559K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Bachelor's degree

Top Paying States for Registered Nurses

1. Hawaii $136,320
2. Alaska $109,480
3. Connecticut $102,740
4. Oregon $129,010
5. California $140,270
6. Nevada $103,670
7. New York $109,440
8. Washington $124,200
9. Massachusetts $104,550
10. New Jersey $106,500

Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations titles

  1. 1. Emergency Medicine Physicians $335,550
  2. 2. Obstetricians and Gynecologists $292,910
  3. 3. Anesthesiologists $391,490
  4. 4. Dermatologists $328,730
  5. 5. Pediatric Surgeons $559,030
  6. 6. Cardiologists $496,010

Roughly 189,100 projected annual openings (growth, transfers, exits) are the scale signal for Registered Nurses. Median pay is $97,550 in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations.

Employment Projections expect +5% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. 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: Hawaii at $136,320. 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.

Registered Nurses pay-rank #40 in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations

Registered Nurses sits at pay-rank #40 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.

SOC 29-1141 · national median $97,550 · middle third of Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations (#40/71). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Registered Nurses salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 29-1141

Hawaii · top state for Registered Nurses

$136K published median

Alaska · #2 state pay

$109K · behind Hawaii

Pediatric Surgeons

Highest-pay peer vs Registered Nurses · $559K

Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Lower-pay peer beside Registered Nurses · $293K

Compare Registered Nurses

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Registered Nurses with another occupation →

Openings and labor-flow next reads

Most Openings Rankings

Labor-flow scale across occupations

Compare openings side-by-side

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Registered Nurses mid-table among Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #40 of 71 detailed Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Speech-Language Pathologists ($98K), Dental Hygienists ($98K), Diagnostic Medical Sonographers ($97K), Audiologists ($96K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do registered nurses do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Registered Nurses. Leading ones include: Record patients' medical information and vital signs; Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects; Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records; Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for registered nurses? ▼
For SOC 29-1141, O*NET importance scores lead with Social Perceptiveness (4.1), Active Listening (4.0), Speaking (4.0), Critical Thinking (4.0). Knowledge areas emphasize Psychology, Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Registered Nurses? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $97,550 as the national median for Registered Nurses. The published 10th-90th range is $68,940 to $137,470. Beside Pediatric Surgeons ($559,030), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Registered Nurses? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Registered Nurses is +5%. Projected annual openings: about 189,100. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Registered Nurses? ▼
Hawaii ($136,320), Alaska ($109,480), Connecticut ($102,740) 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 Registered Nurses card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 29-1141. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Registered Nurses. 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