Nearly three million nurses are working in the United States, and when it comes to how much they're paid, Washington ranks #29 in the country for best-paying states for nurses in 2021 — according to Business.org.
The team at Business.org found that the average salary for a nurse in Washington is $86,170 (or $41.43 an hour) — which is nearly 39% more than the average salary of other occupations in the state. They also found that nurses need to work more than 32 hours to afford a month's rent.
Business.org compared each state's average nursing salary to the average income to find percent differences, then calculated how many hours a nurse would have to work to afford rent in each state to determine this ranking.
Other highlights from their findings include:
- Nurses make an average salary of $77,460 nationally.
- The best-paying state for nurses in the United States is Hawaii, with an average salary of $104,060.
- Washington D.C. ranks last on the list.
- California has the highest pay per hour, coming in at $54.44.
