How Much Do Licensed Practical Nurses Make?

Having a clear understanding of earnings potential is important, especially if you are researching career paths or considering changing jobs. If you're one of those people, and you're curious what kind of salary licensed practical nurses make, you've come to the right place.

Using data from Lightcast,™ the Best Adult Colleges and Careers Guide has compiled rich information about salary for licensed practical nurses and related jobs, including details about average compensation, salary trends and job growth. We've also gathered advertised salaries from actual job postings to provide insight into what employers of licensed practical nurses are offering as compensation.

Keep reading to learn more about how much licensed practical nurses can expect to make in the United States.

At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Licensed Practical Nurses

According to data from 2023, there were about 658,144 positions for licensed practical nurses in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for licensed practical nurses was reported to be $59,738. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 665,382 job postings related to positions for licensed practical nurses.

How Much Money Do Licensed Practical Nurses Make?

Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money licensed practical nurses and related positions can expect to make in the United States, it can be helpful to look at the full range of compensation for those jobs.

Let's look more deeply at data that was reported to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for detail into the lowest and highest salary earnings for licensed practical nurses.

Annual Salary for Licensed Practical Nurses

According to the BLS, the lowest earners for licensed practical nurses and related professions earned about $45,677 per year in 2023. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the highest earners made about $77,875 annually.

As mentioned previously, the median salary for licensed practical nurses in the United States in 2023 was $59,738.

Hourly Salary for Licensed Practical Nurses

The BLS also breaks down compensation for licensed practical nurses by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for licensed practical nurses in 2023 was $29. Lowest hourly earners took home $22 while the highest reported hourly salaries for licensed practical nurses was $37.

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Degree Options for Licensed Practical Nurses

Advertised Compensation for Licensed Practical Nurses

Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for licensed practical nurses, but another way to build a more real-time understanding of salary is to look at actual job postings and see what compensation organizations are currently providing to fill open positions for licensed practical nurses.

Keep in mind that salary data is not included in every job posting, so the information compiled here is reflective of the data available through Lightcast.™

Annual Salary from Job Postings for Licensed Practical Nurses

During a review of 430,384 job postings related to licensed practical nurses, advertised salary was included in 181,226 of them, which was 42%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for licensed practical nurses was $65,408 per year.

Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Licensed Practical Nurses

A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for licensed practical nurses. Based on 27% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for licensed practical nurses in the United States is about $31.

Salary Trend for Licensed Practical Nurses

If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for licensed practical nurses. The chart below provides a snapshot of advertised salaries over the past three years.

Based on compensation data that was included in job postings for licensed practical nurses dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for licensed practical nurses have increased 14%.

What's the Job Growth for Licensed Practical Nurses?

Another data point that someone thinking about a career path should consider is whether or not jobs are expected to see growth in the future. The chart below looks at projected employment for licensed practical nurses over the next 10 years.

According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 658,333 jobs for licensed practical nurses in the United States in 2023. By 2033, it is expected that about 60,953 jobs will be added. That's a 9.3% increase over the next 10-year period.

Additional Links

Ready to dig deeper into career information about licensed practical nurses? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for licensed practical nurses.

What do licensed practical nurses do?
Licensed Practical Nurses: How do you become one?

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