How Much Do Chief 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 chief 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 chief 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 chief nurses are offering as compensation.

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

At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Chief Nurses

According to data from 2023, there were about 49,979 positions for chief nurses in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for chief nurses was reported to be $212,659. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 6,827 job postings related to positions for chief nurses.

How Much Money Do Chief Nurses Make?

Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money chief 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 chief nurses.

Annual Salary for Chief Nurses

According to the BLS, the lowest earners for chief nurses and related professions earned about $139,984 per year in 2023. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the highest earners made about $359,818 annually.

As mentioned previously, the median salary for chief nurses in the United States in 2023 was $212,659.

Hourly Salary for Chief Nurses

The BLS also breaks down compensation for chief nurses by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for chief nurses in 2023 was $102. Lowest hourly earners took home $67 while the highest reported hourly salaries for chief nurses was $173.

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Degree Options for Chief Nurses

Advertised Compensation for Chief Nurses

Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for chief 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 chief 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 Chief Nurses

During a review of 12,677 job postings related to chief nurses, advertised salary was included in 2,153 of them, which was 17%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for chief nurses was $224,768 per year.

Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Chief Nurses

A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for chief nurses. Based on 32% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for chief nurses in the United States is about $108.

Salary Trend for Chief Nurses

If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for chief 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 chief nurses dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for chief nurses have increased 18%.

What's the Job Growth for Chief 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 chief nurses over the next 10 years.

According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 49,969 jobs for chief nurses in the United States in 2023. By 2033, it is expected that about 6,363 jobs will be added. That's a 12.7% increase over the next 10-year period.

Additional Links

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

What do chief nurses do?
Chief Nurses: How do you become one?

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