According to the 2016 Medscape APRN Salary Report, wages for advanced practice registered nurses rose an average of 2.8% to $109,000. That’s $31,000 more than the average for registered nurses in 2015. Among the highest earners were certified registered nurse anesthetists, who took home an average of $176,000, while clinical nurse specialists were on the lower end at $95,000.
Although overall the news is fairly positive, that is not the case for everyone in the nursing field. Nearly 35% of respondents reported that their salary either stayed the same or went down in 2015, and female nurses found that their male counterparts are being paid more. Male CRNAs report an average of $21,000 more per year, while CPSs and NPs average $11,000 more than their female peers.
The industry that a nurse works in also seems to play a role in the average wages. NPs in an in-patient hospital setting earn the highest, thought long-term care facilities and military/government settings earn nearly as much. NPs seeing the lowest wages were typically in a school or college health setting.
Also surprising from the survey was the number of nurses still paying off their student loans. While having advanced degrees is more likely to get you a higher salary, the cost to attain the degrees does not come cheap.