How much do charge nurses make in 2026?
Charge nurses are paid from the registered nurse series: BLS OEWS May 2025 puts the SOC 29-1141 national median at $97,550 a year ($46.90 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $68,940 and the top 10% at $137,470. BLS does not publish a charge nurse wage, and that matters more here than for most specialties, because in the majority of hospitals charge nurse is a rotating shift assignment rather than a separate job: the nurse keeps a staff base rate and receives a charge differential, commonly one to three dollars an hour, for the shifts they run the unit. That structure puts experienced charge nurses in the upper half of the RN distribution — the $112,350 P75 is a realistic marker for a seasoned charge nurse on nights in a high-acuity unit — while the salaried step above, nurse manager, moves into a different occupational series altogether. Registered nurse employment is projected to grow 4.9% through 2034 with roughly 189,100 openings a year. → Full charge nurse career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $97,550 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Charge Nurses earn a national median $97,550/yr ($46.90/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1141); the P10 to P90 range is $68,940 to $137,470.
- BLS publishes one registered nurse wage, not a charge nurse wage, so read charge pay as a staff RN rate plus a per-shift charge differential.
- The differential is usually one to three dollars an hour for the shifts you hold charge, which is why annual pay depends on how often you are in the rota rather than on a new pay grade.
- Registered nurse employment is projected to grow 4.9% through 2034 with roughly 189,100 openings a year, and chronic charge-eligible staffing gaps are the reason units pay to fill the role at all.
US Charge Nurse Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do charge nurses earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 29-1141; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1141, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a charge nurse earn at each career stage?
Charge nursing is an assignment layered on a staff RN licence, so the stages below track eligibility, unit acuity and how much of the rota you hold. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS registered nurse distribution (SOC 29-1141).
By State
Which states pay charge nurses the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national registered nurse median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Two state-level facts move charge pay in particular: whether your state is a Nurse Licensure Compact member, which determines how easily you can move between employers, and whether it mandates nurse-to-patient ratios, because ratio states convert staffing shortfalls into paid charge and premium shifts rather than heavier assignments.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($112,180), the highest-paying state shown. See all 51 state salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay charge nurses the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the registered nurse national median scaled by the state wage index and then by the published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a charge nurse’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does charge nurse pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Charge Nurses sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify charge nurse wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a charge nurse actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Charge Nurse Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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