How much do director of nursings make in 2026?
Directors of nursing are counted in the BLS medical and health services manager series: OEWS May 2025 reports the SOC 11-9111 national median at $123,860 a year ($59.55 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $73,390 and the top 10% at $224,340. The pooled figure hides a split that matters more for this title than for any other nursing leadership role. In an acute hospital, a director of nursing sits above unit managers and below the chief nursing officer, typically between the median and the $166,100 P75. In a skilled nursing facility, the director of nursing is the top clinical post in the building, reporting to a licensed administrator, and pay generally sits closer to the median — with regulatory exposure that hospital directors do not carry, since survey deficiencies and staffing citations land on this role. Employment is projected to grow 23.2% through 2034 with roughly 62,100 openings a year. → Full director of nursing career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $123,860 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Director of Nursings earn a national median $123,860/yr ($59.55/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 11-9111); the P10 to P90 range is $73,390 to $224,340.
- BLS pools clinic managers with hospital executives in SOC 11-9111, so a nursing director sits between the $123,860 median and the $166,100 P75 rather than at the top of the series.
- The title means two different jobs: a hospital nursing director sits under a chief nursing officer, while a skilled nursing facility director of nursing is the senior clinician in the building and carries direct survey accountability.
- Long-term care directors are personally exposed to state survey findings and staffing citations, which is the risk this salary band quietly prices in.
US Director of Nursing Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do director of nursings 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 11-9111; 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 11-9111, 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 director of nursing earn at each career stage?
Nursing director pay follows setting, facility size and regulatory accountability. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS medical and health services manager distribution (SOC 11-9111).
By State
Which states pay director of nursings the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national median for the management series scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. State regulation is the sharpest local variable for this role: minimum nursing-hours-per-resident-day rules, survey intensity and citation history determine how much staffing a director must fund and how exposed the post is, and states with strict long-term-care enforcement pay a premium for directors who can hold a deficiency-free record.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($142,440), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay director of nursings the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median for the management series scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's 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 director of nursing’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 director of nursing pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Director of Nursings 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 director of nursing wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a director of nursing 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
Director of Nursing Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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