How much do emergency room nurses make in 2026?
Emergency room 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. The survey has no emergency-specific wage, so emergency nursing has to be read as the upper-middle band of that distribution. What lifts it is coverage rather than credentialing alone: an emergency department never closes, so nights, weekends and holidays are a permanent part of the rota and their differentials are effectively built into annual pay. On top of that, verified trauma centres pay above community emergency departments because they need nurses who hold TNCC, CEN and often CPEN, and because their volume and acuity make vacancies expensive. Registered nurse employment is projected to grow 4.9% through 2034 with roughly 189,100 openings a year. → Full emergency room 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.
- Emergency Room 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 pools every registered nurse into one wage, so emergency pay is best read as the upper-middle band of the $68,940 to $137,470 RN range.
- Round-the-clock coverage means night, weekend and holiday differentials are a structural part of emergency earnings rather than an occasional bonus.
- Trauma-centre designation is the biggest local variable: verified trauma centres pay above community emergency departments for the same licence, because they need TNCC and CEN-credentialed staff and cannot leave lines unfilled.
US Emergency Room Nurse Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do emergency room 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 an emergency room nurse earn at each career stage?
Emergency nursing pay follows triage competency, certification and facility designation rather than a licence ladder above the RN. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS registered nurse distribution (SOC 29-1141).
By State
Which states pay emergency room 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. Geography matters twice over in emergency nursing: Nurse Licensure Compact membership determines how fast you can start a job in another member state, and the density of verified trauma centres decides whether the higher-paying emergency work in your area exists at all.
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 emergency room nurses the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the registered nurse national median 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 an emergency room 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 emergency room nurse pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Emergency Room 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 emergency room nurse wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does an emergency room 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
Emergency Room Nurse Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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