How much do licensed practical nurses make in 2026?
Licensed practical and vocational nurses earn a national median of $64,400 a year ($30.96 an hour) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 29-2061), with the bottom 10% at about $49,740 and the top 10% at $83,440. Entry is a state-approved practical nursing programme of roughly twelve to eighteen months followed by the NCLEX-PN and state board licensure, and the Nurse Licensure Compact covers practical nurses as well as registered nurses in member states. Setting explains most of the spread: skilled nursing facilities and correctional health pay above physician offices and outpatient clinics, largely because they run around the clock and struggle to fill nights. Scope of practice is the ceiling — LPNs work under registered nurse or physician direction, and what they may do with intravenous therapy and assessment varies by state, which is why the $83,440 top decile is closer to a genuine ceiling than in registered nursing. Employment is projected to grow 2.6% through 2034 with roughly 54,400 openings a year. → Full licensed practical nurse career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $64,400 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Licensed Practical Nurses earn a national median $64,400/yr ($30.96/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-2061); the P10 to P90 range is $49,740 to $83,440.
- The LPN band is narrower than the registered nurse band — $49,740 to $83,440 — because scope of practice caps how much responsibility, and therefore pay, the licence can carry.
- Skilled nursing facilities and correctional health pay above physician offices and clinics, driven by 24-hour coverage and persistent night-shift vacancies.
- State scope rules on intravenous therapy and assessment decide which jobs an LPN can hold at all, so an IV certification can matter more locally than years of experience.
US Licensed Practical Nurse Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do licensed practical 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 29-2061; 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 29-2061, 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 licensed practical nurse earn at each career stage?
Licensed practical nursing has a single licence, so the stages below follow setting, scope endorsements and seniority within a nursing team. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 29-2061.
By State
Which states pay licensed practical nurses the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Two state rules matter here: whether your state has joined the Nurse Licensure Compact, which covers practical nurses and makes cross-border work possible without a second licence, and how your state defines LPN scope, particularly on intravenous therapy, since that determines which employers can use you at all.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($74,060), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
licensed practical nurse pay by state — all 6 state guides
By Metro
Which cities pay licensed practical nurses the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the 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 a licensed practical 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 licensed practical nurse pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Licensed Practical 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 licensed practical nurse wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a licensed practical 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
Licensed Practical Nurse Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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