Licensed Practical Nurse Salary in Florida 2026,
$61,770 Median | BLS Data by City

Florida licensed practical nurses earn a median $61,770 a year, $29.70 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, with the middle half between $58,540 and $64,710 and a full range of $50,450 to $74,320. That is 4.1% below the $64,400 national median in nominal terms, though Florida takes no state income tax out of it.

Naples-Marco Island at $64,590, then North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota at $63,770, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach at $62,610, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater at $62,490 and Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor at $62,110. About two and a half thousand dollars covers the whole table — one of the flattest metro spreads for any clinical occupation in the country.

Through the Florida Board of Nursing, within the Department of Health. You complete an approved practical nursing programme, apply to the Board, pass the NCLEX-PN and clear the required background screening. Florida participates in the Nurse Licensure Compact, so a multistate LPN licence held in another compact state permits practice in Florida without a separate Florida licence.

Yes. Florida is a compact state, which means nurses holding a multistate licence issued by another compact state can practise here without obtaining a Florida licence. That mobility keeps Florida's nursing labour supply unusually fluid — travel and agency nurses can move in quickly when demand rises — and it is part of why the state's LPN wage distribution is so compressed.

By changing hours or setting rather than by seniority. The middle half of this distribution is only about six thousand dollars wide, so experience alone moves very little. What does move pay is night and weekend-weighted schedules, charge duty, agency contracts across Florida's dense long-term care market, and specialty settings such as dialysis or correctional health — and none of that additional income is taxed by the state.

Because the employment is concentrated in one sector with one funding source. Florida's LPNs work predominantly in skilled nursing, assisted living and home health, where revenue is dominated by Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement and facilities pay to published scales. Add compact licensure, which lets employers draw staff from other states when they need to, and there is very little mechanism by which an individual LPN's rate can diverge from the market.

It is an annual wage in a sector with a lot of part-time, per-diem and agency work, and Florida has a particularly large agency market. OEWS counts each employment relationship, so someone working across two facilities may appear twice at part-time-looking figures. The $29.70 hourly number is the more reliable comparison, and the $50,450 tenth percentile substantially reflects hours rather than rate.

It cuts both ways. For the nurse, it means genuine mobility — a Florida multistate licence travels to other compact states, which is valuable for anyone considering travel contracts. For the employer, it means a shortage can be filled from outside the state, which caps how far local wages can rise during a squeeze. Florida's flat distribution is partly a direct consequence of that second effect.