Licensed Practical Nurse Salary in Ohio 2026: $61,950 Median
Ohio employs licensed practical nurses at nearly twice the national rate per worker, and that single fact explains most of what this page shows. A state whose long-term care sector is built around LPNs has plenty of jobs, predictable pay and a comparatively short ladder — the trade-offs run in both directions.
🤑Ohio's 2026 flat 2.75% state income tax is simple at the LPN median of $61,950, and the exemption on the first band of taxable income reduces the effective rate. Municipal tax is the variable: Cleveland, Columbus and Akron each levy 2.5% while many smaller Ohio communities charge 1% or less, so an LPN commuting from a township into a city facility gives up more than one working with the same employer closer to home. Ohio LPNs picking up agency or PRN shifts across several facilities should expect withholding in each municipality where they physically work.
Direct Answer
How much do licensed practical nurses make in Ohio in 2026?
Ohio licensed practical nurses earn a median $61,950 a year, or $29.78 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, 3.8% below the $64,400 national median. The state range is narrow: $50,030 at the 10th percentile to $74,120 at the 90th, with the 75th percentile only $65,900. Cincinnati leads the metro table at $64,180, then Cleveland at $63,900, Sandusky at $62,520, Toledo at $62,280 and Lima at $62,080. With a location quotient of 1.72, Ohio employs LPNs at well over one and a half times the US average concentration. → Full licensed practical nurse career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $61,950 blends every experience level, apprentice through master. For pay by license level alone, see pay by level below.
Key takeaways
Ohio licensed practical nurses earn a median $61,950/yr ($29.78/hr) per BLS OEWS May 2025 (SOC 29-2061), 3.8% below the $64,400 national median; the state P10–P90 range is $50,030 to $74,120.
Ohio's location quotient of 1.72 makes it one of the most LPN-dense states in the country. Long-term care, skilled nursing and assisted living across the state are staffed on an LPN model that many other states have moved away from.
The ladder is short: from the 25th percentile at $56,860 to the 75th at $65,900 is only about nine thousand dollars. Ohio LPNs who want a substantially higher income generally have to bridge to RN rather than accumulate years.
The Ohio Board of Nursing licenses LPNs and separately authorises intravenous therapy through a Board-approved course, which is the main scope expansion available within the licence and a common employer requirement in Ohio skilled nursing.
Ohio at a glance
Median salary$61,950
Median hourly$29.78
Range (P10–P90)$50,030–$74,120
Top-paying metroCincinnati · $64,180
vs national3.8% below
State income tax2.75%
OH employment (BLS)39,900
Location quotient1.72× US concentration
Wage basisBLS OEWS May 2025, Ohio
Ohio Licensed Practical Nurse Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
$50,030
P10
$56,860
P25
$61,950
Median
$65,900
P75
$74,120
P90
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025
Methodology & Sources
How the Ohio licensed practical nurse pay figures on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-2061, Ohio statewide 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. OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation in Ohio; it does not break pay out by credential or licence level.
Pay by level: the level and career-stage tables on this page distribute Ohio's own published BLS pay range across the tiers employers actually hire at. They are GlobalCybers estimates aligned to published percentiles, not separate BLS publications.
Placement sample: GlobalCybers holds no Ohio placement sample for this occupation, so this page shows published and percentile-aligned figures only — no placement-based median is claimed anywhere on it.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Cincinnati leads the state at $64,180.
Getting Licensed
How to become a licensed licensed practical nurse in Ohio, step by step
1
Complete an approved programme and pass the NCLEX-PN
Graduate from an Ohio Board of Nursing approved practical nursing programme, pass the NCLEX-PN and clear the Board's criminal records check.
2
Complete the Board-approved IV therapy course
Obtain intravenous therapy authorisation from the Ohio Board of Nursing, which many Ohio subacute and skilled nursing employers now require and which expands your permitted scope.
3
Take differentials, charge responsibility or agency work
Nights, weekends, charge-nurse duty and agency assignments are how Ohio LPNs reach the state 75th percentile of $65,900 and beyond, since base rates vary so little.
4
Move to a specialty setting or bridge to RN
Dialysis, corrections and occupational health pay above facility scale toward the state 90th percentile of $74,120; an LPN-to-RN bridge is the route past it.
OBN License Levels
What do Ohio LPNs earn by licence scope and setting?
Ohio licenses issued by Ohio Board of Nursing licence — the Board licenses practical nurses on completion of an approved programme and the NCLEX-PN, and separately authorises intravenous therapy through a Board-approved course.. Each level's median pay in Ohio markets.
OBN License
OH Pay Range
OH Median
Key Note
New graduate LPN
$46K–$57K
$50,030
Around the state 10th percentile. First licensed post, most often in an Ohio skilled nursing or assisted living facility, working a standard shift rotation without IV therapy authorisation.
Experienced LPN, long-term care
$57K–$66K
$61,950
The Ohio median. Several years in, usually charge-nurse capable on a unit. This is the modal Ohio LPN job and the reason the state's distribution is so tightly packed.
LPN with IV therapy and shift differentials
$63K–$74K
$65,900
Around the state 75th percentile. Board-authorised for intravenous therapy, working nights or weekends with differentials, or in a higher-acuity subacute or rehabilitation unit.
Charge nurse, agency or specialty LPN
$71K–$90K
$74,120
The state 90th percentile. Unit charge nurse in a skilled nursing facility, agency or travel assignment rates, or specialty work in dialysis, corrections or occupational health where Ohio pays above facility scale.
Beyond Base Pay
What's a Ohio licensed practical nurse's total compensation, not just base wage?
BLS and verified-placement medians above are base wage only. Total comp for an OH licensed practical nurse typically adds the following on top.
How much do licensed practical nurses make in Ohio?
Ohio licensed practical nurses earn a median $61,950 a year, $29.78 an hour, per BLS OEWS May 2025, with the middle half between $56,860 and $65,900 and a full range of $50,030 to $74,120. That narrow middle band is the defining feature of this market: Ohio LPN pay is predictable, and it does not stretch far with experience.
Which Ohio city pays licensed practical nurses the most?
Cincinnati pays the most at $64,180, followed by Cleveland at $63,900, Sandusky at $62,520, Toledo at $62,280 and Lima at $62,080. The whole table spans about two thousand dollars, so an Ohio LPN gains far more from shift differentials and agency work than from relocating within the state.
How do I get an LPN licence in Ohio?
The Ohio Board of Nursing licenses practical nurses. You complete a Board-approved practical nursing programme, pass the NCLEX-PN, and clear a criminal records check through the Board. Licences renew on a two-year cycle with continuing education requirements, including Ohio-specific law and rules content.
Can Ohio LPNs administer IV medications?
Only with authorisation. The Ohio Board of Nursing permits LPNs to perform intravenous therapy after completing a Board-approved IV therapy course, and the permitted scope is defined in rule rather than by the employer. Many Ohio skilled nursing and subacute employers now treat the authorisation as a hiring requirement, which is why it is one of the few in-licence steps that reliably moves pay here.
Should an Ohio LPN bridge to RN?
It is the main way to change income materially in this state. Ohio's LPN range tops out at $74,120 at the 90th percentile, and reaching that generally requires agency work or charge responsibility. LPN-to-RN bridge programmes are widely available across Ohio's community college system, and Ohio's high LPN employment means most employers will accommodate a bridge schedule.
Why does Ohio employ so many LPNs?
Because its long-term care sector is unusually large and has retained an LPN-centred staffing model. Ohio has a high number of skilled nursing beds relative to population and an ageing population outside the metros, and the economics of nursing home staffing under Medicaid reimbursement favour LPNs over RNs for routine care. The result is a location quotient of 1.72 and a labour market where LPN jobs are genuinely plentiful.
What does that concentration do to pay?
It stabilises it downward. Plentiful employment in a sector with fixed reimbursement produces a lot of jobs at a similar rate rather than competition on wage, which is exactly what the narrow $56,860 to $65,900 middle band shows. The upside is job security and schedule choice; the downside is that individual bargaining has little room to work.
Where do Ohio LPNs actually earn above the facility rate?
Agency and travel assignments, night and weekend differentials, and a handful of settings outside long-term care — dialysis clinics, correctional healthcare and occupational health among them. These are what populate the state 90th percentile of $74,120. They usually trade away the schedule stability that draws people to facility work in the first place, which is a real consideration rather than a footnote.
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Outlook & openings: BLS projects only 2.6% national growth for licensed practical nurses through 2034, and Ohio's 6.2% share of national employment works out to roughly 3,350 openings a year, pro-rated from the national average annual openings figure. That is a large replacement demand on a flat growth rate, and it reflects Ohio's reality: the state's skilled nursing sector cannot fill existing LPN posts, so vacancies persist even without expansion, and agency staffing has become a permanent feature rather than a stopgap.
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