How much do nurse managers make in 2026?
Nurse managers are counted in the BLS medical and health services manager series: OEWS May 2025 puts 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. That series pools everyone from a small clinic supervisor to a hospital chief executive, so a unit nurse manager typically sits between the median and the $166,100 P75 rather than at either extreme. The honest comparison is not against the registered nurse median but against what a senior bedside nurse actually earns: the manager role is salaried and exempt, so night, weekend and charge differentials and all overtime disappear, and a nurse leaving a night rota can find the gross increase smaller than expected. What you gain is span of control — budget, hiring, quality metrics and 24-hour accountability for a unit — and a route to director and chief nurse posts. Employment is projected to grow 23.2% through 2034 with roughly 62,100 openings a year. → Full nurse manager 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.
- Nurse Managers 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 supervisors with hospital executives in SOC 11-9111, so a unit nurse manager usually sits between the $123,860 median and the $166,100 P75, not at the top of the series.
- The move to management is salaried and exempt: differentials, charge pay and overtime end, so compare the offer against your actual last-year earnings rather than your base rate.
- Unit size, 24-hour accountability and the number of direct reports drive pay more than tenure, and CNML or NE-BC certification is the standard credential for the next step up.
US Nurse Manager Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do nurse managers 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 nurse manager earn at each career stage?
Nurse management pay follows span of control, unit acuity and formal leadership credentials. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS medical and health services manager distribution (SOC 11-9111).
By State
Which states pay nurse managers 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. For nurse managers the local variable is what you are managing against: in states with mandated nurse-to-patient ratios, a manager's budget and staffing plan are legally constrained, which raises the premium on managers who can run a unit without agency spend. Compact membership also affects how quickly a manager can recruit across state lines.
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 nurse managers 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 nurse manager’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 nurse manager pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Nurse Managers 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 nurse manager wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a nurse manager 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
Nurse Manager Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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