How much do wound care nurses make in 2026?
Wound care 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. BLS publishes no wound care wage, so this specialty has to be located inside that band — and it is one of the clearer cases where a credential rather than a shift pattern does the work. Certification through the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing Certification Board, most commonly CWCN or the full WOCN credential, converts a floor nurse into a specialist consultant: hospitals staff wound teams to prevent pressure injuries that trigger reimbursement penalties, which gives the role measurable financial value to the employer. The work is usually weekday and daytime, so there are few differentials, and the upper end comes from programme leadership, outpatient wound clinics and per-diem consulting to skilled nursing facilities. Registered nurse employment is projected to grow 4.9% through 2034 with roughly 189,100 openings a year. → Full wound care 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.
- Wound Care 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 reports a single registered nurse wage, so wound care pay is a position inside the $68,940 to $137,470 RN range rather than its own published series.
- Certification is the pay lever here rather than shift work: CWCN or WOCN credentials turn the role into a specialist consultancy that hospitals fund to avoid pressure-injury penalties.
- Because the schedule is largely weekday and daytime, the upper end comes from programme leadership, outpatient clinics and per-diem facility consulting rather than differentials.
US Wound Care Nurse Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do wound care 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 a wound care nurse earn at each career stage?
Wound care pay follows certification, programme responsibility and consulting reach 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 wound care 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. The local variable for wound care is the density of skilled nursing facilities and long-term care beds, because those facilities buy certified wound oversight on contract and that consulting market is where independent earnings come from. Nurse Licensure Compact membership governs cross-state practice, which matters for nurses covering facilities in more than one state.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($112,180), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay wound care 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 a wound care 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 wound care nurse pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Wound Care 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 wound care nurse wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a wound care 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
Wound Care Nurse Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
Wound Care Nurse career research journey
Do your homework, then let the network do the rest.Get the job, then keep rising
FreeSet your intent, matching jobs come to you. No applying.
A roadmap to your next licence tier and higher pay band.
Once placed, we cover all certification, licence & career-guide fees.
Hiring wound care nurses?
Get a verified shortlist of 3–5 qualified candidates in 48 hours
GlobalCybers verifies active state licenses, trade certifications, Intent and right-to-work status before any candidate reaches your portal. Flat $2,999/mo RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing), up to 3 concurrent roles, or a free trial (pay on hire). 90-day written guarantee.
Related · Wound Care Nurse
Everything for wound care nurses in one place
Salary data, licensing, interview prep, and hiring, all cross-linked so you (and search engines) can move through the full wound care nurse cluster.