A nurse residency pays a standard new-graduate RN wage — you are a fully licensed nurse, not a trainee at a discount. What varies is where you work and what comes with the base. Below is the one national figure worth anchoring on, the reason it is not your salary, and how to adjust it for where you'd actually live.
The national number, and why it isn't yours
The authoritative US source is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for Registered Nurses (SOC 29-1141). In the May 2025 estimates, released 15 May 2026, the figures for RNs nationally were:
- Median annual wage: $97,550 ($46.90/hour)
- Mean annual wage: $101,420 — higher than the median because the top of the distribution is stretched, which is why you should anchor on the median
- 10th percentile: $68,940 · 25th percentile: $80,330
- 75th percentile: $112,350 · 90th percentile: $137,470
- Total RN employment: 3,379,720
Source: BLS OEWS, Registered Nurses (29-1141), May 2025 estimates, released 15 May 2026.
That median is not a new-graduate wage. It is the midpoint across every RN in the country at every experience level and in every setting, and BLS does not publish a new-graduate figure at all. If you want a realistic first-year reference point, the 10th-to-25th percentile band — roughly $68,900 to $80,300 — is the more useful place to look. We want to be clear that this is our inference from the percentile distribution, not a BLS statistic about new grads.
Two more caveats worth knowing before you quote the number at anyone. The May 2025 estimates are not a snapshot of one month — they are modelled from six semiannual collection panels spanning three years, so the figure lags the current market. And OEWS excludes the self-employed.
Adjust for where you'd actually live
Comparing state salaries in nominal dollars is misleading. The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes Regional Price Parities, which express each state's price level as a percentage of the national average (100). For 2024, California sits at 110.7 and Arkansas at 86.9. Housing diverges far more than the overall index: California's rent parity is 154.3, West Virginia's is 54.2.
Worked through, using the BLS state medians and the BEA parities: California's RN median of $140,270 is about $126,700 in national-average dollars. Arkansas's $78,940 is about $90,800. A nominal gap of 78% narrows to roughly 40% once price levels are applied — and most of what remains goes to rent.
What drives your specific number
- Geography — the single biggest factor, but see the adjustment above before treating a high number as a raise.
- Shift and differentials — nights, weekends, and holidays add meaningfully on top of base. Amounts are set per employer and often per union contract; there is no reliable national figure, so ask for the differential schedule in writing rather than trusting a number you read online.
- Setting — academic medical centers, community hospitals, and government/VA employers pay on different scales.
- Union contracts — where present, they often set transparent, step-based new-grad pay, which makes the offer much easier to verify.
Look past base pay
Two offers with the same salary can differ by thousands once you count sign-on bonuses, health and retirement benefits, tuition reimbursement, and relocation. A sign-on bonus almost always carries a clawback if you leave early, and a residency's service commitment is part of the compensation package too — see comparing two offers for how to weigh them against each other.
Why we don't print a salary on each program page
Because we cannot verify it. Program-specific pay is not published in any registry we can check, and a wrong number does more damage than no number — it anchors your expectations and it can lose you a negotiation. What we can do is point you at the sources above and remind you that the offer letter is the only figure that binds.