Nurse compensation in the U.S. is influenced significantly by three factors: location, location, location. Population settings and geographic regions in the U.S. have a major influence on nurse pay, according to the 2014 AORN Salary and Compensation Survey.
The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses surveyed its members about their pay, gathering responses from 3,437 nurses in June and July.
The survey found nurses who live in rural settings earn about $7,300 less annually than their counterparts in suburban or urban settings.
Further, nurses living in certain regions of the U.S. make much more than nurses in other regions:
- Nurses in the Pacific region make about $18,000 more than the average staff nurse.
- Next is the Mid-Atlantic region, where nurses make $14,800 more than average.
- New England nurses earn $10,600 more than average.
- The Mountain region also had higher than average incomes, with nurses there earning $5,100 more.
- Nurses in the East South Central region make $4,300 less than average.
See more statistics on nurse compensation from the 2014 survey here.