Registered Nurses in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$98,187
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$42,083
30.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$87,215
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$140,270
Kept after tax
$98,187
Worth in national money
$87,215
State rank
1
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for registered nurses is strong here. California's middle earner gets $140,270, putting the state 1 of 51 — about 43.79% ahead of the national figure.
- Within California this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, registered nurses ranks 36 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- California is an expensive state, and the adjusted figure shows it. From $140,270 the take-home is $98,187; in national-average money that behaves like $87,215. The average comes to $150,280, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For registered nurses, California sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $140,270, ranking 1 of 51 and running about 43.79% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Ranked against every occupation California publishes a median for, registered nurses sits 36 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Take-home for registered nurses in California, on $140,270, is $98,187; deflated by the state's price level, $87,215. ⚠️ The deflator is statewide, so it understates the erosion in the state's metropolitan areas and overstates it outside them. At $150,280 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Registered Nurses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $101,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $140,270 |
| Top tenth earn over | $213,320 |
| This salary | $140,270 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in California | $98,187 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $107,141 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$23,040 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $127,171 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$32,351 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of registered nurses in California earn under $140,270 and half over. The published range runs $101,260 at the tenth percentile to $213,320 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In California the take-home figure of $98,187, from $140,270, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 36 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $87,215, the adjusted value of that $140,270 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of California. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 36 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for registered nurses in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $101,260 to $213,320; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for California is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $98,187 from $140,270. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 36 of 492 locally.
- This $87,215 adjusted figure, worked from $140,270, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 36 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 36 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $150,280, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $101,260 at the bottom tenth to $213,320 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in California run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $87,215 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and California adds its own income tax on top — which is why $98,187 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in California is $150,280. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($101,260) and the ninetieth ($213,320) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $87,215 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $98,187 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.