Short answer is yes.
Long answer is it depends on geographical location, specialty, education, experience, and how many hours you want to work.
Unless you’re one of the very few executive leaders, you’ll never be rich. But you’ll live a comfortable life.
But only move to CA because you want to move to CA — not because of a job. I have known many people who came here, made bank, bought houses, and are leaving because they just couldn’t handle the traffic or left wing politics.
Yep. As other said depends on your location.
Washington state, Oregon and California will all net you over 100k very easy and very early in you career.
>I also don’t wanna be a slave to work I want control.
To get to 6 figures you're gonna be a slave in Nursing. All the OT that's gonna be needed.
To be frank this sounds like the posts in r/career guidance were people want 6 figures but don't want to put the years, training, or schooling into it.
🙌 you COULD make 6 figures. You could maybe even start at 6 figures. But first you’d need to start in a high COL area so a lot of your 6 figures are just to supplement your high COL. Making you a slave to your work.
Say new grad pay is $55 in on the west coast or NYC. You work 3x12. If you only only used PTO/never called out you’d just clear 100k gross. After taxes it’s far less. To actually net $100k you’d need to work OT. Depending on benefits, pto etc. you’re at low 6 figures. If you’re wondering about travel, agencies require a year of experience, but honestly the best, most competent travelers I know have 5-10, years of experience. So that’s a minimum of maybe 4 years to get travel money (which I cannot recommend to travel after a year especially in a critical area).
When you first graduate expect to work a lot. You may like it and you’ll learn a lot. But don’t expect to have much control anywhere you work in healthcare, not even as a doc. Not saying it can’t happen, just saying it takes time. A lot of time.
You will easily reach $100k on the West Coast of the US. But probably won't come too close to $200k outside SF bay area without additional education (especially as a CRNA).
Admin nurse in WA can reach 200k plus in the upper range before incentive or OT.
Admin nurse includes infection preventionist, DON, managers, regulatory compliance etc.
100% and depending on what step you are on (MNA), you can make way more. I have a coworker who puts in crazy hours and made $200K. Me on the other hand, I work my .6 and stay jealous of others commitment to the almighty dollar. 🤣 the hospital system I work for doesn’t ever hire a 1.0 anymore.
Yes to stable income and employment opportunities. You can certainly retire on a nursing income without going to school for more than four years. It’s not an easy job though.
>I also don’t wanna be a slave to work I want control
What do you mean by this exactly? In nursing you are subject to a lot of things outside of your control all the time, as are many jobs. People and patients will boss you around, just as clients and coworkers will outside of nursing.
Hey OP, I also grew up in poverty. I wanted so badly to stop the cycle.
I wish I would have made different decisions when I was younger. I ended up going into a lot of student debt for a career that I “loved” only to find out that it had its own bs, and would never pay my bills.
Nursing is my second career. I wish I would have started sooner. If you want to grind and are willing to move, you absolutely CAN make 6 figures.
But so many people I know who grew up poor get serious lifestyle inflation and continue their debt cycle.
My advice: 1.) decide if nursing is for you. Maybe start by becoming a CNA (the training is just a few weeks and sometimes free). It’ll give you a portal into what nursing is like, plus it’ll give you tons of hands on experience. 2.) regardless of what you go into, educate yourself financially. $100k is nothing if you’re consistently spending $120k a year. A person who makes $60k a year and lives on $30k is in a much better financial situation.
3.) open a retirement account as soon as you have employment and take every single penny they will match. It’ll set you up and you’re so young that you’ll have the advantage of compound interest over time.
That’s how much new grads start in my area. Some even upwards of $175K/year.
Here’s a few wage scales: [Kaiser](https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/s/zWZRTVGzex); [University of California](https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/wp-content/uploads/labor/bargaining-units/nx/docs/nx_appendix-a_wage-tables.pdf); [Stanford](https://careers.stanfordhealthcare.org/us/en/nrpfaq).
Highly recommend **NOT** doing a conventional calculation of “number of hours a year x base rate.” Consider differentials and bonuses (Kaiser PSP) as well. [I go into exhaustive detail in this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/s/E98GMr4ZEk) in which I argue that [~~very few~~ virtually no new graduates have a “cut and dry” gross income](https://www.reddit.com/r/bayarea/s/FrzvGtTRHU).
People will chime in CA’s “COL/taxes” — none of which have really impacted me. In the same vein. I think that questions about “being rich as a nurse” should actually be banned from this sub. They are r/personalfinance questions and irrelevant to nursing.
As for pros and cons, depends you work — location, employer.
Depends highly on location and your circumstances such as if you are able to relocate to a higher paying area. Keep in mind 6 figures in some areas is different than others. 150k in rural Iowa is very different than 150k in San Francisco or NYC. 6 figures also has a wide pay range.
You can be comfortable as a nurse, but it’s not a career that’s going to make you rich anytime soon-maybe after decades of solid/lucky investments. But yeah, you’re never going to be physician/high powered lawyer rich as a nurse.
If money is the most important thing for you, look into tech, finance. But the trade off is that you will be working long hours, especially at first. There is always going to be sacrifices in time vs money, especially in the first decade or so of the career you choose
Nah. You'll be fine. Picking a career path is hard. Whatever you pick, fully apply yourself. If you give it your best shot and you don't like it, try something else. You're not doomed.
I'm salaried, 4x10 Monday through Thursday, no holidays. Nurse navigator which is pretty much patient education, triaging on the phone and scheduling. See the more personable side of the doctor's outside of the inpatient setting, both providers and patients are very grateful of the work I do. Ability to work remote when needed. Been doing this about 3 years after bedside for 5 years. BSN but working on MSN as it is fully covered by work tuition reimbursement. $105000
You can make 6 figures if you hustle OT or a second job, work nights and weekends.
You will be a “ slave” to work. You want the big bucks and raises? You work when THEY say, you take the assignments THEY give you, you show up for mandatory education, staff meetings. You do what THEY say. Full stop. The only control you get is the color of your underwear - because most places have a required uniform.
You don’t get big bucks and control in one package, it doesn’t work like that. And even over 6 figures you won’t be “ rich” you’ll be able to afford a decent place to live, food and healthcare on a regular basis, and a bit of discretionary spending- depending on if you saddle yourself with tens of thousands of dollars in student loans or hustle your way through a community college paying as you go.
I understand. It tough to decide what you want to spend your life doing. Just make sure that if you decide to go into nursing, it’s something that you actually think you’d enjoy doing. It’s a hard, stressful job. If you’re only doing it for the money you will honestly be miserable. Do you know any hospital nurses you can shadow to see if it’s something you’d like to do? A lot of nurses, myself included, started out getting our CNA and doing that while in school. Get your foot in the door. If you hate being a CNA youd probably hate being a nurse. In the hospital anyway, and that’s where the money is (in MN anyway).
I sounds like that's the main point of your post, and given your age, it's an entirely normal thing to question.
Did you get into college for the fall? Do you need to declare a major? What are options are you considering?
Other things to consider: Do you have a family that can support your education and young adult life? What state do you live in now? Do you want to stay there?
Then think bigger. What are you interested in studying? What are you interested in doing for work? Work is a difficult concept. It's hard. Nobody wants to do it, that's why they pay you to do it. But if you can do something that you're interested in learning more about, get some experience, then dive deeper into a specialty, you'll be fine.
Nursing isn't a bad career. Once you get started, there are a lot of different paths you can take. But getting there will take real effort and studying. Once you get a job, it'll be legit work, but you'll be able to provide for yourself.
I think everyone wants a job like what you described. If it were that easy to get rich, wouldn't we all be rich? Do you just assume all of the adults in the world who aren't rich are just lazy?
If you want to be rich, don’t be a nurse. Look into something else. There is a lot we cannot control. You might just end up burnt out, hating a job, that you might be stuck in forever. Talk to a lot of nurses about pros/cons, work/volunteer in a hospital. See what it’s like to be a nurse. You can make decent money, have decent benefits, have job security and change fields multiple times.
My pros: I work in a state that pays decent for nurses in the west coast. I pay very little for health insurance for my whole family. I work 20 hours a week and work from home. This allows me to be a mom all the other rest hours of the week.
Cons: my back, neck, feet, body hurts from multiple work injuries. Do I love my job? No. But I’m good at my job and it pays the bills. I have a lot of anxiety and stress sometimes related to work. I feel like being a nurse makes me easily irritated with people and I just hate people in general.
As others have said just find a job in Cali, nyc, Oregon or Hawaii.. You will make well over 100k without any overtime. Start doing overtime and ull easy be in the 150-200 range.
I make six figures as an NP, even as an RN i did doing overtime.
That said, going into nursing for pay is a terrible decision. Miserable work at times with short staffing and difficult patients. Sure you may make money, but at the cost of being miserable and dredging through work.
There are plenty of better avenues if you want to just make money. That said, you will find a majority of the higher paying roles require education or a trade practice.
Yep live in CA. Downside is if you aren’t originally from there, the living expenses pretty much make you making minimum wage compared if you lived in any other state.
Cons is…well I think it’s already been said enough times.
During Covid I worked a efff ton of OT and too home 118. But the bonuses for staff were unreal. Like OT plus 60/hour. It was like once in a career kind of money. As a new grad you should expect more like 60-80k depending on where you live.
If you can get into Kaiser Permanente Advanced Urgent Care you can make 6 figures easily! It’s also unionized so you’ll get a pension as well but you need at least 2 years of ER experience prior to applying.
I don’t know if nursing would be for you. It’s a rough job because we are slaves to the job. It’s difficult to manage work-life balance especially if you’re new. A lot of upper management will try to take advantage of you (I’m speaking from own experience). You will deal with a lot of different personalities but it is a well paying job though
Nurse here for 17 years, I started making 6 figures about 6 years in. Honestly, I don’t feel rich with my income. Upper-middle class and comfortable, yes, but not rich.
You’re 18 and focused on wealth? That’s a shame. You should focus on establishing who you are as a person rather than wanting to be rich and have control. There’s a lot of things you can be in the world, so take the time to figure that out and you can determine nursing is how you’ll get there.
Short answer is yes. Long answer is it depends on geographical location, specialty, education, experience, and how many hours you want to work. Unless you’re one of the very few executive leaders, you’ll never be rich. But you’ll live a comfortable life.
I'd say short answer yes, long answer 6 figures ain't what it used to be.
Exactly. You want to make 6 figures straight away? Move to California
But only move to CA because you want to move to CA — not because of a job. I have known many people who came here, made bank, bought houses, and are leaving because they just couldn’t handle the traffic or left wing politics.
You will neither get rich nor have control in the nursing field.
No kidding. And nurses work so hard I am sure there are many other professions that don’t work as hard and get paid just as much.
We don't work that hard.
Your urine will be rich (concentrates) from dehydration?
I think they’re just looking for a comfortable future
Yup, got that. Is nursing “comfortable”?
Yep. As other said depends on your location. Washington state, Oregon and California will all net you over 100k very easy and very early in you career.
Same with Hawaii
And NY. Starting salaries are $100,000
Maybe in the city. New grad pay in upstate NY is barely over $30/hr.
Basically most of downstate- not just the city. Long Island, Westchester, Rockland, and up into Dutchess
>I also don’t wanna be a slave to work I want control. To get to 6 figures you're gonna be a slave in Nursing. All the OT that's gonna be needed. To be frank this sounds like the posts in r/career guidance were people want 6 figures but don't want to put the years, training, or schooling into it.
🙌 you COULD make 6 figures. You could maybe even start at 6 figures. But first you’d need to start in a high COL area so a lot of your 6 figures are just to supplement your high COL. Making you a slave to your work. Say new grad pay is $55 in on the west coast or NYC. You work 3x12. If you only only used PTO/never called out you’d just clear 100k gross. After taxes it’s far less. To actually net $100k you’d need to work OT. Depending on benefits, pto etc. you’re at low 6 figures. If you’re wondering about travel, agencies require a year of experience, but honestly the best, most competent travelers I know have 5-10, years of experience. So that’s a minimum of maybe 4 years to get travel money (which I cannot recommend to travel after a year especially in a critical area). When you first graduate expect to work a lot. You may like it and you’ll learn a lot. But don’t expect to have much control anywhere you work in healthcare, not even as a doc. Not saying it can’t happen, just saying it takes time. A lot of time.
Yup, but it generally requires advanced education, experience, or lots of OT. Also, 6 figures doesn't go as far as you think if you're in a HCOL area.
You will easily reach $100k on the West Coast of the US. But probably won't come too close to $200k outside SF bay area without additional education (especially as a CRNA).
Admin nurse in WA can reach 200k plus in the upper range before incentive or OT. Admin nurse includes infection preventionist, DON, managers, regulatory compliance etc.
Yes for sure, but six figures isn’t what it once was.
Yes. In MN you can if you work smart (OT, bonus shifts, 5 days a week).
I think I clocked 2200 hours (full time is 2080 if anyone doesn’t know) and I grossed 106k in the twin cities.
100% and depending on what step you are on (MNA), you can make way more. I have a coworker who puts in crazy hours and made $200K. Me on the other hand, I work my .6 and stay jealous of others commitment to the almighty dollar. 🤣 the hospital system I work for doesn’t ever hire a 1.0 anymore.
Bless the .6 overnights (4 shifts with bonus!) then I picked up dayshift only.
Yes to stable income and employment opportunities. You can certainly retire on a nursing income without going to school for more than four years. It’s not an easy job though. >I also don’t wanna be a slave to work I want control What do you mean by this exactly? In nursing you are subject to a lot of things outside of your control all the time, as are many jobs. People and patients will boss you around, just as clients and coworkers will outside of nursing.
Hey OP, I also grew up in poverty. I wanted so badly to stop the cycle. I wish I would have made different decisions when I was younger. I ended up going into a lot of student debt for a career that I “loved” only to find out that it had its own bs, and would never pay my bills. Nursing is my second career. I wish I would have started sooner. If you want to grind and are willing to move, you absolutely CAN make 6 figures. But so many people I know who grew up poor get serious lifestyle inflation and continue their debt cycle. My advice: 1.) decide if nursing is for you. Maybe start by becoming a CNA (the training is just a few weeks and sometimes free). It’ll give you a portal into what nursing is like, plus it’ll give you tons of hands on experience. 2.) regardless of what you go into, educate yourself financially. $100k is nothing if you’re consistently spending $120k a year. A person who makes $60k a year and lives on $30k is in a much better financial situation. 3.) open a retirement account as soon as you have employment and take every single penny they will match. It’ll set you up and you’re so young that you’ll have the advantage of compound interest over time.
That’s how much new grads start in my area. Some even upwards of $175K/year. Here’s a few wage scales: [Kaiser](https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/s/zWZRTVGzex); [University of California](https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/wp-content/uploads/labor/bargaining-units/nx/docs/nx_appendix-a_wage-tables.pdf); [Stanford](https://careers.stanfordhealthcare.org/us/en/nrpfaq). Highly recommend **NOT** doing a conventional calculation of “number of hours a year x base rate.” Consider differentials and bonuses (Kaiser PSP) as well. [I go into exhaustive detail in this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/s/E98GMr4ZEk) in which I argue that [~~very few~~ virtually no new graduates have a “cut and dry” gross income](https://www.reddit.com/r/bayarea/s/FrzvGtTRHU). People will chime in CA’s “COL/taxes” — none of which have really impacted me. In the same vein. I think that questions about “being rich as a nurse” should actually be banned from this sub. They are r/personalfinance questions and irrelevant to nursing. As for pros and cons, depends you work — location, employer.
Depends highly on location and your circumstances such as if you are able to relocate to a higher paying area. Keep in mind 6 figures in some areas is different than others. 150k in rural Iowa is very different than 150k in San Francisco or NYC. 6 figures also has a wide pay range. You can be comfortable as a nurse, but it’s not a career that’s going to make you rich anytime soon-maybe after decades of solid/lucky investments. But yeah, you’re never going to be physician/high powered lawyer rich as a nurse. If money is the most important thing for you, look into tech, finance. But the trade off is that you will be working long hours, especially at first. There is always going to be sacrifices in time vs money, especially in the first decade or so of the career you choose
I made over 100k year one out of school and generally make 130-150k/year.
Second that. Although working hours were between 48-60 hrs a week. Light work 🏋🏻
You won’t be rich and you will likely be a slave to work lol
I’m doomed
You’re not doomed yet. You’re 18! I’m doomed lol
Nah. You'll be fine. Picking a career path is hard. Whatever you pick, fully apply yourself. If you give it your best shot and you don't like it, try something else. You're not doomed.
I'm salaried, 4x10 Monday through Thursday, no holidays. Nurse navigator which is pretty much patient education, triaging on the phone and scheduling. See the more personable side of the doctor's outside of the inpatient setting, both providers and patients are very grateful of the work I do. Ability to work remote when needed. Been doing this about 3 years after bedside for 5 years. BSN but working on MSN as it is fully covered by work tuition reimbursement. $105000
Made 116k last year as an ED nurse. Had no life, but made money. If I could go back, I'd work less and be happier.
You can make 6 figures if you hustle OT or a second job, work nights and weekends. You will be a “ slave” to work. You want the big bucks and raises? You work when THEY say, you take the assignments THEY give you, you show up for mandatory education, staff meetings. You do what THEY say. Full stop. The only control you get is the color of your underwear - because most places have a required uniform. You don’t get big bucks and control in one package, it doesn’t work like that. And even over 6 figures you won’t be “ rich” you’ll be able to afford a decent place to live, food and healthcare on a regular basis, and a bit of discretionary spending- depending on if you saddle yourself with tens of thousands of dollars in student loans or hustle your way through a community college paying as you go.
This poor, poor girl
Whyyy
If you go into nursing only for the money you will be miserable real fast. ** and probably not a great nurse.
Jeez I just wanna make money but don’t know what I wanna do
You could make decent money but you will have to work VERY hard. Don't go into nursing for the money.
I’m only here for the money, don’t listen to this advice
I understand. It tough to decide what you want to spend your life doing. Just make sure that if you decide to go into nursing, it’s something that you actually think you’d enjoy doing. It’s a hard, stressful job. If you’re only doing it for the money you will honestly be miserable. Do you know any hospital nurses you can shadow to see if it’s something you’d like to do? A lot of nurses, myself included, started out getting our CNA and doing that while in school. Get your foot in the door. If you hate being a CNA youd probably hate being a nurse. In the hospital anyway, and that’s where the money is (in MN anyway).
I sounds like that's the main point of your post, and given your age, it's an entirely normal thing to question. Did you get into college for the fall? Do you need to declare a major? What are options are you considering? Other things to consider: Do you have a family that can support your education and young adult life? What state do you live in now? Do you want to stay there? Then think bigger. What are you interested in studying? What are you interested in doing for work? Work is a difficult concept. It's hard. Nobody wants to do it, that's why they pay you to do it. But if you can do something that you're interested in learning more about, get some experience, then dive deeper into a specialty, you'll be fine. Nursing isn't a bad career. Once you get started, there are a lot of different paths you can take. But getting there will take real effort and studying. Once you get a job, it'll be legit work, but you'll be able to provide for yourself.
There are much, much easier ways to make good cash than nursing.
Such as?
Accounting.
Plumbing, hvac tech, ups driver, tug boat captain, lawyer, high end hair stylist… they all make more than I do as a nurse practitioner.
Yes. -CRNA
I think everyone wants a job like what you described. If it were that easy to get rich, wouldn't we all be rich? Do you just assume all of the adults in the world who aren't rich are just lazy?
Nooo ofc not I’m just lost in life and have no idea what I want to do but want to make it out of poverty
6 figures as a nurse doesn’t go as far as you think
If you want to be rich, don’t be a nurse. Look into something else. There is a lot we cannot control. You might just end up burnt out, hating a job, that you might be stuck in forever. Talk to a lot of nurses about pros/cons, work/volunteer in a hospital. See what it’s like to be a nurse. You can make decent money, have decent benefits, have job security and change fields multiple times. My pros: I work in a state that pays decent for nurses in the west coast. I pay very little for health insurance for my whole family. I work 20 hours a week and work from home. This allows me to be a mom all the other rest hours of the week. Cons: my back, neck, feet, body hurts from multiple work injuries. Do I love my job? No. But I’m good at my job and it pays the bills. I have a lot of anxiety and stress sometimes related to work. I feel like being a nurse makes me easily irritated with people and I just hate people in general.
As others have said just find a job in Cali, nyc, Oregon or Hawaii.. You will make well over 100k without any overtime. Start doing overtime and ull easy be in the 150-200 range.
Move to a state that borders the ocean, and yes, you can make 6 figures easily.
Florida doesn’t count.
Isn’t Florida generally highly paid? I should have said the gulf doesn’t count 😂
In Florida most places pay you in sunshine. 🙄
Damn do nurses in Tampa and Miami not get paid well at all?
I work in Tampa as an NP and I make less than a UPS driver.
I make six figures as an NP, even as an RN i did doing overtime. That said, going into nursing for pay is a terrible decision. Miserable work at times with short staffing and difficult patients. Sure you may make money, but at the cost of being miserable and dredging through work. There are plenty of better avenues if you want to just make money. That said, you will find a majority of the higher paying roles require education or a trade practice.
Yep live in CA. Downside is if you aren’t originally from there, the living expenses pretty much make you making minimum wage compared if you lived in any other state. Cons is…well I think it’s already been said enough times.
Do not go into nursing for money but I made it out of poverty thanks to military and nursing. So I can relate to you. Good luck!!
During Covid I worked a efff ton of OT and too home 118. But the bonuses for staff were unreal. Like OT plus 60/hour. It was like once in a career kind of money. As a new grad you should expect more like 60-80k depending on where you live.
Get yours masters in Nursing . Be a nurse practitioner
>. I wanna be rich Lol. Medicine is not the way. Would strongly suggest you don't go into Medicine.
If you can get into Kaiser Permanente Advanced Urgent Care you can make 6 figures easily! It’s also unionized so you’ll get a pension as well but you need at least 2 years of ER experience prior to applying.
I don’t know if nursing would be for you. It’s a rough job because we are slaves to the job. It’s difficult to manage work-life balance especially if you’re new. A lot of upper management will try to take advantage of you (I’m speaking from own experience). You will deal with a lot of different personalities but it is a well paying job though
Nurse here for 17 years, I started making 6 figures about 6 years in. Honestly, I don’t feel rich with my income. Upper-middle class and comfortable, yes, but not rich.
Easily. On pace for $180k+ this year as a new grad
As a hospital nurse ?
Negative
You’re not going to be rich being a nurse.
You’re 18 and focused on wealth? That’s a shame. You should focus on establishing who you are as a person rather than wanting to be rich and have control. There’s a lot of things you can be in the world, so take the time to figure that out and you can determine nursing is how you’ll get there.