Job & Salary Prospects for Nurse Practitioners
A nurse practitioner (NP) is a registered nurse with advanced training who provides high-quality, cost-effective, and individualized care for patients, families, and communities. Boasting some of the highest earning potential and most positive job prospects among all nursing subfields, NPs are quickly becoming the health care provider of choice for many employers.
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General Information – Salary by City - Job Outlook – Article Resources
General Information
According to a survey conducted in 2009 by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), the average annual income for a full-time NP is $81,723.
The highest earning specialties for NPs are obstetrics and gynecology with an average yearly salary of $87,584. The second highest earning NPs are those practicing surgery, with an average annual income of $85,981. NPs specializing in cardiology are also high earners with an average salary of about $83,136.
Salary by City
As the profession is state regulated, the services (and thus the cost of services) provided by NPs can vary greatly depending on one’s location. Below are the annual salary ranges reported by those states employing the greatest number of NPs, according to Payscale.com. Cities are ranked according to number of NPs employed:
- New York, NY: $77,572 - $101,580
- Chicago, IL: $62,363 - $88,017
- Philadelphia, PA: $72,102 - $89,481
- St. Louis, MO: $67,473 - $83,994
- Boston, MA: $71,318 - $100,042
These cities reported the highest annual salaries for NPs, according to Payscale.com:
- New York, NY: $77,572 - $101,580
- Morristown, NJ: $84,00 - $120,000
- San Francisco, CA: $71,216 - $100,435
- Bethesda, MD: $68,784 - $90,455
- Washington, D.C.: $72,762 - $92,266
Job Outlook
According to the American Nurses Association, approximately 60 to 80 percent of primary and preventive care can be performed by NPs. The growing emphasis on prevention and public health will continue to create excellent job opportunities for workers both in the field and research lab. What’s more, since the care provided by clinical NPs is often comparable to that given by a physician, their services can be billed to their patients’ insurance providers, though at a lesser rate. The lower overhead and vast field of training has led some to consider NPs legitimate extensions of physicians and attractive to health care employers.
Additionally, an NP’s advanced training allows them to work in a variety of settings – from hospitals and specialty private practices to free health clinics and hospice clinics. The following is a list of top employers of registered nurses across specialties and the job growth percentages over the next decade, as estimated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
- Physicians offices – 48%
- Home health care services – 33%
- Nursing care facilities – 25%
- Employment services – 24%
- Hospitals, public and private – 17%
Importantly, CNN-Money.com estimates that NPs in particular can look forward to well above average job prospects the next six years, with an anticipated 23 percent job growth.
Article Resources
Mayo School of Health Sciences