Registered Nurses salary in California
SOC 29-1141 · BLS OEWS May 2025
How local pay compares
After local prices: the $140,270 median has purchasing power comparable to about $126,689 nationally. California's BEA regional price parity is 110.7 (2024).
What the local range looks like
The wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the darker section is the middle half, and the tick is the median for California.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter
- Bachelor's degree
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- None
Narrow to a metro in California
Every linked area below has a published estimate for registered nurses. Missing areas were withheld by BLS rather than measured at zero.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | Metro area | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $216,740 | 110.4 | 22,930 | 0.93× |
| 2 | Vallejo, CA | $203,290 | 108.5 | 4,120 | 1.32× |
| 3 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $186,610 | 115.6 | 41,750 | 0.81× |
| 4 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $174,550 | 107.8 | 3,720 | 0.83× |
| 5 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $171,460 | 106.7 | 23,590 | 1.00× |
| 6 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $170,960 | 109.9 | 1,750 | 0.82× |
| 7 | Yuba City, CA | $149,320 | 104.2 | 1,080 | 0.97× |
| 8 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $139,520 | 111.9 | 28,680 | 0.86× |
| 9 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | $138,820 | 108.6 | 2,180 | 0.82× |
| 10 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | $137,360 | 108.8 | 3,280 | 0.75× |
| 11 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $135,560 | 113.6 | 109,360 | 0.80× |
| 12 | Salinas, CA | $134,910 | 109.0 | 3,180 | 0.79× |
| 13 | Stockton-Lodi, CA | $134,580 | 105.1 | 5,460 | 0.87× |
| 14 | Redding, CA | $134,350 | 100.7 | 1,720 | 1.11× |
| 15 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $133,940 | 106.4 | 35,290 | 0.95× |
| 16 | Modesto, CA | $132,590 | 104.1 | 4,850 | 1.14× |
| 17 | Merced, CA | $131,620 | 98.3 | 1,050 | 0.61× |
| 18 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | $131,160 | 110.5 | 5,710 | 0.81× |
| 19 | Bakersfield-Delano, CA | $128,810 | 100.9 | 5,620 | 0.76× |
| 20 | Hanford-Corcoran, CA | $128,160 | 101.6 | 710 | 0.67× |
| 21 | Chico, CA | $127,360 | 101.2 | 2,170 | 1.28× |
| 22 | Fresno, CA | $125,420 | 102.2 | 11,030 | 1.06× |
| 23 | Visalia, CA | $125,180 | 99.8 | 2,990 | 0.80× |
| 24 | El Centro, CA | $103,450 | 95.2 | 950 | 0.67× |
Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where registered nurses wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
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