Nurse Midwives salary

SOC 29-1161 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$134,040

per year, nationally

Middle half

$116,510–$157,400

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

7,920

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+11.1%

500 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$93,620$188,320

10th: $93,620
25th: $116,510
Median: $134,040
75th: $157,400
90th: $188,320

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Master's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where nurse midwives earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$203,840	110.7	870	0.93×
2	Hawaii	$170,110	110.0	—	—
3	Massachusetts	$159,800	105.8	280	1.50×
4	Washington	$158,970	107.0	170	0.92×
5	New Jersey	$153,970	108.8	120	0.53×
6	Vermont	$151,030	98.0	60	4.15×
7	Oregon	$146,900	103.4	240	2.41×
8	New York	$144,510	107.9	360	0.73×
9	New Hampshire	$142,960	104.2	60	1.69×
10	Arizona	$140,960	100.7	80	0.49×
11	Maryland	$140,120	105.0	240	1.73×
12	Nebraska	$138,880	90.1	—	—
13	Colorado	$137,610	103.1	180	1.26×
14	Virginia	$135,710	101.1	—	—
15	Rhode Island	$135,180	102.3	80	3.11×
16	Minnesota	$134,810	98.6	410	2.70×
17	Alaska	$133,430	102.4	60	3.35×
18	Maine	$133,270	97.0	50	1.40×
19	Wisconsin	$133,070	94.1	200	1.32×
20	Iowa	$131,360	87.8	80	0.95×
21	Utah	$130,930	98.9	140	1.55×
22	Connecticut	$130,790	103.6	150	1.71×
23	Missouri	$130,220	90.8	80	0.54×
24	Ohio	$127,730	92.8	180	0.62×
25	Delaware	$127,510	99.8	—	—
26	Florida	$127,460	103.4	460	0.90×
27	North Carolina	$126,040	94.3	240	0.95×
28	Michigan	$125,140	96.2	430	1.90×
29	Texas	$123,380	97.1	290	0.40×
30	New Mexico	$123,350	92.2	50	1.08×
31	South Carolina	$122,390	93.7	100	0.83×
32	Illinois	$120,840	100.0	280	0.90×
33	Pennsylvania	$119,990	97.6	320	1.04×
34	Louisiana	$119,280	88.2	60	0.64×
35	Tennessee	$116,980	91.9	330	1.96×
36	Georgia	$105,510	96.3	300	1.21×
37	Indiana	$101,630	93.3	170	1.03×
38	District of Columbia	$101,450	109.9	70	2.02×
39	North Dakota	$72,630	89.0	—	—

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. States where nurse midwives wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for nurse midwives

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$218,760	106.4	40	0.47×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$212,630	115.6	190	1.55×
3	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$202,850	113.6	220	0.69×
4	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$191,220	106.7	80	1.43×
5	Urban Honolulu, HI	$184,620	111.0	—	—
6	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$181,450	111.9	60	0.77×
7	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$174,870	108.3	200	1.42×
8	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$162,970	111.1	70	0.70×
9	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$159,730	112.6	240	0.49×
10	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$151,640	95.8	40	1.33×
11	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$149,170	108.9	310	1.97×
12	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$147,140	105.4	170	2.84×
13	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$146,590	114.2	—	—
14	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$141,520	96.9	50	1.09×
15	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$139,530	100.9	70	1.58×
16	Omaha, NE-IA	$138,880	91.9	—	—
17	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$137,610	105.8	110	1.39×
18	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$135,910	104.5	150	2.23×
19	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$135,180	101.8	90	2.41×
20	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$134,810	104.8	300	3.05×
21	Columbus, OH	$134,380	95.5	50	0.81×
22	Anchorage, AK	$133,430	105.4	40	4.77×
23	St. Louis, MO-IL	$133,330	95.1	40	0.60×
24	Rochester, NY	$132,240	97.0	30	1.37×
25	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$132,070	98.2	30	0.85×
26	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$131,760	95.5	40	1.39×
27	New Haven, CT	$130,790	104.6	60	3.87×
28	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$129,990	103.1	—	—
29	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$129,380	102.7	40	1.38×
30	Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC	$129,360	93.3	30	1.50×
31	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$129,280	98.6	90	0.55×
32	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$128,110	97.3	60	0.89×
33	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$128,020	100.9	—	—
34	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$125,140	100.3	180	1.81×
35	Reading, PA	$124,470	97.1	—	—
36	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$117,010	96.3	—	—
37	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	$116,440	92.2	70	2.14×
38	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$115,500	103.6	180	0.79×
39	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$105,510	100.1	230	1.55×
40	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$101,630	95.7	120	2.09×

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 nurse midwives wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.