Nurse Practitioner Career & Salary

Nurse practitioners (NPs) earned a median annual wage of $132,300 in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which publishes national wage data through its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program. That median covers NPs at every experience level and in every specialty, so it is not starting pay. BLS does not publish a separate wage for family nurse practitioners (FNPs), so the closest answer to "how much does an FNP make?" is the figure for nurse practitioners as a whole.

The wages on this page describe one BLS occupation, Nurse Practitioners (SOC 29-1171), which the BLS occupation definition describes as registered nurses with specialized graduate education who diagnose and treat acute, episodic or chronic illness, and which lists the family practice nurse practitioner as one example. BLS publishes no separate wage series for the family, acute care or any other NP specialty.

Career Options for Nurse Practitioners

Nurse practitioners are one of four advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) roles in the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) Consensus Model; the other three are certified nurse midwives, certified registered nurse anesthetists and clinical nurse specialists. Under the model, APRNs are educated and certified in their role and in one of six population foci: family/individual across the life span, adult-gerontology, women's health/gender-related, pediatrics, neonatal and psychiatric/mental health. How independently an NP may practice depends on state law, covered in the practice authority section below.

The path starts with a registered nurse (RN) license. Many nurses earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) first, and some RNs move straight to graduate study through an RN-to-MSN pathway. NP certification then requires a graduate degree. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), for example, requires a master's, postgraduate certificate or Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from an FNP program accredited by CCNE, ACEN or NLN CNEA, at least 500 faculty-supervised clinical hours and a current, active RN license for its FNP certification. A Master of Science in Nursing is one route; to weigh it against a DNP, compare nursing degrees by level. Our guide to becoming a nurse practitioner covers each step.

Here is how the population foci, and one related APRN role, map to national certification:

• Family Nurse Practitioner. FNPs work in the family/individual across the life span population focus. ANCC awards the FNP-BC, and the Nurse Practitioner Certification Board (NPCB) offers its own FNP exam. Read more about what an FNP does.
• Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner. This population focus divides into primary care and acute care. ANCC awards the AGPCNP-BC for primary care and the AGACNP-BC for acute care, the AACN Certification Corporation awards the ACNPC-AG for acute care, and NPCB offers an adult-gerontology primary care exam.
• Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. This population focus covers psychiatric and mental health care. ANCC awards the PMHNP-BC, and NPCB also offers a PMHNP exam. Our PMHNP salary guide covers this role.
• Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. Pediatrics divides into primary care and acute care. The Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB) awards the CPNP-PC for primary care and the CPNP-AC for acute care, and its PMHS credential (Pediatric Primary Care Mental Health Specialist) covers pediatric mental health in primary care.
• Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. NNPs work in the neonatal population focus. The National Certification Corporation (NCC) offers board certification as a neonatal nurse practitioner, the NNP-BC, for graduates of an accredited NP program (master's, DNP or post-master's) that prepares neonatal nurse practitioners.
• Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. Women's health/gender-related care is one of the six population foci. NCC also offers board certification as a women's health care nurse practitioner, the WHNP-BC. Our WHNP salary guide covers this role.
• Orthopedic Nurse Practitioner. Orthopedics is a clinical specialty rather than one of the six population foci. The Orthopaedic Nurses Certification Board offers the ONP-C certification.
• Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (a separate APRN role). CRNAs are not nurse practitioners: NCSBN treats nurse anesthesia as its own APRN role, and BLS counts it as a separate occupation, Nurse Anesthetists (SOC 29-1151). Every CRNA in the United States must be board certified by the National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA), starting with its National Certification Examination. Nurse anesthetists had a median annual wage of $236,590 in May 2025, according to BLS.

Salary Outlook for Nurse Practitioners

Nurse practitioners held 323,040 wage and salary jobs in May 2025, according to BLS. Half earned more than the median of $132,300 and half earned less; the 10th percentile was $101,340 and the 90th percentile was $174,420. None of these figures is a starting salary: each covers NPs at every experience level, and the 10th percentile is the wage below which 10% of NPs fall, not an entry-level wage. The figures have two further limits, which BLS explains in its OEWS FAQ: they count only employees paid a wage or salary, so self-employed NPs and owners or partners of unincorporated practices are left out, and they measure straight-time pay rather than total compensation, so overtime, year-end bonuses and employer-paid benefits such as health insurance are not included. The table compares NPs with the other APRN occupations BLS measures and with registered nurses.

FNP certification, practice authority and pay data

Two things shape an FNP's work that the national wage cannot show: the state where the NP practices and the certification the NP holds. The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) sorts states into three practice environments (page updated May 2026), and our APRN license and certification guide covers the licensing steps.

• Full practice: state law lets NPs evaluate patients, diagnose, order and interpret diagnostic tests, and start and manage treatment, including prescribing, under the exclusive licensure authority of the state board of nursing.
• Reduced practice: state law requires a career-long regulated collaborative agreement with another health provider, or limits the setting of at least one element of NP practice.
• Restricted practice: state law requires career-long supervision, delegation or team management by another health provider for the NP to provide patient care.
• Certification: NCSBN's model requires APRNs to pass a nationally accredited certification exam in their role and population focus, so an FNP certifies through ANCC (FNP-BC) or NPCB.
• What the pay data separates: BLS publishes NP wages by state, metro area and industry, shown below, but not by specialty or certification. Before you choose where to practice, check that state's board of nursing for its NP rules.

How do FNPs compare with acute care NPs? BLS measures both as nurse practitioners, so neither has its own wage; our acute care NP salary guide covers the acute care role.

Nurse Practitioner Salary and Job Demand Overview by State

Nurse practitioner pay varies by state. In May 2025, California had the highest state median annual wage for NPs, $168,520 ($81.02 an hour), while Texas had the most NP jobs, 25,970, with a median annual wage of $131,670 ($63.31 an hour). Florida had 21,790 NP jobs and a median annual wage of $129,510 ($62.26 an hour). Pay also varies within states: the seven metro areas with the highest NP median wages were all in California, according to BLS. The San Jose metro area (San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara) had a median annual wage of $231,560, and the San Francisco metro area (San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont) had $219,080. For RN and other nursing pay, see our nursing salary by state guide.

Here are the five states with the highest median annual wage for nurse practitioners, according to BLS:

Top Employers Hiring Nurse Practitioners and Salary Offers

Offices of physicians employed the most nurse practitioners in May 2025, 148,600, at a median annual wage of $129,190, according to BLS. General medical and surgical hospitals employed 73,610 NPs and outpatient care centers 31,590. Both tables compare industries at the same level of detail, the 4-digit NAICS industries BLS publishes for nurse practitioners, and leave out any industry whose figures BLS does not publish. The industries with the highest NP median wages employ far fewer NPs, so their figures describe small groups of workers.

Top Workplaces for Nurse Practitioner Employment

Highest-Paying Workplaces for Nurse Practitioners

Nurse practitioner salary FAQ

Do family nurse practitioners make more than other NPs?

BLS does not publish separate wages for FNPs or any other NP specialty, so its data cannot show whether FNPs earn more or less than other NPs. All nurse practitioners had a median annual wage of $132,300 in May 2025, according to BLS.

What type of NP gets paid the most?

BLS data cannot rank NP specialties, because it measures nurse practitioners as one occupation. It does show that location matters: California had the highest state median annual wage for NPs in May 2025, $168,520, according to BLS.

Which pays more, a physician assistant or a nurse practitioner?

Physician assistants had a median annual wage of $135,880 in May 2025, compared with $132,300 for nurse practitioners, according to BLS. Our PA vs. NP comparison explains how the two roles differ.

How much do nurse practitioners make an hour?

The median hourly wage for nurse practitioners was $63.61 in May 2025, according to BLS.

Is being an NP better than being an RN?

That depends on what you want from your career, but BLS data shows a pay difference: registered nurses had a median annual wage of $97,550 in May 2025, compared with $132,300 for NPs. Becoming an NP takes graduate education and national certification; our RN vs. NP guide compares the two roles.

Useful Resources for Nurse Practitioners

These organizations publish the certification exams, practice rules and professional information NPs use:

• American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP): the national professional association for NPs, including state practice information. Visit the AANP website.
• American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC): certifier for the FNP-BC, AGPCNP-BC, AGACNP-BC and PMHNP-BC. See ANCC certifications.
• Nurse Practitioner Certification Board (NPCB): certifier offering FNP, adult-gerontology primary care, PMHNP and emergency NP exams. Visit the NPCB website.
• National Certification Corporation (NCC): certifier for neonatal and women's health care nurse practitioners (NNP-BC and WHNP-BC). Visit the NCC website.
• National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN): publisher of the APRN Consensus Model, which states use to align their APRN regulation. Visit the NCSBN website.
• National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP): the professional association for pediatric NPs. Visit the NAPNAP website.

^{Information Disclosure: All wage and employment figures on this page are May 2025 estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program. They cover wage and salary employees only, not self-employed workers, and they exclude employer-paid benefits. Wages vary by state, metro area and industry.}