Nurse Salaries / Male Nurse Salary
Nursing is one of the few well-paying, predominantly female professions; Male nurses make up only 13% of the nursing workforce. Overall, the average RN earns approximately $39.78 per year. Yet, despite holding fewer nursing jobs, men do tend to earn more than women in the field.
According to an American Journal of Nursing study of 294,000 nurses, male RNs tend to earn about $10,000 more per year than their female RN counterparts, although that gap narrows to $5,100 when adjusted for factors like age, education, and specialty.
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Why do male nurses earn more?
A 2017 Medscape RN/LPN Compensation Report found that some differences in the ways male nurses work and interact with their employers could account for the pay gap. These are some of the differences:
- Male nurses were more likely to work overtime hours than female nurses.
- Male nurses more likely to work at inpatient hospitals, which pay more than outpatient settings.
- Male nurses were more likely to negotiate their salaries.
- Male nurses were more likely to work in urban areas, which typically pay more than rural areas due to the cost of living.
- Male nurses take more on-call and high-differential shifts.
How can nurses increase their salaries?
Regardless of your gender or current salary, any nurse could benefit from understanding the key ways to increasing what they can earn. Here are five ways to help increase your pay as a nurse:
Negotiate
A big point where nurses male and female can improve is salary negotiation.
Here are some tips for negotiating your salary:
- Research salaries ahead of time so you know what is realistic for your area.
- Allow the employer to make the first offer.
- Ask for slightly more than you want but know the lowest amount you can accept.
- Consider the whole compensation package (benefits, vacation time, etc.) as these can add significant value.
Take on more responsibility
If you enjoy your current workplace but want to increase your salary, try taking on more responsibility. Shift leader, charge nurse, nurse educator or manager, or preceptor positions usually come with a bump in earnings. Many facilities prefer to hire from within for these positions so you will already have an advantage.
Take on per diem shifts
Per diem nursing allows you to have flexible side gig outside your full-time role. You can grab extra shifts at your hospital or another employer of your own choosing. You also decide when you want to work.
Pursue advanced education or certification
If you are open to continuing your education, advanced practice nurses like Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Mental Health Nurse Practitioners, Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, and Family Nurse Practitioners make the most money out of all nurses.
Explore different areas of practice
Salaries between specialties vary greatly. If a larger salary is your goal, try exploring different specialties to see if they are a good fit.
Some of the highest-paying RN specialties include Cardiac Electrophysiology Lab Nurse, Catheterization Lab Nurse, Pain Management Nurse, and PICU Nurse.
Explore different locations
Wages can vary dramatically between regions. If relocating is an option for you, consider higher-paying states or cities to earn more – but make sure to factor in cost-of-living in each of those areas.
Nurses in the Pacific region earn significantly more than nurses in the East South-Central region. Although the cost of living is higher, the salary difference can be up to 58%.
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FAQs
Although women make up a more significant workforce share, male nurses earn more than their female counterparts. Male RN's make an average of $5,000 more per year than female RN's. Men entering the field will have the confidence to know that they can earn good money. Also, they know that the career is stable.
Do male RNs make more than female RNs? ›
According to an American Journal of Nursing study of 294,000 nurses, male RNs tend to earn about $10,000 more per year than their female RN counterparts, although that gap narrows to $5,100 when adjusted for factors like age, education, and specialty.
Why do men make more in nursing? ›
More men choose RN programs over LPN programs, and they also choose BSN programs more than an RN diploma or ADN program, according to scrubsmag.com. These programs typically result in higher salaries. Men may be more likely to work extra shifts or overtime.
Is there a gender wage gap in nursing? ›
Our findings revealed that in 2021, female registered nurses earned an average of $72,567, whereas their male counterparts earned $78,842. This results in an earnings gap of $6,275.
What is the difference between male nurses and female nurses? ›
Sixty-six percent of male nurses reported earning $80,000 or more, compared to 50% of female nurses. Context: This trend is largely unchanged from 2018, though workweek length increased slightly for both groups. Average workweek length in 2018 was 37.2 hours for female nurses and 40.3 hours for male nurses, on average.
Is there a gender wage gap in healthcare? ›
The gender wage gap is widest for physicians (70%) and advanced practitioners (68%) and narrowest for community-based workers (96%) and RNs (82%), with therapists, LPNs, aides/assistants, and technicians clustered together at approximately 80% in 2021.
What is the highest paying RN position? ›
The salary of nurse anesthetists is the highest of all nursing professions. According to the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA), certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) are anesthesia professionals who safely administer over 50 million anesthetics to patients in the United States annually.
What are the disadvantages of being a male nurse? ›
Taking Care of Female Patients
When it comes to taking care of patients, male nurses often face unique challenges. On average, female patients are more likely to require more intimate care than males. Additionally, male nurses may feel uncomfortable with providing breastfeeding or giving bladder exams.
Are male nurses promoted faster? ›
Glass escalator phenomenon: Some studies have reported that male nurses tend to get promoted at a faster rate than female nurses. This is known as the glass escalator phenomenon, which suggests that men have an advantage in moving up after entering female-dominated industries.
Is being a male nurse worth it? ›
Earning Potential and Career Stability
On average, nurses across specializations earned a median salary of $81,220 in 2022, but some specializations earn much more. Male nurse anesthetists, for example, earn over $207,934 per year, on average. Unfortunately, even nursing has a gender pay gap that favors men.
Caring professions like nursing are often regarded as 'women's work' and therefore are undervalued and underpaid or even unpaid. Fair pay is critical to recruiting and retaining the nursing profession, especially now that working conditions are increasingly difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Is there a shortage of male nurses? ›
Meanwhile, as of 2022, only 12%opens in a new tab or window of the 3.1 million nurses in the U.S. were men -- that's around 372,000 nurses. In other words, achieving gender parity in nursing could address the shortage multiple times over.
Which gender dominates nursing? ›
While men dominate the most influential companies in the world, holding down high-paying executive positions, women rule the roost in nursing.
Why are male nurses paid more? ›
That's because the gender wage gap results from a confluence of factors, including the overall devaluing of work performed by women and the lack of social support for caregiving, which forces many women to pull back on paid work and miss professional opportunities.
Do male nurses get treated differently? ›
In addition, male nursing students often feel isolated, excluded, and treated differently in academic and clinical settings; for example, they are often singled out by female classmates or faculty for patient roles, and they learn to remain silent rather than actively and enthusiastically speak up in a predominantly ...
What's a male nurse called? ›
There is no gender-specific name or title for a male nurse. Women and men in the field of nursing are all called “nurse.”
Where do RNs make the most money? ›
Best Paying States for Nurses
The state with the highest annual wage is California, which has an average wage of $133,340 per year. Following behind California are Hawaii, with an average salary wage of $113,220, and Oregon at $106,610. The states with the lowest average wage are Alabama, Arkansas and South Dakota.
Do men make good nurses? ›
Becoming a male nurse offers benefits outside of the workplace. The skills and medical knowledge you'll learn as a male nurse are useful in other areas of life. If you enjoy the outdoors, for example, your nursing expertise can help you tend to injuries on a wilderness trail.
Who do RNs marry? ›
Female registered nurses are most likely to marry male managers or female registered nurses. Male registered nurses are most likely to marry female or male registered nurses. Nurse practitioners and midwives are most likely to marry miscellaneous managers, physicians and surgeons.
How much do male nurses make in the US? ›
$58,000 is the 25th percentile. Salaries below this are outliers. $89,000 is the 75th percentile.
