Skip to content

Nurses

NICU nurse salary

Open NICU nurse jobs post a median of $55.50 an hour, with the middle half paying $46.75–$68: about $115,400 a year full time. Measured from 275 jobs at 85 employers that state their pay, read from each employer's own job board.

$55.50
Median posted /hr
$47–$68
Middle half /hr
$115,400
A year, full time
estimate, 2,080 hours
$46.90
BLS median /hr
May 2025

The jobs themselves: NICU nurse jobs · A specialty of registered nurse pay

What NICU nurses are paid

Each bar counts the open jobs posting an hourly rate in its step of pay (a range at its midpoint). The middle half of employers' rates is in the darker color.

Posted hourly rates of 275 open jobs. The chart spans the 2nd to the 98th percentile; the lowest rate posted is $30, the highest $133.26.

Posted on open jobs

$46.75–$68/hr

Middle half of 165 employer rates (each employer's advertised range once), median $55.50. 30% of the 910 open NICU nurse jobs state an hourly rate. 258 more state an "up to" ceiling, a weekly travel rate, a per-visit fee, or a rate far from the rest (a differential read as pay), left out.

NICU nurse alerts

NICU nurse: new openings every week

Every week we gather the newest NICU nurse openings from the hospitals, clinics and care employers we follow, straight from their careers sites. Free, stop anytime.

Only job openings in your inbox. Leave anytime with one click.

NICU nurse pay by employer

What each employer posts for NICU nurses, the employers with the most jobs stating pay first. An employer with at least 5 such jobs has a page of its own with every range it posts.

EmployerMedian postedPosted rangeJobs stating pay
HealthTrust Workforce Solutions$52.75$43.40–$7849
AdventHealth$47$31.85–$8413
RWJBarnabas Health$58.25$47.85–$77.5212
Kaiser Permanente$73.75$54.05–$133.2611
CommonSpirit Health$46.25$30.58–$101.1110
Hackensack Meridian Health$45.75$45.14–$48.1810
Texas Health Resources$70$709
Providence$71$36.08–$93.517
Advocate Health$47.75$38.20–$57.306
Adventist HealthCare$46$37–$556
Sharp HealthCare$68.50$61–$75.085
Ascension$52$32.68–$75.375
Northwell Health$74.50$52–$954
Fairview Health Services$59.50$44.48–$75.664
Atlantic Health$57.75$41.79–$73.564
Endeavor Health$47.50$37.25–$57.744
Northwestern Medicine$44.75$34.50–$55.204
Logan Health$41.75$41.784
GBMC HealthCare$40.75$31.25–$49.464
Sutter Health$95.50$80–$118.343
UW Medicine$86.25$86.173
Mass General Brigham$73.75$41.38–$1103
MultiCare Health System$70.75$48.15–$93.913
Tenet Healthcare$66.50$45–$81.913
MemorialCare$64.25$50–$77.793
South Shore Health$57.75$38.20–$77.393
Inova$51.75$39–$64.253
Banner Health$47.25$35.43–$59.053
Denver Health$47$36–$57.773
UPMC$45.25$36.50–$58.073
OSF HealthCare$42.75$34.25–$51.133
Mount Sinai Health System$75.50$64.85–$85.942
Boulder Community Hospital$71.50$42.78–$952
Seattle Children's$71.50$51.60–$91.302
Vanderbilt University Medical Center$70$65–$752
Loma Linda University Health$61.50$52.52–$70.642
Beth Israel Lahey Health$60$36.93–$84.712
Prime Healthcare$60$602
Essentia Health$58.50$45.03–$68.872
Capital Health$54$45.60–$62.592

Median of each employer's own jobs (a range at its midpoint), and the lowest and highest rate it posts. Jobs stating pay link to the employer's open jobs.

NICU nurse pay by state

States where at least 8 open jobs from 3 employers state an hourly rate, highest median first. Each opens the state's own page, with its towns and employers.

StateMedian postedMiddle halfBLS medianJobs
California$71$65–$91.50$67.44 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)32
New York$71$62–$80$52.62 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)10
Washington$70.50$69.25–$71.25$59.71 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)15
Massachusetts$60$57.50–$71.50$50.27 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)10
Tennessee$56.50$48–$64$39.18 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)10
New Jersey$56.25$48.75–$58.50$51.20 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)31
Texas$55.50$47.75–$60.25$46.14 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)36
Colorado$52.75$47.25–$55.50$48.20 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)19
Virginia$51.50$45.75–$53.25$45 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)12
Illinois$47.50$43–$51.25$46.15 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)20
Kansas$47.25$46.75–$56.25$38.14 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)9
Maryland$44$40.75–$45$47.98 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)12

Median and middle half of employers' rates in the state. BLS medians are for the occupation's main SOC code in the state (May 2025).

Night shift NICU nurse pay

Where one employer posts both night and other NICU nurse jobs in the same state (22 such employers and states), the night jobs post the same base rate as the rest (the median gap is $0): most employers state their night differential apart from the base pay, so check the posting for it.

Employer, stateNight jobs, medianOther jobs, median
HealthTrust Workforce Solutions, TX$47.25 (9)$54 (10)
RWJBarnabas Health, NJ$57.75 (5)$58.25 (7)
Hackensack Meridian Health, NJ$46.25 (5)$45.25 (5)
Texas Health Resources, TX$70 (5)$70 (4)
Adventist HealthCare, MD$46 (3)$46 (3)
HealthTrust Workforce Solutions, TN$61.25 (1)$52 (5)
AdventHealth, FL$42.25 (4)$42.25 (1)
HealthTrust Workforce Solutions, CO$54 (1)$55.50 (4)

A job counts as a night job when its title names nights ("Nights", "NOC", "7p-7a"). Jobs in brackets.

NICU nurse jobs that state a yearly salary

Some jobs state a salary for the year instead of an hourly rate. They are measured on their own here, never converted.

7 open jobs from 5 employers state a yearly salary: a median of $117,500, the middle half $105,500 to $124,900, from $76,003 to $163,678 posted.

Best-paid open NICU nurse jobs

The open jobs posting the highest hourly rates tonight, at most two from one employer.

Every open job: NICU nurse jobs

What BLS measures

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys what people employed in the occupation earn, at every level of experience. A posting advertises what a new hire is offered, so the two measure different things.

Hourly wages, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Each figure opens its BLS page.
BLS occupation10th pct25th pctMedian75th pct90th pctEmployed
Registered Nurses (29-1141)$33.14 (source: BLS OEWS, Registered Nurses, opens in a new tab)$38.62 (source: BLS OEWS, Registered Nurses, opens in a new tab)$46.90 (source: BLS OEWS, Registered Nurses, opens in a new tab)$54.02 (source: BLS OEWS, Registered Nurses, opens in a new tab)$66.09 (source: BLS OEWS, Registered Nurses, opens in a new tab)3,379,720 (source: BLS OEWS, Registered Nurses, opens in a new tab)

The posted median ($55.50) is $8.60 above the BLS median ($46.90 (source: BLS OEWS May 2025, Registered Nurses, opens in a new tab)). Posted ranges run from a new hire's rate to an experienced one's, and their midpoint is counted here.

NICU nurse salary: common questions

How much does a NICU nurse make an hour?

Open NICU nurse jobs on CareJobs.Now that state an hourly rate post a median of $55.50, with the middle half between $46.75–$68 (275 jobs from 85 employers, each employer's advertised range counted once). Postings advertise a base rate, usually before shift differentials and bonuses. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics measured a median of $46.90/hr ($97,550 a year) for registered nurses in May 2025.

How much does a NICU nurse make a year?

At the posted median of $55.50 an hour, full time (2,080 hours a year) comes to about $115,400, and the middle half to $97,200 to $141,400. That is arithmetic on the hourly rate, not a salary any job states. 7 open jobs state a yearly salary instead, a median of $117,500.

Which states pay NICU nurses the most?

By the median hourly rate open jobs post: California ($71), New York ($71) and Washington ($70.50). The lowest: Maryland ($44), Kansas ($47.25) and Illinois ($47.50). Each state's page breaks its pay down by town and employer.

Which employers pay NICU nurses the most?

Among employers stating a rate on at least 5 open jobs: Kaiser Permanente ($73.75), Providence ($71) and Texas Health Resources ($70). The employer table lists the 40 employers with the most jobs stating pay.

Do night shift NICU nurses earn more?

Not in the base rate employers post: where one employer posts both night and other NICU nurse jobs in the same state (22 such employers and states), the median gap is $0. Most state their night differential separately in the posting.

Where do these figures come from?

From the pay CareJobs.Now's open jobs state, read every night from each employer's own job board: 275 of 910 open NICU nurse jobs (30%) state an hourly rate. No pay is estimated for a job that states none, "up to" ceilings and weekly travel rates are left out, and each employer's advertised range counts once in the median, so no single employer sets it.

More pay by job: Nurses

NICU nurse jobs →Every healthcare salary →Pay explorer →

Sources and method

Only pay a job states is used: a plain hourly or yearly figure or range in US dollars, read from the job's own posting. A range counts at its midpoint. In the median and the middle half each employer's advertised range counts once, so an employer posting one range in many towns does not set the figure; an employer's own figures count its jobs one by one. "Up to" ceilings, weekly travel rates and rates under a third or over three times the occupation's median are left out. The yearly estimate is the hourly rate times 2,080 hours (40 a week). A job counts under its occupation and every occupation above it, and under every state it is open in. A page exists while at least 8 jobs from 3 employers state a rate. BLS figures are as published.
  1. CareJobs.Now job board: the pay open jobs state, read nightly from each employer's own careers site, published October 24, 2026
  2. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Registered Nurses (SOC 29-1141), published May 15, 2026
  3. BLS OEWS May 2025: Registered Nurses by state, published May 15, 2026
  4. BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035: Registered Nurses (Occupational Outlook Handbook), published August 27, 2026

Cite this page

CareJobs.Now. (2026). NICU nurse salary. Data as of October 24, 2026. https://carejobs.now/salaries/nicu-nurse

How the board counts