How Much Do Nurses Make in New York City? Complete Salary Info

 

Hourly or Salaried: Do You Want The Most

Hourly nurses make the most, in fact it's very uncommon for nurses to be paid a salary. Almost all nuses are paid hourly. 

Agency or Direct Hire

You'll make the most if you go with an agency. It's simple. An agency recruiter will have a bigger budget to work with. Why?  That's because hospitals and non-profits are all government funded. They receive special budgets for different divisions.

This means that contract nurses at Non-Profits and Hospitals will often make more money overall. They won't get benefits, but in large cities such as NYC and LA, there are special programs that assist nurses.

For example: A hospital nurse might receive 100k. However a contract nurse working with an agency will make 60 an hour. 

Associates Degree or BSN?

If you want the fast track into Nursing, then the Associates is the way to go. Many nursing programs that are out there are geared toward 2nd career adults, or people who did not excel academically. 

While they might get slammed online as being a diploma mill, and while it's also true you can't get into a prestigious hospital program, that doesn't mean you can't be a RN.

RN has nothing to do with A.S. or B.S.N. It's a License. And most nurses that do homecare, or work for non-profits, or for the state of city don't need a BSN.

In fact, if you were to look at the majority of nurses in NYC, they mostly have Associates degrees. This allows them to work for Medicaid providers and non-profits and clinics.

When they want to obtain their BSN, in order to get into a hospital program, then many of them will look into the less prestigious schools that offer a diploma program with high acceptance rates.

The only real BSN programs that are seen as prestigious in the NYC region are: NYU and Columbia.

Non-Profit, Private Practice, or Hospital

How much a nurse makes also depends on their job location. A nurse working for a non-profit will make less than a hospital nurse. 

Private practice nurses also make less--on average--than nurses who work at hospitals.

This all boils down to union rules. Nurses who work in hospitals normally belong to unions, and because of the rules, they make guaranteed overtime, have amazing health benefits, and are not subject to the stagnant pay rates of private practices of low paying non-profits.

There are no performance related issues when it comes to pay and salary- all union nurses are paid the same depending on how long they work at the hospital and they all benefit from collective bargaining. 

If they want more money, they don't have to ask for themselves, they benefit from collective bargaining and the power of the union. They can go on strike if they need a pay increase.

Sample Job Listings and Where To Look

If you want to get a good sense of what nursing roles pay, then look directly online. Indeed has become one of the last places to look for professional jobs--but it's still a good source for blue collar and medical work. You'll see many nursing roles advertised online.

The most desirable jobs will normally be at hospitals-because they are union jobs. And these jobs won't be on Indeed.

However, you'll find a lot of temp jobs at non-profits, and per diem roles at hospitals that are non-union.

Here are the going rates for RNs (BSN Nurses will make more- especially if they got their BSN from a reputable school: that means not a "diploma mill" nursing school. Examples of Good Nursing Schools include Columbia, NYU, Duke, USC, UPenn)

Hospital Rates in NYC: $70-80hr - Union health care and pension and benefits

Non-Profit: $40-$50

Private Clinic Rates: $30-$50

School Nurse: $30-$45

Per Diem: $30-$100 - No Benefits, Healthcare or Union Protection. Many nuses who work these roles are either employed elsewhere or on benefits programs through the State.

The real power in working as a Nurse in NYC comes from the collective bargining agreements. Nurses are not held to individual review, they are paid as a group. A hospital has a standard bargaing agreement with the nurses org, not individual nurses. That's why nurses can get such great health care and salaries-- look at recent strikes where nurses demand 200k+ plus time off and fringe benefits.