Clinical Nurse Specialist Salary by State (2026)

Name: Clinical Nurse Specialist annual wages by US state, May 2025
Creator: NueCareer
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Clinical Nurse Specialists earn the most in California at $140,270 a year and the least in Puerto Rico at $39,880 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The national median is $97,550. All 53 states and territories with reported data are ranked below, with a cost-of-living adjusted column.

Highest median: $140,270
National median: $97,550
Lowest median: $39,880
States reporting: 53

Top 5 states for Clinical Nurse Specialists

1. California$140,270 median · $126,689 adjusted · 338,940 employed
2. Hawaii$136,320 median · $123,983 adjusted · 12,940 employed
3. Oregon$129,010 median · $124,815 adjusted · 39,730 employed
4. Washington$124,200 median · $116,061 adjusted · 69,260 employed
5. Alaska$109,480 median · $106,957 adjusted · 7,510 employed

Lowest-paying states for Clinical Nurse Specialists

53. Puerto Rico$39,880 median · no price parity · 21,270 employed
52. Alabama$77,080 median · $86,779 adjusted · 54,340 employed
51. Mississippi$77,090 median · $88,657 adjusted · 29,060 employed
50. South Dakota$78,060 median · $88,118 adjusted · 14,710 employed
49. Iowa$78,630 median · $89,595 adjusted · 34,420 employed

Clinical Nurse Specialist salary in every state

Sort by any column. Employment is the number of clinical nurse specialists OEWS estimates in that state; blank cells are estimates BLS suppressed because the sample was too small.

Annual wages by state, sortable by median, quartiles, employment and cost-of-living adjusted median
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1	California	$140,270	$122,440	$173,170	338,940	$126,689
2	Hawaii	$136,320	$101,200	$144,140	12,940	$123,983
3	Oregon	$129,010	$107,220	$134,420	39,730	$124,815
4	Washington	$124,200	$103,100	$134,240	69,260	$116,061
5	Alaska	$109,480	$97,700	$129,100	7,510	$106,957
6	New York	$109,440	$94,840	$129,660	205,810	$101,408
7	New Jersey	$106,500	$99,710	$127,730	92,680	$97,882
8	Massachusetts	$104,550	$87,460	$136,110	88,200	$98,859
9	Nevada	$103,670	$86,850	$120,270	27,070	$103,692
10	Connecticut	$102,740	$86,120	$121,840	40,110	$99,160
11	District of Columbia	$102,540	$85,850	$127,800	11,440	$93,302
12	Minnesota	$101,510	$88,940	$114,760	70,110	$102,929
13	Rhode Island	$100,640	$81,840	$107,100	10,090	$98,397
14	Colorado	$100,260	$84,590	$108,930	54,490	$97,291
15	Maryland	$99,790	$83,740	$107,340	52,910	$95,075
16	New Hampshire	$99,700	$82,880	$108,400	15,390	$95,714
17	Delaware	$99,520	$85,900	$111,720	14,290	$99,711
18	Arizona	$99,500	$81,810	$108,580	73,150	$98,831
19	Vermont	$97,460	$82,210	$105,210	7,410	$99,492
20	Pennsylvania	$96,430	$80,610	$104,730	146,520	$98,830
21	Illinois	$95,990	$80,020	$105,960	138,910	$96,030
22	Texas	$95,970	$79,170	$105,100	271,380	$98,880
23	Wisconsin	$95,530	$81,920	$102,610	68,060	$101,525
24	New Mexico	$94,340	$80,960	$102,750	17,980	$102,308
25	Michigan	$94,300	$82,080	$103,450	104,950	$98,008
26	Virginia	$93,600	$80,090	$103,030	77,490	$92,578
27	Georgia	$93,550	$79,090	$106,330	100,950	$97,151
28	Idaho	$92,460	$80,900	$102,320	16,880	$96,823
29	Maine	$86,990	$79,890	$101,460	16,540	$89,634
30	Montana	$85,280	$80,210	$100,800	10,950	$90,105
31	Nebraska	$84,730	$79,240	$99,640	24,720	$94,037
32	Utah	$84,600	$80,050	$105,130	27,420	$85,572
33	North Carolina	$84,350	$78,770	$102,040	111,120	$89,424
34	Florida	$84,190	$78,660	$101,180	229,940	$81,411
35	U.S. Virgin Islands	$84,120	$81,370	$102,250	470	N/A
36	Wyoming	$83,760	$77,890	$101,100	5,330	$90,365
37	Indiana	$83,500	$78,750	$100,410	68,980	$89,468
38	Oklahoma	$82,920	$77,350	$98,910	38,270	$94,396
39	Ohio	$82,510	$79,200	$99,030	143,730	$88,937
40	South Carolina	$82,360	$77,320	$97,230	49,750	$87,852
41	Missouri	$81,780	$76,050	$98,560	76,310	$90,049
42	Tennessee	$81,500	$75,460	$95,250	72,200	$88,712
43	Kentucky	$81,040	$75,670	$97,200	50,300	$89,886
44	North Dakota	$80,730	$69,620	$93,080	11,340	$90,750
45	Louisiana	$80,230	$69,040	$93,600	48,970	$90,957
46	West Virginia	$80,130	$68,160	$99,770	23,430	$89,534
47	Kansas	$79,320	$73,300	$94,700	33,800	$88,067
48	Arkansas	$78,940	$66,640	$90,280	29,400	$90,801
49	Iowa	$78,630	$68,290	$85,940	34,420	$89,595
50	South Dakota	$78,060	$65,070	$84,280	14,710	$88,118
51	Mississippi	$77,090	$64,930	$84,500	29,060	$88,657
52	Alabama	$77,080	$63,500	$83,380	54,340	$86,779
53	Puerto Rico	$39,880	$38,170	$49,340	21,270	N/A

How the cost-of-living adjustment works

The adjusted column divides each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity (RPP) and multiplies by 100. RPPs measure how much a fixed basket of goods, services and rents costs in one state relative to the national average, so the result restates local pay in national-average dollars.

For Clinical Nurse Specialists, that changes the ranking: California leads on raw pay at $140,270, while California leads once prices are taken into account at $126,689.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024 (public domain). The adjustment is NueCareer's calculation, not a BLS or BEA published statistic.

Clinical Nurse Specialist pay by state: FAQ

Which state pays Clinical Nurse Specialists the most?

California reports the highest median wage for Clinical Nurse Specialists at $140,270 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), followed by Hawaii ($136,320) and Oregon ($129,010).

Which state pays Clinical Nurse Specialists the least?

Puerto Rico reports the lowest median for Clinical Nurse Specialists at $39,880 a year, $100,390 below the highest-paying state (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

Where do Clinical Nurse Specialists earn the most after cost of living?

Dividing each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity puts California first at $126,689 in national-average dollars, from a raw median of $140,270. BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024.

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