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Registered nurses in Oregon make $59 an hour on average, more than their counterparts in any U.S. state when adjusted for cost of living. That’s according to a new analysis of fresh federal data by Becker’s Hospital Review, which placed Oregon in the top spot nationwide for the second straight year.
Oregon did not always have this distinction. Its RN wages ranked 19th in a similar 2023 Becker’s analysis. But Oregon’s nurse pay ranking ascended as its cost of living relative to other states went down while wages continued to rise.
Ranked by mean RN pay with no cost of living adjustment, Oregon placed third highest, behind California and Hawaii. Washington State placed fourth.
Many health care professionals, like doctors, of course, earn far more. But RNs, numbering about 40,000 in Oregon, make up one of the largest workforces in the state (Oregon’s roughly 42,000 home health and personal care aides make far less—$21 an hour on average, according to federal data).
Oregon does not stand out so much for wages adjusted for cost of living in other health care occupations—like physician assistants and nurse practitioners. The high nurse pay ranking in particular underscores the power of the Oregon Nurses Association, which has negotiated contracts and fought for policies that push nurse wages higher.
Hospital leaders frequently tie ballooning health care expenses in part to rising labor costs. But ONA spokesman Peter Starzynski says this “talking point usually comes from hospital executives and corporate health systems trying to blame front-line caregivers instead of looking in the mirror.”
