One nurse practitioner listing in the dataset offers $1,250,000 annually. The median listing offers somewhere around $140,000. This is not a typo — it is the nurse practitioner job market in 2025, where compensation spreads across a 19-to-1 range depending on specialty, geography, and scope. With 1,808 active listings nationally and 781 reporting salary data, the market reveals a simple truth: nurse practitioners are in demand everywhere, but not all opportunities are created equal.
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The Nurse Practitioner Job Market at a Glance

Total listings: 1,808
Listings with salary data: 781
Full salary range: $65,000 to $1,250,000
Average salary range: $142,360 to $183,626

The floor is low and the ceiling is absurdly high. Most positions cluster between $100,000 and $220,000, which is to say the outliers are doing heavy lifting on both ends. The $1,250,000 figure reflects a specialized role that bears little resemblance to primary care positions anchoring the lower half of the range. The spread is wide because the job itself is wide — nurse practitioners work in dermatology, family practice, urgent care, and everything in between, often with vastly different scopes, autonomy, and revenue models.

States represented:

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming
• Washington D.C.

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How States Stack Up

Overperformers: North Dakota leads the nation at $208,000 to $291,200, though the sample is exactly one listing (make of that what you will). South Dakota offers $197,600 to $260,832 across nine jobs, suggesting the premium is real and repeatable. Ohio averages $169,400 to $279,538 with 23 listings — high pay, reasonable volume, and a market worth watching. Delaware clocks in at $183,200 to $254,000, though only two listings report salary. Tennessee averages $176,800 to $242,667, but with just three salary data points the confidence interval is wide. Wisconsin delivers $176,234 to $236,571 across 29 listings, making it one of the most reliable high-pay markets in the dataset. Kentucky offers $172,240 to $245,096 with five listings. Mississippi averages $176,800 to $244,400, though only two jobs disclose pay.

Near-average performers: Virginia averages $158,713 to $209,788 across 16 salary listings, sitting comfortably above the national mean. Minnesota comes in at $165,205 to $207,497 with seven listings. New Hampshire averages $166,400 to $211,467, though only six jobs report compensation. Utah averages $166,400 to $208,000 with two listings. Montana offers $160,160 to $210,080 across five jobs. Arkansas averages $157,584 to $203,040, also with five listings. Louisiana matches Arkansas at $156,000 to $208,416. Alaska averages $156,000 to $197,600, but only two listings include salary data. Kansas sits at $155,132 to $200,829 with seven listings. Idaho averages $154,667 to $222,400, though just three jobs disclose pay. Indiana offers $153,750 to $204,625 across eight listings. Oregon averages $152,039 to $199,276 with 26 salary listings out of 90 total jobs. North Carolina averages $151,168 to $198,739 across 25 listings — strong volume, middling pay. New Mexico comes in at $150,528 to $193,800 with 10 salary listings. Iowa averages $150,880 to $194,400 across five jobs. Washington D.C. sits at $150,933 to $192,000 with three listings. Georgia averages $148,044 to $190,504 across 27 listings. Maine offers $147,480 to $181,760 with five salary data points. Missouri averages $147,707 to $201,800 across six jobs. Texas sits at $146,631 to $200,115 with 27 listings — high volume, unremarkable pay. Pennsylvania averages $145,981 to $193,329 across 17 jobs. California offers $145,135 to $182,857 with 142 salary listings out of 238 total jobs — the volume leader, but compensation lags the top tier. Arizona averages $143,103 to $195,221 with 14 listings. Florida comes in at $139,609 to $180,774 across 27 jobs. Washington state averages $138,617 to $164,323 with 47 salary listings out of 87 total — high volume, below-average pay. Illinois sits at $138,170 to $176,631 across 27 jobs. Maryland averages $136,050 to $172,447 with 12 listings. New Jersey offers $134,952 to $164,800 across 25 jobs. South Carolina averages $134,444 to $185,470, though only 10 of 49 listings report salary. Hawaii comes in at $131,000 to $161,947 with six listings.

Underperformers: Connecticut averages $127,056 to $164,964 across 28 listings. West Virginia sits at $127,000 to $160,167 with six jobs. New York averages $126,445 to $157,793 across 86 salary listings — high cost of living, below-average pay, and a compensation problem that should concern recruiters. Nevada offers $125,308 to $158,739 with 10 listings. Michigan averages $124,280 to $176,600, though only five of 24 jobs disclose salary. Massachusetts comes in at $124,064 to $154,891 across 38 listings — another high-cost market paying below the national floor. Colorado averages $123,097 to $154,088 with 12 jobs. Vermont sits at $128,034 to $156,643 across 14 listings. Oklahoma averages $115,000 to $140,000, represented by a single salary listing. Rhode Island also averages $115,000 to $153,750, with four jobs reporting pay.

Volume leaders: California leads with 238 total listings, followed by New York with 126, North Carolina with 124, Washington and Oregon with 90 each, Florida with 78, and Georgia and Texas with 70 and 71 respectively. California and New York both pay below the national average despite their volume, a dynamic that favors employers and frustrates candidates.
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What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: Target specialty roles, particularly dermatology and cosmetic medicine, where the top end of the range lives. The highest-paying listing in the dataset is in dermatology, offering $250,000 to $350,000. Geography matters less than specialty at the high end — the premium follows the scope, not the ZIP code.

If your priority is maximum optionality: California offers 238 listings, New York 126, and North Carolina 124. These states provide the widest range of practice settings, specialties, and employment models. You will sacrifice some compensation for choice, but the depth of the market is unmatched.

If your priority is balance: Ohio, Wisconsin, and South Dakota offer above-average pay with reasonable job availability. Ohio averages $169,400 to $279,538 across 23 listings. Wisconsin delivers $176,234 to $236,571 with 29 jobs. South Dakota offers $197,600 to $260,832 across nine listings. All three combine strong compensation with lower cost of living than coastal markets — a rare alignment of pay, opportunity, and purchasing power.
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What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

Salary transparency rate: 43.2% (781 listings with salary data divided by 1,808 total listings). More than half of all postings omit compensation, which places the burden of qualification squarely on recruiters and candidates alike. In a market this competitive, silence on salary is a strategic disadvantage.

The volume-pay misalignment is pronounced. California leads in listings but pays below the national average ($145,135 to $182,857). New York follows the same pattern: 126 jobs, $126,445 to $157,793 — well below the national floor of $142,360 and far below cost of living parity. Recruiters in these markets cannot lead with compensation. They will need to lead with scope, autonomy, practice culture, or geography. Candidates comparing a $155,000 offer in Manhattan to a $180,000 offer in Columbus are doing more than salary math — they are weighing lifestyle, cost, and career trajectory. The recruiter who understands that wins the placement.

Pipeline implications: High-volume, low-pay markets like New York and Massachusetts will face sustained candidate skepticism unless non-compensation value propositions are clear and compelling. Meanwhile, low-volume, high-pay states like South Dakota and North Dakota may struggle with awareness but will convert candidates quickly once discovered.
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What’s Driving the Numbers

Specialty and scope command a significant premium. The $1,250,000 ceiling and the $250,000 to $350,000 dermatology listing are not anomalies — they are proof that nurse practitioners with specialized training or revenue-generating scope can access physician-adjacent compensation. Primary care roles anchor the lower half of the range, often starting between $100,000 and $130,000. The gap between general practice and specialty practice is wide, durable, and growing.

Part-time and hourly roles distort the floor but not the narrative. The lowest salary in the dataset is $65,000, likely reflecting a part-time or limited-scope position. Hourly listings in the $60 to $69 range annualize to roughly $124,800 to $143,520, which is below average but not aberrational for rural family practice. These roles pull the floor down, but they do not define the market — they define a segment of it.

Underserved and rural markets do not consistently price in scarcity. South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana offer strong compensation, but other rural states like Oklahoma, Vermont, and West Virginia sit below the national average. Scarcity alone does not drive pay — scarcity plus scope plus employer revenue model does. A nurse practitioner in a high-autonomy rural role with a share of collections will outearn a salaried counterpart in a low-margin urban clinic, regardless of ZIP code.

The volume-pay relationship is inverse in the largest markets. California, New York, and Washington lead in job count but trail in compensation. High supply, high competition, and saturated metro markets compress wages even as demand remains strong. Employers in these states are hiring, but they are not competing on price — they are competing on brand, location, and lifestyle. That works until it doesn’t.

The Bottom Line

The nurse practitioner job market is large, liquid, and segmented. Compensation is determined less by geography than by specialty, scope, and employment structure. High-volume states offer opportunity but not premium pay. High-pay states offer income but not always volume. Specialty roles offer both, provided you can access them.

There is a lot of work available for nurse practitioners, and a lot of money available for the ones who specialize.
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Salary data based on 781 listings with disclosed compensation. Figures may reflect part-time or specialized roles. This report is informational and should not replace professional judgment or financial planning.