Licensed Practical Nurse salaries can depend on many factors. Where are you located? How many years of experience do you have? Where did you get your education?
The average LPN makes around $39,000 a year. But the range can be quite wide. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 80% of LPNs make anywhere from $28,260 to $53,580. With that wide of a range, how can you know how much you should be making? While the salary information that is currently available on the internet is limited, it is good enough to see a couple of clear trends.
Hospital LPNs account for 22% of the 730,000+ Licensed Practical Nurses. But they’re paid $2,000 / year less, on average, than LPNs working in Nursing Care Facilities or in Home Health Care Services. And LPNs working in Doctor’s Offices are paid $4,500 less than Hospital LPNs. Together, these four types of employers account for 71% of all LPN jobs.
According to PayScale, LPNs with 5-9 years of experience make between $30,489 to $44,603 per year, while LPNs with less than 1 year of experience make between $26,276 to $39,986 per year.
Clearly, even within different experience brackets, there’s plenty of variety in salaries. So what might make the difference between what you’re making now and $3,000 more each year? CareerNumbers can help you find out, for free. We’re conducting an ongoing nursing salary survey, that will help participants understand their market value, which factors most impact it (i.e., location, work-setting, specialization, union status, etc.), and what you can do to earn more (for example, you may be surprised how much certifications can improve your market value).
Join other LPNs who want to improve their careers, and take the CareerNumbers Nurse Salary Survey:
