After years of steady gains, compensation for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) showed no measurable growth in 2026 for the first time in the past 5 years, according to a report from Medscape.
The “Medscape RN/LPN Compensation Report 2026: Where Did the Growth Go?,” published Oct. 2, surveyed 3,253 registered nurses and 1,337 licensed practical nurses on compensation and pay trends.
Here are 10 things to know about nurse pay trends in 2026:
- Total compensation held flat at $99,000 for RNs and $62,000 for LPNs, the same figures from 2025. It is the first time in the report’s 5-year history that either figure failed to grow year over year.
- By comparison, physician compensation rose about 3% over the same period, making nursing pay’s plateau an outlier rather than part of a broader slowdown.
- About 8 in 10 RNs and LPNs reported static pay or a raise of 10% or less this year. More than 10% of RNs and 16% of LPNs reported compensation decreases.
- Setting still drives a wide pay gap for RNs: hospital inpatient care paid a median salary of $104,000, compared to $101,000 for hospital-based outpatient settings, $90,000 for public or community health, $88,000 for nonhospital offices or clinics and $80,000 for school or college health services.
- LPN pay followed a different pattern by setting, with skilled nursing facilities and other long-term care topping the list at $65,000, ahead of hospital-based outpatient settings ($62,000) and nonhospital offices or clinics ($61,000).
- Rural nurses continue to earn less than their urban and suburban counterparts: RNs averaged $103,000 in urban areas and $99,000 in suburban areas, compared to $89,000 in rural areas. LPNs averaged $65,000 in urban areas, $64,000 in suburban areas and $56,000 in rural areas.
- More than 80% of RNs and nearly 90% of LPNs feel that nurses are underpaid.
- More than half of nurses supplemented their income, as 54% of RNs and 51% of LPNs reported doing so. The two groups differed in how they earned additional income, with 59% of RNs who supplemented income working extra shifts, overtime, weekends or holidays, while 37% of LPNs who supplemented income took a second job outside of nursing.
- The average hourly rate for RNs hit $51 an hour, with the average hourly rate for LPNs coming in at $32 an hour.
- Nearly half of RNs and 60% of LPNs said that compensation was very important when deciding on a career in nursing.
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