- Nurses in Huntsville are typically paid $12,220 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $59,710

- Nurses in Decatur are typically paid $21,710 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $60,600

- Nurses in Mobile are typically paid $23,290 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $62,300

- Nurses in Auburn are typically paid $23,310 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $59,810

- Nurses in Florence are typically paid $24,270 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $60,150

- Nurses in Tuscaloosa are typically paid $24,300 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $63,940

- Nurses in Birmingham are typically paid $24,700 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $65,280

- Nurses in Dothan are typically paid $25,410 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $59,150

- Nurses in Anniston are typically paid $26,030 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $62,200

- Nurses in Montgomery are typically paid $26,340 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $64,470

- Nurses in Gadsden are typically paid $28,210 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $59,840

- Nurses in Daphne are typically paid $31,100 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $64,700

In addition to salary considerations, young workers increasingly prioritize flexible schedules and support for their mental health while at work. Several nurses' unions in recent years went on strike to push for better working conditions, citing chronic understaffing at hospitals as a major issue.

With the field so mentally and emotionally taxing, and overtime hours that notoriously lead to burnout, roughly 100,000 RNs left the profession since 2020 and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report published in 2023 from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Another analysis from National Nurses United, the largest professional association of registered nurses, found that more than 1 million registered nurses with active licenses in 2022 were not actively employed as RNs. Nurses leaving hospitals due to burnout and looking for more regular schedules may turn to physicians' offices, home health care services, and nursing care facilities.

California has attracted new nursing talent with its first-in-the-nation law that sets minimum nurse staffing requirements: Lower patient-to-nurse ratios are associated with better patient outcomes and less burnout for nurses. Oregon will soon join the exclusive club, becoming the second state to mandate nurse-to-patient ratios.

This story features data reporting by Paxtyn Merten, writing by Cassidy Grom, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 47 states.