- Nurses in Springfield are typically paid $21,470 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $60,220

- Nurses in Cape Girardeau are typically paid $22,930 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $59,420

- Nurses in Jefferson City are typically paid $23,610 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $63,270

- Nurses in St. Joseph are typically paid $24,220 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $66,410

- Nurses in Columbia are typically paid $24,260 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $64,590

- Nurses in Joplin are typically paid $25,300 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $63,770

- Nurses in Kansas City are typically paid $30,390 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $76,800

- Nurses in St. Louis are typically paid $31,400 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $77,390

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.