- Nurses in New Bern are typically paid $25,710 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $64,570

- Nurses in Hickory are typically paid $27,610 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $65,830

- Nurses in Jacksonville are typically paid $28,250 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $63,230

- Nurses in Goldsboro are typically paid $29,730 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $65,730

- Nurses in Raleigh are typically paid $30,590 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $77,180

- Nurses in Charlotte are typically paid $33,180 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $79,120

- Nurses in Greenville are typically paid $33,470 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $73,140

- Nurses in Rocky Mount are typically paid $35,400 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $72,650

- Nurses in Greensboro are typically paid $37,110 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $76,140

- Nurses in Asheville are typically paid $37,730 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $76,150

- Nurses in Wilmington are typically paid $38,300 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $77,620

- Nurses in Winston are typically paid $38,330 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $78,120

- Nurses in Burlington are typically paid $41,640 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $78,850

- Nurses in Fayetteville are typically paid $44,080 more than the metro's median income.
- Median annual wage for nurses: $82,390

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.