Licensed practical nurses (LPN), or licensed vocational nurses (LVN) as they are known in some states, work in many healthcare settings, including skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, hospitals, physician offices, and home health care agencies.  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimated that, as of May 2021, just over 641,200 LPNs and LVNs were working in the United States, earning a national mean wage of $51,850 per year.  From region-to-region there was wide variation in the annual mean wages earned by LPNs and LVNs, with practitioners in some regions of the country earning 50% or more than their counterparts elsewhere.  From BLS data of May 2021, LPN pay in the top 20 metropolitan areas looked as follows:

LPN Pay in the Top 20 Metropolitan Areas

	Metropolitan Area		# Employed	Mean Annual Wage
1	New York-Newark-Jersey City		33,720	$59,230
2	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim		29,750	$63,990
3	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin		10,740	$57,480
4	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington		14,790	$53,440
5	Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land		12,200	$52,960
6	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria		8,130	$56,480
7	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington		15,970	$55,640
8	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach		9,110	$49,260
9	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta		9,490	$51,610
10	Boston-Cambridge-Newton		10,370	$62,470
11	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler		4,120	$58,540
12	San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley		7,450	$75,410
13	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario		7,870	$60,270
14	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn		4,090	$57,400
15	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue		3,810	$66,380
16	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington		7,520	$52,800
17	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad		5,930	$63,620
18	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater		5,680	$47,880
19	Denver-Aurora-Lakewood		2,150	$58,190
20	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson		4,290	$55,250
	National		641,240	$51,850

Report Period:  May 2021
Top 20 U.S. Metro areas from 2020 Census
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Occupational Statistics
Data extracted on September 12, 2022