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 2023, more than 630,000 LPNs and LVNs were working in the United States, earning a national mean wage of $60,790 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 30% or more than their counterparts elsewhere.  From BLS data of May 2023, 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		32,460	$68,520
2	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim		31,710	$75,880
3	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin		12,980	$67,670
4	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington		14,020	$59,580
5	Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land		11,220	$59,010
6	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria		7,020	$67,590
7	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington		13,020	$63,870
8	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach		8,640	$58,350
9	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta		11,440	$58,130
10	Boston-Cambridge-Newton		9,150	$75,690
11	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler		3,680	$67,760
12	San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley		8,580	$87,120
13	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario		8,310	$71,780
14	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn		4,500	$64,510
15	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue		3,400	$78,460
16	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington		6,890	$61,700
17	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad		6,370	$73,890
18	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater		6,200	$56,490
19	Denver-Aurora-Lakewood		2,630	$66,430
20	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson		3,880	$64,840
	National		630,250	$60,790

Report Period:  May 2023
Top 20 U.S. Metro areas from the 2020 Census
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Occupational Statistics
Data extracted on August 17, 2024