As we examined in LPN Pay in the Top 20 Metropolitan Areas, the biggest U.S. metropolitan areas are normally the home to the largest number of licensed practical nurse (LPN) jobs. However, a deeper dive into data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveals that better average pay is often times found in smaller metro areas. May 2021 (BLS) data indicates that only five of the largest metro areas in the country were among the 20 best metropolitan markets for LPN pay:
20 Best Metropolitan Markets for LPN Pay
| Metropolitan Area | # Employed | Annual Mean Wages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Napa, CA | 340 | $76,890 | ||
| 2 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 2,680 | $75,880 | ||
| 3 | San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward (#) | 7,450 | $75,410 | ||
| 4 | Santa Rosa, CA | 790 | $71,180 | ||
| 5 | Vallejo-Fairfield, CA | 860 | $70,720 | ||
| 6 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | 440 | $68,940 | ||
| 7 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | 290 | $66,800 | ||
| 8 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue (#) | 3,810 | $66,380 | ||
| 9 | Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade | 3,800 | $66,090 | ||
| 10 | Carson City, NV | 100 | $65,460 | ||
| 11 | Alaska non-metro | 110 | $65,230 | ||
| 12 | Hanford-Corcoran, CA | 290 | $64,640 | ||
| 13 | Fairbanks, AK | 60 | $64,460 | ||
| 14 | Yuba City, CA | 230 | $64,020 | ||
| 15 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (#) | 29,750 | $63,990 | ||
| 16 | Stockton-Lodi, CA | 1,240 | $63,660 | ||
| 17 | San Diego-Carlsbad (#) | 5,930 | $63,620 | ||
| 18 | Anchorage, AK | 300 | $63,410 | ||
| 19 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | 1,080 | $62,630 | ||
| 20 | Boston-Cambridge-Nashua (#) | 10,370 | $62,470 | ||
| National | 641,240 | $51,850 | |||
(#) a top 20 U.S metro population area
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on October 31, 2022
