Registered Nurse salary in Iowa

Official occupation: 29-1141 Registered Nurses · Reference period May 2025 · Data updated · Confidence 95/100

In Iowa, the median registered nurse earns $78,630 a year, 19% below the United States median of $97,550.

It ranks 48th of 51 states with a published figure.

Pay is relatively compressed, with the 10th percentile at $63,840 and the 90th at $100,500 (a ratio of 1.6).

About 34,420 people work in this occupation here, roughly in line with its national share (location quotient 1.02).

For context, the median across all occupations in Iowa is $48,540, so this role pays 1.6 times the local typical wage.

Published figures

Published and derived pay figures
MeasureIowaNational
Median annual pay Observed$78,630United States: $97,550
Mean annual pay Observed$80,540United States: $101,420
10th percentile Observed$63,840United States: $68,940
25th percentile Observed$68,290United States: $80,330
75th percentile Observed$85,940United States: $112,350
90th percentile Observed$100,500United States: $137,470
Median hourly pay Observed$37.80United States: $46.90
Employment (jobs) Observed34,420
Jobs per 1,000 employees Observed22.077
Location quotient Observed1.02
Difference from United States median ($97,550) Derived−19%
Rank among 51 states Derived48
Ratio to Iowa all-occupation median ($48,540) Derived1.62×
90th / 10th percentile ratio Derived1.57

Nearby in the ranking

  1. 46. Kansas$79,320
  2. 47. Arkansas$78,940
  3. 48. Iowa$78,630
  4. 49. South Dakota$78,060
  5. 50. Mississippi$77,090

Largest cities in Iowa: Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux City, Iowa City (GeoNames). Figures are for the whole state, not individual cities.

More pay data

Source, method and data quality

  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 (Public domain (U.S. Government work)). Reference period: May 2025. Updates: Yearly (spring release).
  • Observed figures are copied from the published table without adjustment. Derived figures (rankings, ratios and differences) are calculated by us from those observed figures. No figure on this page is modeled or estimated.
  • Relative standard error (PRSE) published per estimate.
  • Confidence score: 95/100. Based on the published sampling error and job count. We only publish region pages scoring 60 or more that have at least 6 observed figures.
  • Place hierarchy from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Data last updated: .
  • Full method: methodology.