Nursing is one of the few careers where the headline hourly rate is not the whole paycheck. A registered nurse (RN) working straight days on the floor, a BSN-prepared nurse on a med-surg unit, and a nurse practitioner (NP) running their own panel can have wildly different annual numbers once overtime, night-shift differentials, sign-on bonuses, and stipends are folded in. This nursing salary calculator turns your hourly rate and schedule into a clear annual, monthly, and biweekly gross figure, so you can compare offers, negotiate a raise, or budget a move between hospitals.
Adjust the sliders and every figure updates instantly. You will see base pay, overtime at time-and-a-half, the night-shift differential, any annual bonus or stipend, and the total gross broken into monthly and biweekly chunks.
How to Use
- Enter your Hourly Wage. If you are an RN, the national average sits around $37/hr; a BSN-prepared nurse often starts near $42/hr; and a nurse practitioner typically bills closer to $55/hr. Use whatever your written offer or contract states, not a rough guess.
- Set your Regular Hours / Week. Most hospital schedules are 36 hours (three 12-hour shifts) or 40 hours (five 8-hour shifts). Type the number your employer treats as straight time.
- Add Overtime Hours / Week. Federal law (FLSA) requires overtime at 1.5x for any hours over 40 in a workweek for non-exempt staff. Many hospitals also pay 1.5x after 12 hours in a single shift even under 40 weekly — check your contract.
- Enter your Night-Shift Hours / Week and the Night-Shift Differential percentage. The differential is a small premium (commonly 5%–15%) paid on every hour worked on evenings, nights, or weekends. It is stacked on top of your base rate, not instead of it.
- Set Weeks Worked / Year. Most staff nurses work all 52 weeks; travelers or those taking unpaid parental leave should drop this to 48 or fewer.
- Add any Annual Bonus / Stipend. This includes sign-on bonuses spread over the year, retention bonuses, education stipends, and per-diem housing allowances that recur.
The result card breaks your pay into base, overtime, night differential, and bonus lines, then shows the total annual gross, the monthly equivalent, and the biweekly paycheck before taxes.
The Nursing Pay Formula
Nursing pay follows a straightforward layered model:
Annual = (hourlyWage × weeklyHours) + (hourlyWage × 1.5 × overtimeHours) + (hourlyWage × nightDiff% × nightHours), all × weeksPerYear, then + bonus.
The overtime multiplier of 1.5 comes straight from the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the night-shift differential is negotiated between the hospital and the union (or written into your offer letter). The Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS series reports mean and median wages for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and nurse practitioners by metro area, which is the best public benchmark for your hourlyWage input.
Worked example: an RN at $37/hr, 40 hours/week, no overtime, no nights, 52 weeks, no bonus earns 37 × 40 × 52 = $76,960 per year, or about $6,413 per month and $2,960 per biweekly paycheck. Stack a 10-hour overtime week at 1.5x and the OT line alone adds $2,886 a year.
If your hourly wage is zero or negative, the calculator returns an error rather than a nonsense number — that input is required to be a positive dollar amount.
RN vs BSN vs NP: Why the Same Hours Pay Differently
The three most common nursing credentials land at meaningfully different pay bands:
- RN (Associate or Diploma) — ~$37/hr base, roughly $70k–$85k/year in most metro areas. The entry point to bedside nursing.
- BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) — ~$42/hr base, often a $3–$5/hr premium over ADN-prepared RNs. Many hospitals now require a BSN for hire or within two years.
- NP (Nurse Practitioner, MSN/DNP) — ~$55/hr base and up, often six-figure salaries, plus production-based productivity bonuses in outpatient clinics.
The differential compounds: a BSN working the same 40-hour schedule as an RN earns about $10,400 more per year before overtime. Over a 20-year career that gap exceeds $200,000, which is why many bedside nurses go back to school part-time.
Overtime and Night Differential: The Hidden Raise
Two line items routinely add 10%–25% to a nurse's paycheck:
- Overtime at 1.5x. Travel nurses and per-diem staff often work 48–60 hour weeks. At $42/hr, ten overtime hours a week adds 42 × 1.5 × 10 × 52 = $32,760 per year — almost a second salary.
- Night-shift differential at 10%–15%. Working 12 night shifts a month at a 12% premium on $42/hr adds roughly $3,600 a year. It is not glamorous, but it is one of the most reliable ways to lift household income without changing employers.
Run both sliders on this page with your own numbers — most staff nurses are surprised how large these lines become over twelve months.
Examples
Example 1 — A straight-shift RN. A new grad RN in Ohio earns $37/hr, works 40 hours/week, no overtime, no nights, 52 weeks, no bonus. Base annual pay is $76,960, monthly gross about $6,413, biweekly about $2,960. This is the floor most new nurses should benchmark against.
Example 2 — A BSN with overtime and nights. A BSN-prepared nurse on a med-surg unit earns $42/hr, works 40 regular hours, picks up 5 overtime hours a week, and works 12 night-shift hours weekly at a 12% differential, plus a $2,500 annual retention bonus. Base is $87,360; overtime adds $16,380; night differential adds about $3,145; bonus is $2,500. Total annual gross is $109,385, or about $9,115 per month.
Example 3 — A high-earning NP with a large bonus. An NP in a private clinic earns $55/hr, works 60 scheduled hours, takes 20 overtime hours weekly, works 16 night clinic hours at a 15% differential, and receives a $1,000,000 multi-year productivity bonus averaged over the year (an extreme test of large-value inputs). The base and OT lines together are about $257,400 before the bonus; the calculator must handle totals above $1,000,000 without rounding errors.
FAQ
How is nursing salary calculated from hourly pay?
Multiply your hourly wage by your regular weekly hours, then by weeks worked per year. Add overtime at 1.5x your hourly rate for any hours over 40 in a week, add the night-shift differential (your hourly rate times the differential percentage times eligible night hours), and finally add any annual bonus or stipend. Divide the total by 12 for monthly gross or by 26 for biweekly gross.
What is the average RN salary in the US?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean hourly wage for registered nurses is roughly $37–$42 depending on metro area and specialty, which translates to about $77,000–$87,000 per year on a standard 40-hour schedule. Specialties like ICU, OR, and labor & delivery pay a $3–$10/hr premium, and California nurses earn the highest wages in the country.
How much more does a BSN make than an RN?
A BSN typically commands a $3–$5 per hour premium over an ADN-prepared RN doing the same job. At $42 vs $37 on a 40-hour, 52-week schedule, that gap is about $10,400 per year. Over a 20-year career the difference exceeds $200,000 before overtime and raises.
What is a typical nurse practitioner salary?
Nurse practitioners average around $55 per hour, or roughly $115,000–$130,000 per year on a 40-hour schedule, with top-tier specialties (psychiatric, neonatal, anesthesia-adjacent) reaching $160,000+. Productivity bonuses in outpatient clinics can add another 10%–20%.
How does night-shift differential work?
A night-shift differential is a small percentage premium (commonly 5%–15%) paid on every hour worked on evening, overnight, or weekend shifts. It is calculated on top of your base hourly rate, not as a separate flat fee. For example, at a 10% differential on $37/hr, each night hour pays an extra $3.70.
Are nurse overtime hours always paid at 1.5x?
For non-exempt hospital employees, federal FLSA requires overtime at 1.5x for hours over 40 in a workweek. Many union contracts and hospital policies also pay 1.5x after 12 hours in a single shift even under 40 weekly, and some pay 2.0x on major holidays. Check your employee handbook — those policies differ by employer.
Is this calculator gross or net pay?
This calculator returns gross pay — the amount before federal income tax, FICA, state tax, health insurance premiums, and 401(k) contributions. To estimate take-home, multiply the gross by roughly 0.70–0.78 depending on your filing status and state.
Disclaimer
This nursing salary calculator is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, employment, or legal advice. Estimates are based on the hourly wage, hours, overtime, night differential, and bonus figures you enter; actual pay varies by employer, union contract, state, specialty, experience, and shift. Always confirm your exact rate, overtime policy, and shift-differential terms directly with your hospital HR department or employment contract.