The average Registered Nurse (RN) salary varies greatly by state, as evidenced by data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The top paying state for Registered Nurses was California, with an annual mean wage of $120,560 in 2020. This was followed by Hawaii, with an annual mean wage of $104,830, Massachusetts with an annual mean wage of $96,250, Oregon, with an annual mean wage of $96,230 and Alaska, with an annual mean wage of $95,270 in 2020. The lower paying states for registered nurses include South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Iowa, Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee. These states had an annual mean wage between $35,450 and $66,600.