Healthcare
Registered Nurse
Registered nurses are the backbone of patient care — assessing patients, administering treatment, and supporting families. Demand is high and stable across the country.
Median salary
$86,000
Typical range
$60k – $125k
Job outlook
+6% (faster than average)
AI exposure
Plan a path to Registered Nurse
Education
Typical entry: Bachelor's degree
ADN or BSN plus the NCLEX-RN license; BSN increasingly preferred.
Plan my path to this →How to qualify
License requiredCost to qualify
$6,300–$80,650
Time to qualify
2.2 yr
Renewal
$75/yr
- 1
Nursing degree (ADN or BSN)
Degree2-year associate or 4-year bachelor's in nursing from an accredited program.
$6,000–$80,000 · 2 years source
- 2
- 3
State RN license
LicenseApply to your state board of nursing after passing the NCLEX.
$100–$300 · 1 months · varies by state · renews every 2 yr source
Which occupations require a license and in which states: CareerOneStop License Finder (U.S. DOL). Costs/hours are curated estimates that vary by state and change — see each step's official source.
Typical progression
Junior Registered Nurse
Entry / Junior
$60,000
~2 yrs to advance
Registered Nurse
Established
$86,000
~3 yrs to advance
Senior Registered Nurse
Senior
$105,500
Key skills
A typical day
- •Assess and monitor patients
- •Administer medication
- •Coordinate with doctors
Fields of study
Nursing · Biology
Top colleges for Healthcare
Explore all- Johns Hopkins University7% admit · $93,000 grad pay
- Harvard University4% admit · $119,000 grad pay
- University of Michigan18% admit · $87,000 grad pay
- Duke University6% admit · $105,000 grad pay
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill19% admit · $73,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.
Related careers
Other careers from this field of study
Mapped by field-of-study code (Nursing, Biology), not by job-title guessing.