LPN Salary or LVN Salary

An average Licensed Practical Nurse Salary or LPN Salary or Licensed Vocational Nurse Salary is calculated by the US Government Bureau of Labor Statistics from a variety of sources. Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses work in a number of settings including hospitals, clinics and schools.  The average salary of Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses varies depending on the location and the setting.  The assumption was made that the Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses reflected here were working an average of 40 hours per week with a total of 2080 hours per year. 

In some states the title is Licensed Practical Nurse or LPN and in other states they are called Licensed Vocational Nurse or LVN.  There used to be a slight difference with the curriculum of the LPN being designed to progress to being a Registered Nurse somewhat easier than the LVN.  For most purposes there is no real difference in the work or job descriptions of the two.

LPN LVN Salary: Median Hourly & Annual Data

Hourly

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses median salary is $18.72 per hour.  The lowest 10% earn  $13.16 per hour and those in the upper 10% earn more than $25.08 per hour.

Annually

On an annual basis the median Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses salary is $38,940.  The lowest 10% earn $27,370 per year while the upper 10% earn more than $52,160 per year.  These salaries are calculated as a mean or average

Lowest and Highest LPN LVN Salary

The lowest paid Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses earn less than $25,000 annually while the highest paid Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses earn more than $52,000 per yearl. 

Top 5 States

The best paying states for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses to earn a salary are Connecticut $50,950, District of Columbia $49,620, Massachusetts $48,790, New Jersey $48,750, Rhode Island $47,090.

 Top 5 Metropolitan Areas

The best city or metropolitan areas to earn a Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses salary are San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA $55,630, Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division $55,350, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA $55,060, Framingham, MA NECTA Division $54,740, Salinas, CA $54,470.

Other Industries that Employ Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) or Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN)

A very small number of these nurses are employed in the electronic shopping or mail order industry. Professional organizations and health stores account for less than 150 licensed practical nurses or Licensed Vocational nurses salaries. 

Employment Data

There are 710,020 Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses working in the U.S. according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Where They Work

Of all the Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses employed in the United States over 26%  or 186,560 of them work in nursing care facilities. An additional 171,270 or just over 24% of the work in hospitals.  Physicians offices account for an additional 89,170 and Employment Agencies and Home Health Agencies account for 52,770 and 52,700 respectively. 

Private Practice Vs Employment

A rapidly growing trend in the healthcare arena is the use of the travel nurse.  Travel Nurses agree to take short term employment contracts in return for additional incentives such as housing, travel allowances and bonuses.  They usually work directly for a nursing employment agency but a few of them actually negotiate their own employment contracts and are truly self-employed. There are some opportunities for the LPN and LVN in this area.

Benefits

Fringe benefits will vary depending on business size and other factors. To see what a typical benefits package is worth  A typical employment benefits package is worth over $20,000 per year.