Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
United States. Estimated employment 648,410, with pages for 49 metro areas below.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 29-2061
Fig. 1 — The wage rule
Where you sit in the distribution
Drag the marker, or type a figure
$64,400 · 50th
$49,74010th
$59,00025th
$64,40050th
$76,03075th
$83,44090th
That is the median — half of people in this occupation in the US earn more.
Table 1 — By metro area
Where it pays
Every published Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses page, by median pay. Employment is the BLS estimate for the metro.
| Metro area | Median | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | $95,320 | 3,290 |
| San Francisco, CA | $94,310 | 8,800 |
| Santa Rosa, CA | $92,580 | 870 |
| Vallejo, CA | $85,430 | 870 |
| Napa, CA | $83,690 | 280 |
| Sacramento, CA | $81,570 | 4,760 |
| Santa Cruz, CA | $81,000 | 340 |
| Salinas, CA | $80,910 | 710 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $79,310 | 33,590 |
| Chicago, IL | $78,070 | 11,420 |
| New York, NY | $75,910 | 32,410 |
| Peoria, IL | $72,270 | 630 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $70,710 | 15,920 |
| Rockford, IL | $70,090 | 440 |
| Bloomington, IL | $67,270 | 170 |
| Decatur, IL | $66,750 | 220 |
| Kiryas Joel, NY | $66,360 | 1,250 |
| Kankakee, IL | $65,910 | 240 |
| Kingston, NY | $65,650 | 330 |
| Lebanon, PA | $65,430 | 460 |
| Atlanta, GA | $65,060 | 9,710 |
| Reading, PA | $64,950 | 990 |
| Ithaca, NY | $64,730 | 220 |
| Austin, TX | $64,580 | 3,620 |
| Dallas, TX | $64,370 | 12,590 |
| Gettysburg, PA | $64,310 | 230 |
| Midland, TX | $64,240 | 280 |
| Champaign, IL | $64,130 | 300 |
| Gainesville, GA | $64,080 | 390 |
| Allentown, PA | $64,050 | 2,230 |
| Chambersburg, PA | $63,960 | 360 |
| Augusta, GA | $63,760 | 1,220 |
| Houston, TX | $63,670 | 10,730 |
| York, PA | $63,460 | 1,070 |
| Elmira, NY | $63,390 | 350 |
| Killeen, TX | $63,390 | 1,190 |
| Buffalo, NY | $63,370 | 3,220 |
| Lancaster, PA | $63,290 | 1,740 |
| Syracuse, NY | $62,880 | 1,850 |
| Savannah, GA | $62,810 | 890 |
| Binghamton, NY | $62,490 | 530 |
| Odessa, TX | $62,490 | 320 |
| San Antonio, TX | $62,280 | 5,970 |
| Waco, TX | $62,070 | 780 |
| Rome, GA | $61,710 | 440 |
| Athens, GA | $61,600 | 420 |
| Macon, GA | $60,990 | 740 |
| Springfield, IL | $60,110 | 500 |
| Columbus, GA | $59,330 | 690 |
Sources
How this page was made
- Wage data
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Public domain.
- Employment
- 648,410 employed in this occupation nationally (BLS estimate; excludes the self-employed).
- Occupation
- SOC 29-2061, Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses. Mapped to our taxonomy as licensed-practical-and-licensed-vocational-nurses.
Percentiles are reported exactly as released and are never interpolated between published values. We take no payment from employers, recruiters or anyone else for how any figure is presented.