Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses Salary
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations · 648K employed in the U.S.
Median annual
$64,400
Median hourly
$31
Average annual
$67,050
Typical range
$49,740–$83,440
Pay distribution
10th to 90th percentile, with the median marked.
What this role pays
The median annual salary for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses is $64,400 as of May 2025, based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. That works out to about $31 an hour at a full-time schedule.
Care for ill, injured, or convalescing patients or persons with disabilities in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, private homes, group homes, and similar institutions. May work under the supervision of a registered nurse.
Most earn between $49,740 and $83,440 a year. There are roughly 648K people employed as licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses in the United States. Use the state and metro pages below to see how pay changes by location, and the calculator to convert any hourly or annual figure.
Salary calculator
Convert your pay and see where it lands for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses.
- Hourly
- $30.96
- Daily
- $248
- Weekly
- $1,238
- Bi-weekly
- $2,477
- Monthly
- $5,367
- Annual
- $64,400
$64,400 a year is around the 50th percentile for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nursess. The median is $64,400.
Highest-paying states
Median annual wage by state.
- 1Washington$83,150
- 2Alaska$80,800
- 3Oregon$80,470
- 4Massachusetts$80,220
- 5Rhode Island$80,090
- 6California$79,750
- 7New Hampshire$77,110
- 8Arizona$77,070
- 9Nevada$76,160
- 10District of Columbia$75,740
- 11New Jersey$75,160
- 12Illinois$75,000
Top-paying metro areas
Median annual wage by metro area.
- 1San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$95,320
- 2San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$94,310
- 3Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA$92,580
- 4Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA$85,690
- 5Vallejo, CA$85,430
- 6Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA$83,940
- 7Napa, CA$83,690
- 8Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA$83,510
- 9Bend, OR$83,260
- 10Grants Pass, OR$82,410
- 11Anchorage, AK$82,330
- 12Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH$82,190
Related job titles
Employers advertise Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses roles under these titles.
Related occupations
What a Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses does
- Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action.
- Measure and record patients' vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, or respiration.
- Collect samples, such as blood, urine, or sputum from patients, and perform routine laboratory tests on samples.
- Provide basic patient care or treatments, such as taking temperatures or blood pressures, dressing wounds, treating bedsores, giving enemas or douches, rubbing with alcohol, massaging, or performing catheterizations.
- Evaluate nursing intervention outcomes, conferring with other healthcare team members as necessary.
- Record food and fluid intake and output.
- Assemble and use equipment, such as catheters, tracheotomy tubes, or oxygen suppliers.
- Prepare or examine food trays for conformance to prescribed diet.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does a Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses make?
- The median annual wage for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses is $64,400 ($31 per hour). Pay ranges from about $49,740 at the 10th percentile to $83,440 at the 90th percentile.
- What is the average salary for a Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses?
- The average (mean) annual salary is $67,050, which is higher than the median because a small number of high earners pull the average up.
- Which state pays Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nursess the most?
- Washington has the highest median annual wage for this occupation at $83,150.
- Is Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses a growing occupation?
- BLS employment data for May 2025 counts about 648K people in this occupation. Projected growth is published separately in the BLS Employment Projections program.
- What does a Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses do?
- Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action.; Measure and record patients' vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, or respiration.; Collect samples, such as blood, urine, or sputum from patients, and perform routine laboratory tests on samples..