Considering a Specialty? Neonatal Nurse Salaries See Sizable Uptick
Like most nursing roles, demand for neonatal nurses, including those working in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), is growing.
Neonatal nurses focus on caring for newborns up to age 2, performing tasks such as bathing, monitoring vital signs, drawing blood, maintaining IVs and feeding tubes, and measuring and weighing infants. Because these young patients often require constant care—and their parents may be stressed or worried—the demands on neonatal nurses can be intense, especially in worst-case scenarios.
To attract more candidates to the field, NICU salaries have generally increased over the past 3 years.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2024 median pay for registered nurses is $93,600 annually or $45 per hour. Neonatal nurses’ median salary was $127,391 annually, or $61 per hour, according to job platform ZipRecruiter.
This marks a shift from 2022, when the annual neonatal nurses’ salary in the United States was $98,417, or $47 an hour, as reported by ZipRecruiter.
“Across the board, people are trying to increase salaries for nurses in every state,” said Dr. Jennifer Beukema, DNP, RN, CPN, the faculty manager of nursing education at Nightingale College. “What’s becoming an issue is specialties like NICU nurses or ICU nurses that are so specialized that not everyone can step in to handle that role [making them more in demand].”
Beukema, who is based in Iowa, said the average starting salary for any nurse is $21 an hour. On the state lists for highest pay for neonatal nurse salaries, Iowa ranks 33rd. For neonatal nurses, a salary that can’t keep up with the standard cost of living is even more impactful and stressful, Beukema said.
“The stress for us is already exponentially high as we care for patients that are a pound or less,” Beukema said. “They arrive at 24 weeks, and the normal gestation period is 40 weeks, so that’s already a high-stress situation. Any little thing can set this baby back.”
That pressure cooker environment is also heightened if neonatal nurses must meet financial demands as well.
“To try and meet the standard cost of living, if I’m not getting enough pay, I’m either going to have to work more hours—which means more stress—or get another job,” she said. “And then there’s no rest. That is very common for NICU nurses.”
In considering neonatal job options, here are the states with the top five highest and lowest median wage salaries.
| State | Hourly Wage | Annual Salary | 2022 Rank | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | $69.37 | $108,499 | 16th | 45.94% |
| Washington D.C. | $69.21 | $143,955 | 45th | 64.31% |
| New York | $69.21 | $143,955 | 1st | 28.45% |
| Massachusetts | $66.89 | $139,127 | 2nd | 28.82% |
| Alaska | $65.96 | $137,193 | 7th | 37.87% |
| State | Hourly Wage | Annual Salary | 2022 Rank | Increase / Decrease |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | $45.77 | $95,198 | 50th | 13.85% |
| West Virginia | $45.77 | $95,198 | 6th | -0.91% |
| Arkansas | $50.64 | $137,193 | 40th | 22.67% |
| Georgia | $51.71 | $107,567 | 40th | 20.17% |
| Louisiana | $52.37 | $108,935 | 27th | 15.76% |
As demand for neonatal nurses continues to grow, those pursuing the specialty should carefully evaluate states that demonstrate ongoing investment in competitive pay and long-term career viability.