Here are six stats to know about how nurse pay stacks up compared to CEO pay:
1. Registered nurses in the U.S. make an average of $89,010 annually, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
2. Nurses in California earn the highest average salary of all U.S. nurses at $133,340. Hawaii is second at $113,220, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
3. ASC nurse salaries remained relatively flat from 2018 to 2020, the most recent ASC data available from VMG Health's Multi-Specialty ASC Benchmarking Studies. In 2018, ASC nurses made $35.93 per hour as the median average salary. By 2020, median ASC nurse staff wages were $37.05 per hour.
4. The average hourly pay for nurses in the U.S. is $42.80 for registered nurses, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
5. CEOs at S&P 500 companies made 324 times more than median company workers in 2021, according to AFL-CIO data cited by Forbes and reported July 18, 2022.
6. Here is the average hospital CEO pay per hour by hospital type and the ratio of the average CEO wage to other workers' wages, according to a study published in Health Affairs last year:
Major teaching hospital
- Average hospital CEO compensation per hour: $529
- Ratio of CEO wage to other workers' wages: 14:1
Minor teaching hospital
- Average hospital CEO compensation per hour: $292
- Ratio of CEO wage to other workers' wages: 9:1
Non-teaching hospital
- Average hospital CEO compensation per hour: $197
- Ratio of CEO wage to other workers' wages: 7:1
Urban hospital
- Average hospital CEO compensation per hour: $319
- Ratio of CEO wage to other workers' wages: 9:1
Rural hospital
- Average hospital CEO compensation per hour: $160
- Ratio of CEO wage to other workers' wages: 6:1