How Do California Nurses Rank for Starting Pay?

The coronavirus pandemic has thrust nurses into the national spotlight unlike ever before. They literally put their lives at risk while caring for others. They are often the last person some infected people have seen before dying. Often the last voice they heard — the last hand they held.

They are not immune from the potentially fatal virus.

As of May 2, local health departments have reported 5,952 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 33 deaths statewide, according to the California Department of Public Health. As the virus continues to wage war on the state, lives are at stake.

With nurses risking their lives every day to keep the U.S. safe from COVID-19 and National Nurses Week kicking off May 6, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020’s Best & Worst States for Nurses, as well as accompanying videos.

In order to help new nursing graduates find the best markets for their profession, WalletHub compared the relative attractiveness of the 50 states across 22 key metrics. The data set ranges from monthly average starting salary for nurses to health-care facilities per capita to nursing-job openings per capita.

The Nursing Market in California (1=Best; 25=Avg.)