Nurse Practitioner.
Seattle.
$157,000
median salary, 22% above the national average
$134,000 to $182,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
A Nurse Practitioner in Seattle earns a median of $157,000 in 2026. That is 22% above the national average. The range runs from $134,000 to $182,000, and where you land depends on your experience, your skills, and how well you negotiate. Specialty area is the dominant pay lever, with psychiatric and acute care NPs earning 15 to 25% above family practice. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Nurse Practitioner in Seattle, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. BLS does not publish this occupation for this metro area, so the national published benchmark is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $132,300 for Nurse Practitioners (SOC 29-1171) across the United States, based on 323,040 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$101,340
25th percentile
$117,990
Median
$132,300
75th percentile
$156,700
90th percentile
$174,420
Workers surveyed
323,040
What BLS published in each release
May 2024 release
$129,210
May 2025 release
$132,300
These are two separate published estimates, not a time series. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not encourage the use of OEWS data for time-series analysis. Differences between releases reflect changes in occupational classification, survey methodology, and the three-year pooled sample as well as any change in pay, so the two figures should not be read as a rate of wage growth.
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Nurse Practitioners (SOC 29-1171) rather than Nurse Practitioner specifically. The national range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 29-1171Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $141,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$102,000
to $126,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$133,000
to $165,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$173,000
to $204,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$196,000
to $243,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $44,000 to the total package.
Base
$157,000
Equity
$25,000
Bonus
$16,000
Signing
$3,000
Estimated total: $201,000
How Seattle compares.
Seattle, WA
$157,000
Cost of living: 24% above average
National Average
$129,000
Seattle is $28,000 above
Nurse Practitioner salary by city.
Salary by role in Seattle.
What you should know.
The Nurse Practitioner landscape in Seattle is not what most salary sites will tell you. Seattle is home to Amazon, Microsoft, and a dense cluster of cloud computing, gaming, and AI companies. The presence of major tech headquarters drives some of the highest engineering salaries outside the Bay Area. Seattle's job market is particularly strong for cloud infrastructure, machine learning, and enterprise software roles. Specialty area is the dominant pay lever, with psychiatric and acute care NPs earning 15 to 25% above family practice. States granting full practice authority pay more due to independent billing. Years of experience and certifications like ACNP or PMHNP also drive meaningful increases.
New graduate NPs start around $100,000 to $110,000. With five to seven years of specialty experience, compensation reaches $125,000 to $140,000. Lead NPs or those in director-level clinical roles can earn $150,000 to $170,000, especially in high-demand specialties. In Seattle, those numbers run higher. The cost of living here is 24% above average, and employers adjust to compete.
Base salary is not the full picture. Many NPs receive signing bonuses of $5,000 to $15,000, CME stipends, malpractice coverage, and retirement contributions. Hospital-employed NPs may also receive shift differentials and productivity bonuses tied to patient volume. And on the tax side: washington State has no personal income tax, which significantly boosts take home pay. However, state and local sales taxes are among the highest in the country at roughly 10.25%. When someone quotes you $157,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Remind employers that no state income tax makes your effective compensation higher. You can accept a slightly lower gross salary and still take home more than in California. The range for Nurse Practitioners in Seattle runs from $134,000 to $182,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
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- A Prompt Engineer in Seattle earns $158,000 (1% more)
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Common questions.
Nurse Practitioner salary in other cities.
Other salaries in Seattle.
Related salary pages
Jump to nearby roles and cities most relevant to Nurse Practitioners in Seattle.
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Nurse Practitioner Salary in Seattle, WA." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/nurse-practitioner/seattle
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