Registered Nurse.
St. Louis.
$86,000
median salary, 9% below the national average
$73,000 to $99,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
If you are evaluating a Registered Nurse offer in St. Louis, MO, here is the reality: $73,000 to $99,000, with $86,000 as the midpoint. 9% below the national average. Specialty certification, geographic location, and facility type create the widest salary ranges. Do not accept the first number. 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 Registered Nurse in St. Louis, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $83,180 for Registered Nurses (SOC 29-1141) in the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area, based on 35,200 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$63,440
25th percentile
$77,410
Median
$83,180
75th percentile
$100,230
90th percentile
$104,460
Workers surveyed
35,200
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Registered Nurses (SOC 29-1141) rather than Registered Nurse specifically. The St. Louis 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 29-1141Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $77,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$56,000
to $69,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$73,000
to $90,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$95,000
to $112,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$108,000
to $133,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $26,000 to the total package.
Base
$86,000
Equity
$15,000
Bonus
$9,000
Signing
$2,000
Estimated total: $112,000
How St. Louis compares.
St. Louis, MO
$86,000
Cost of living: 10% below average
National Average
$94,000
St. Louis is $8,000 below
Registered Nurse salary by city.
Salary by role in St. Louis.
What you should know.
The Registered Nurse landscape in St. Louis is not what most salary sites will tell you. St. Louis offers one of the most affordable major metro areas in the country, with a strong base in healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing. The region's anchor employers include Boeing, Centene, and Washington University's medical campus. A growing biotech and plant sciences corridor centered on the Cortex Innovation District is attracting new investment and talent. Specialty certification, geographic location, and facility type create the widest salary ranges. ICU, OR, and emergency nurses earn premiums over med surg nurses. Travel nursing contracts can pay 50 to 100% more than permanent positions. Union representation and shift differentials for nights and weekends also impact total pay.
New graduate RNs start at $58,000 to $72,000, with experienced RNs reaching $80,000 to $100,000 after five years. Nurse practitioners earn $110,000 to $140,000, and CRNAs (nurse anesthetists) can earn $180,000 to $220,000. Nursing management roles offer $95,000 to $140,000 with administrative responsibilities. In St. Louis, cost of living sits near the national average, so the numbers you see are roughly what you keep.
Base salary is not the full picture. Benefits are a major component, typically including health insurance, pension or 403(b) matching, tuition reimbursement, and continuing education credits. Shift differentials add $3 to $8 per hour for nights and weekends. Signing bonuses of $5,000 to $20,000 are common in high demand specialties. And on the tax side: missouri's top income tax rate is about 4.8%, and St. Louis City adds a 1% earnings tax. The low base cost of living means your after tax salary still stretches further than in most metros. When someone quotes you $86,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Emphasize your willingness to work in person at Cortex or the BJC campus. St. Louis employers offer higher packages for candidates who commit to the local innovation hubs. The range for Registered Nurses in St. Louis runs from $73,000 to $99,000. 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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Common questions.
Registered Nurse salary in other cities.
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Registered Nurse Salary in St. Louis, MO." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/registered-nurse/st-louis
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