Workplace research · International comparison
Nursing pay across four countries: read the amount and the coverage together
A higher salary figure can describe a different job, workforce or purchasing power. Use these OECD benchmarks to frame your research before comparing an actual nursing offer or choosing a U.S. state license route.
- 2024 reported year
- 4 country series
- Gross annual income · USD PPP
PPP adjusts for differences in purchasing power using private-consumption prices. These are comparison units, not dollars you can exchange or take home. The populations below differ, so this is not a like-for-like ranking of RN job offers.
One unit, four different workforce definitions
OECD “hospital nurses” series, employees, current prices. Values rounded to the nearest whole USD PPP; source decimals are retained in our data. Country order is fixed, not a pay ranking. Each coverage note is part of the comparison.
United States
- Annual income · USD PPP · 2024
- 101,070
Definition differs · D
Hospital-based registered nurses; LPN/LVN roles excluded. The OECD notes differences from its standard calculation method.
Canada
- Annual income · USD PPP · 2024
- 71,637
Definition differs · D
Full-time registered nurses in hospital and non-hospital settings; licensed practical nurses excluded.
Australia
- Annual income · USD PPP · 2024
- 86,488
Definition differs · D
Public-hospital nurses across levels, including enrolled, student and trainee nurses; financial-year reporting.
United Kingdom series
- Annual income · USD PPP · 2024
- 56,695
Estimated value · E
England coverage, based on mean basic pay per full-time equivalent; private-sector pay excluded. This is not a complete UK-wide salary measure.
Source: OECD Health Statistics, consulted October 31, 2026. The latest shared year returned by our 2024–2025 query was 2024; these are historical benchmarks, not current salary estimates. Australia reports a financial year beginning in the labelled year rather than a calendar year.
Turn a benchmark into questions for an offer
01 · Match the role
Check who is counted
A Canadian RN figure includes work outside hospitals. Australia includes several nursing levels. Neither describes the same population as a U.S. hospital RN estimate.
02 · Read the contract
Use its own currency and hours
Compare base pay, working hours, overtime, benefits, tax and housing separately. PPP does not tell you your net pay, a travel-nurse rate or the exchange rate for sending money home.
03 · Verify access
Keep pay and permission separate
A pay benchmark grants no license, visa or work authorization. For a U.S. role, check the state route separately with the board and your employer.
Source, period and limits
OECD defines remuneration as average gross annual income, including employee income taxes and social contributions. Its standard target is full-time salaried hospital nurses; country deviations and estimated values are marked beside each amount. The England-based UK series uses basic pay per full-time equivalent and is described as experimental in the method notes.
- OECD Data Explorer: the four country series, USD PPP, 2024
- OECD primary data service: 2024–2025 query — filter Hospital nurses (RINF), Annual income (AI), Employees (ICSE93_1), USD PPP and Current prices (V).
- OECD definitions and country methods (PDF) — OECD Health Statistics 2026, July 2026. Read the Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and United States sections.
This is a four-country research comparison, not a world average or complete global survey. It does not measure vacancies or predict an individual offer. Review against new OECD releases; the data period and the consultation date remain separate.