Registered Nurse Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $101K, rent takes 34.7% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $2,169/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $1,900/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new registered nurses typically earn — is $81K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $5,162/month. At HUD’s $2,169/month FMR, rent would take 42% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $101K locally vs. $98K nationally, a 4% difference.

Denver-Aurora-Centennial pays $101K median vs. the U.S. average of $98K — that’s +4%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 105.78), the purchasing-power equivalent is $96K — below the national median.

The median is $101,130 a year, that works out to about $49 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $81,210, and experienced registered nurses can clear $125,870. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $6,257/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $2,169/month, which eats 34.7% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

Denver-Aurora-Centennial has a Regional Price Parity of 105.78 (100 is the national average). Prices are above average here, so your dollar buys less than the same salary would in a cheaper metro. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median registered nurses salary is worth about $95,604 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.