Are You Getting Paid What You Deserve as a Nurse?

Hey there nurse,

Let me ask you something — and be honest with yourself:

👉 Are you tired of working yourself into the ground and still feeling broke at the end of the month?
👉 Are you frustrated watching nurses in other cities or hospitals make way more — for doing the exact same job?
👉 Are you wondering why you’re still putting up with poor staffing, unsafe patient loads, and barely enough money to cover rent?

If you answered yes to any of those, you’re not alone.

Monica and I have been there. When we were working in New York City, we thought we were doing well — until we realized we were barely surviving despite working brutal shifts and pulling in "good" money on paper.

After taxes, rent, and cost of living, we had nothing left over.
And we weren’t the only ones.

We’ve talked to hundreds of nurses dealing with the same thing:

• A nurse in Chicago told us she was making $78K a year — and paying $2,400 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. After rent, taxes, and expenses, she had about $300 left over each month.

• A nurse in Miami said she’s working mandatory overtime because her unit is always short-staffed — but with Florida’s low pay and no union protection, she’s still coming up short every month.

• A nurse in Texas left her $95K-a-year hospital job for a travel contract — because even though the pay was lower, she at least got housing covered and wasn’t constantly drowning in back-to-back 12-hour shifts.

This is the reality for most nurses — and it’s why so many of us feel burned out and underpaid.

It’s also why Monica and I made a big decision: We moved to Northern California.

And it completely changed our lives.
👉 We have been earning over $300K per year since we moved here, and now work fewer than 20 hours a week each.
👉 We paid off over $128K in debt (including credit cards and student loans) in less than a year.
👉 We finally had the freedom to work less, spend more time with our son, and stop stressing about money.

But here’s the thing — we didn’t just get lucky. We figured out where the money was actually going and made smarter decisions about where and how we worked.

Here’s the Hard Truth:

💡 Most nurses are underpaid — not because hospitals can’t afford to pay more, but because they know you’ll keep showing up anyway.
💡 Most hospitals know you’ll pick up the slack when they’re short-staffed — because you care about your patients.
💡 Most nurses don’t realize they could be making WAY more — while working less — just by choosing the right city and hospital.

That’s why we’re building MapMyPay — to help nurses figure out exactly where they can maximize their take-home pay while living comfortably.

We’ve gathered data on over 590 cities — salaries, taxes, housing costs (rent vs. own), and more — so you can see exactly how much you’d really be making depending on where you live and work.

💡 Example #1:

• Oakland, CA – Nurses earn about $173K per year here. After taxes and rent ($2,295/month), you’d still have about $94K left over — even with California’s high cost of living.

💡 Example #2:

• Nashville, TN – Nurses earn about $76K per year — but after taxes and rent ($1,800/month), you’d be left with just $40K annually. That’s about half of what you’d keep in Oakland — while working the same number of hours.

💡 Example #3:

• Kahului, HI – Nurses earn about $122K per year — but home prices are sky-high. If you bought a home there, you’d have less than $7K left over at the end of the year after taxes and mortgage.

So why stay stuck in a place that’s bleeding you dry?

• If you’re making $80K but taking home only $40K after taxes and rent — you’re not the problem.

• If you’re working back-to-back shifts and picking up overtime but still can't afford to take a vacation — you’re not the problem.

• If you’ve hit a wall financially but feel like you can’t leave your hospital because you “owe it” to your patients — you’re definitely not the problem.

👉 The problem is where you’re working — and how much you’re getting paid.

Here’s What You Can Do:

✅ Find out where nurses are making more — and keeping more after taxes and expenses.
✅ See which cities offer higher wages, lower taxes, and manageable housing costs.
✅ Stop accepting low wages and poor staffing as “just the way it is.”

👉 Stop guessing — see the real numbers for yourself.

👉 Find out where you could be making more while working less.

👉 Follow MapMyPay on Instagram to be keep up to date with our daily insights!

If you’re tired of feeling overworked and underpaid — this is your wake-up call.

You’re a skilled nurse. You deserve to be paid like one. 👊

Talk soon,

Jason Nuñez, BSN, RN

Founder/Map My Pay, LLC