Registered Nurse Salary in Memphis, TN (2026)

What registered nurse pay in Memphis really looks like

Registered Nurse pay in Memphis runs well below the national benchmark. The local median of $81,500 a year lands $16,050 (16%) under the U.S. median of $97,550 — a gap wide enough that it should shape how you job-hunt here. Over a full year that is real money left on the table, and the spread between a bottom-of-market and a top-of-market registered nurse role in Memphis can be larger than the gap to the national number itself, so comparing employers matters more than chasing the average.

Pay is tightly clustered here: the 25th-to-75th-percentile band runs just $78,900 to $95,780 (BLS). A narrow spread means the metro median is a dependable expectation rather than a midpoint between wildly different jobs — there is little room above it without a credential, a specialty, or a supervisory step, so the ladder up is about the role, not just the employer.

This is a substantial local market: BLS estimates roughly 13,760 registered nurse jobs across the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area (a count of metro employment, not a survey of reported salaries). A deep employer base is good news for pay — it means more openings to compare side by side, more turnover creating vacancies, and more leverage to hold out for an employer at the top of the local range instead of settling for the first offer that lands.

Right now, Jobeezy is tracking 24 open registered nurse jobs in Memphis against the BLS $81,500 benchmark — the live listings and the employers hiring are below, so you can see which openings actually clear the metro median before you apply.

Put it together and the picture for Memphis is concrete: a metro median of $81,500 with most registered nurses landing between $78,900 and $95,780. The practical move is to aim for the upper half of that band. Jobeezy fit-scores local registered nurse openings, surfaces the employers posting toward $95,780, and applies for you — so your time goes to the jobs that clear the Memphis median, not the ones that sit under it.

How we know this — Memphis sources

Wage figures for Registered Nurse in Memphis, TN are the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS May 2025 estimate for the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area (MSA code 32820) (SOC 29-1141), released 2026-07-23. Suppressed cells are shown as an em dash, never a zero.

Reviewed by Dalton Metzler · Jobeezy Compensation Data

How we source & label these figures →

Registered Nurse pay in Memphis, TN — common questions

How much does a Registered Nurse make in Memphis, TN?

The median Registered Nurse salary in Memphis, TN is $81,500/year ($16,050 (16%) below the national median), with a typical range of $78,900–$95,780 (25th–75th percentile). Figures are BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-07-23.

Is Memphis a strong pay market for Registered Nurses?

At a $81,500 median, Memphis is $16,050 (16%) below the national median. The U.S. median is $97,550. Jobeezy shows you which local employers actually pay at the top of that band before you apply.

How can I earn more as a Registered Nurse in Memphis?

Target employers paying toward the $95,780 (75th-percentile) mark and anchor your negotiation to the BLS band. Jobeezy fit-scores Registered Nurse openings in Memphis and auto-applies, so you reach more high-paying employers fast.

How many Registered Nurses work in Memphis?

BLS estimates roughly 13,760 registered nurse jobs across Memphis, TN-MS-AR (May 2025 metro employment — a count of jobs, not of salaries reported).