Registered Nurse Salary in San Diego, CA (2026)

What registered nurse pay in San Diego really looks like

San Diego is a standout-pay market for registered nurses. The local median of $139,520 a year runs $41,970 (43%) above the national median of $97,550, one of the widest premiums in the country for this occupation. Offers benchmarked to U.S.-wide averages will read far too low here — hold out for the local number, and treat the metro median as your floor, not your target.

The local range is moderate — $128,380 at the 25th percentile to $169,920 at the 75th (BLS). Half of San Diego Registered Nurses earn inside that band, so it is a realistic target window: an offer near $169,920 is genuinely strong for the metro, while anything under $128,380 is worth pushing back on with the BLS figures in hand.

This is a substantial local market: BLS estimates roughly 28,680 registered nurse jobs across the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA 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 San Diego against the BLS $139,520 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 San Diego is concrete: a metro median of $139,520 with most registered nurses landing between $128,380 and $169,920. 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 $169,920, and applies for you — so your time goes to the jobs that clear the San Diego median, not the ones that sit under it.

How we know this — San Diego sources

Wage figures for Registered Nurse in San Diego, CA are the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS May 2025 estimate for the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area (MSA code 41740) (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 San Diego, CA — common questions

How much does a Registered Nurse make in San Diego, CA?

The median Registered Nurse salary in San Diego, CA is $139,520/year ($41,970 (43%) above the national median), with a typical range of $128,380–$169,920 (25th–75th percentile). Figures are BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-07-23.

Is San Diego a strong pay market for Registered Nurses?

At a $139,520 median, San Diego is $41,970 (43%) above 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 San Diego?

Target employers paying toward the $169,920 (75th-percentile) mark and anchor your negotiation to the BLS band. Jobeezy fit-scores Registered Nurse openings in San Diego and auto-applies, so you reach more high-paying employers fast.

How many Registered Nurses work in San Diego?

BLS estimates roughly 28,680 registered nurse jobs across San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA (May 2025 metro employment — a count of jobs, not of salaries reported).