Registered Nurse Salary in San Jose, CA (2026)

What registered nurse pay in San Jose really looks like

San Jose is a standout-pay market for registered nurses. The local median of $216,740 a year runs $119,190 (122%) 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 — $165,050 at the 25th percentile to $223,510 at the 75th (BLS). Half of San Jose Registered Nurses earn inside that band, so it is a realistic target window: an offer near $223,510 is genuinely strong for the metro, while anything under $165,050 is worth pushing back on with the BLS figures in hand.

This is a substantial local market: BLS estimates roughly 22,930 registered nurse jobs across the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, 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 Jose against the BLS $216,740 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 Jose is concrete: a metro median of $216,740 with most registered nurses landing between $165,050 and $223,510. 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 $223,510, and applies for you — so your time goes to the jobs that clear the San Jose median, not the ones that sit under it.

How we know this — San Jose sources

Wage figures for Registered Nurse in San Jose, CA are the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS May 2025 estimate for the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area (MSA code 41940) (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 Jose, CA — common questions

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

The median Registered Nurse salary in San Jose, CA is $216,740/year ($119,190 (122%) above the national median), with a typical range of $165,050–$223,510 (25th–75th percentile). Figures are BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-07-23.

Is San Jose a strong pay market for Registered Nurses?

At a $216,740 median, San Jose is $119,190 (122%) 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 Jose?

Target employers paying toward the $223,510 (75th-percentile) mark and anchor your negotiation to the BLS band. Jobeezy fit-scores Registered Nurse openings in San Jose and auto-applies, so you reach more high-paying employers fast.

How many Registered Nurses work in San Jose?

BLS estimates roughly 22,930 registered nurse jobs across San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (May 2025 metro employment — a count of jobs, not of salaries reported).