Critical & Intensive Care nurse pay in California
$128,118median posted offer#1 of 6 states for Critical & Intensive Care
Critical & Intensive Care nurses in California are being offered a median $128,118 a year across 17 live postings that state pay — 30% above the national Critical & Intensive Care median of $98,280. Updated July 24, 2026.
Where does your pay sit in Critical & Intensive Care in California?
Checked against 17 live postings that state pay. Your number stays in your browser.
Enter your pay to see your percentile.
Posted offers on live listings — not take-home pay or a promise of what any one nurse will earn.
Other specialties in California
- Emergency Room 5 postings$151k
- Telemetry 8 postings$146k
- Surgery 6 postings$146k
- Palliative Care 10 postings$143k
- Perioperative Care 12 postings$139k
- Cardiology 6 postings$135k
- Oncology 11 postings$133k
- OR 9 postings$133k
Or see all nurse pay in California (415 postings), or Critical & Intensive Care pay across every state.
What to do with this
- See the rolesJobs in California paying around $128,118Every posting behind these numbers is a live job you can open and apply to.
- Offer in hand?Run it through the offer reality calculatorAnnualize it honestly and see what it's worth where you'd actually live — then compare offers side by side.
- 3-minute fit quizFind out which roles actually fit youPay is one axis. Shift, specialty, setting, and commute decide whether the job is worth it.
- CommunityAsk nurses what they really take homeDifferentials, ratios, and the offer nobody posts. Bring your number and compare notes.
Want the craft behind the numbers — differentials, negotiating, travel packages? Read the pay & salary guides.
Questions nurses ask
- How much do Critical & Intensive Care nurses make in California?
- Across 17 live Critical & Intensive Care postings in California that state pay, the median offer is $128,118 a year. The middle half runs $100,880–$147,566, and the top 10% start at $167,492.
- Is California a good state for Critical & Intensive Care nurses?
- On posted pay, California ranks #1 of 6 states for Critical & Intensive Care. The median there is 30% above the national Critical & Intensive Care median of $98,280. Pay is one axis — shift, ratios, and cost of living decide whether the job is actually worth it.
- Where do these numbers come from?
- Midpoint of stated salary ranges on live nursing job postings; values outside $20,000–$800,000/yr treated as parse artifacts and excluded; groups under 5 postings suppressed. Community-reported figures are anonymous, unverified, and reported separately.