Critical & Intensive Care nurse pay
$99,398median posted offer#203 of 386 specialties
Read from 174 live Critical & Intensive Care postings that state pay — 4% above the all-nursing median of $95,680. Updated September 10, 2026.
Where does your pay sit in Critical & Intensive Care?
Checked against 174 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.
Where Critical & Intensive Care pays the most
| # | State | Median | Top 10% from | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $128,144 | $182k | 40 |
| 2 | New York | $112,320 | $137k | 10 |
| 3 | Colorado | $103,766 | $106k | 7 |
| 4 | Florida | $101,082 | $133k | 7 |
| 5 | Virginia | $100,360 | $106k | 6 |
| 6 | Texas | $98,998 | $124k | 9 |
| 7 | New Jersey | $98,800 | $119k | 10 |
| 8 | Ohio | $98,514 | $103k | 6 |
| 9 | Minnesota | $98,046 | $137k | 6 |
| 10 | Maryland | $98,010 | $105k | 9 |
| 11 | New Mexico | $96,970 | $99k | 7 |
| 12 | Illinois | $96,460 | $101k | 9 |
| 13 | Washington | $95,680 | $105k | 10 |
What to do with this
- See the rolesSee open nursing rolesEvery posting behind these numbers is a live job you can open and apply to.
- Offer in hand?Run it through the offer reality calculatorTurn it into a full-year number, see what it's worth where you'd live, and compare offers side by side.
- 3-minute PULSEFind the work that brings out your bestPay is one axis. Your pace, decision style, connection, scope, and energy rhythm shape the rest.
- 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?
- Across 174 live Critical & Intensive Care postings that state pay, the median offer is $99,398 a year. The middle half runs $93,267–$119,871, and the top 10% start at $149,825.
- Does Critical & Intensive Care pay more than nursing overall?
- Critical & Intensive Care ranks #203 of 386 specialties on posted pay. Its median is 4% above the all-nursing median of $95,680.
- Which states pay Critical & Intensive Care nurses the most?
- By posted median right now: #1 California ($128,144), #2 New York ($112,320), #3 Colorado ($103,766). Rankings move as postings change — this page updates continuously.
- 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. Headline figures blend every employment type; `employmentTypes` splits the same postings into staff, travel, PRN and agency bands, each annualized on the posting's own stated terms (weekly travel rates at 52 weeks), so a rate is only ever ranked against its own band. Community-reported figures are anonymous, unverified, and reported separately.