The mean annual salary for Nurse Practitioners was $124,680 in 2022 with California leading the way in both number of NPs employed (19,130) and salary ($158,130), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon and Nevada rounded out the top five for salary, ranging from $143,250 to $136,230.

Behind California in numbers of NPs employed was Texas (18,820), Florida (18,530), New York (17,670) and Tennessee (13,060) but their mean salaries were significantly below California, from $124,660 in Texas to $99,330 in Tennessee. (New York salary figures were not available.)

The annual BLS report, released this week, shows that of the top 10 highest paid metropolitan areas, nine were in California, led by San Jose at $199,630. The Newark-Jersey region was fifth at $170,320.

Nonmetroplitan areas of California also dominated the top salary list in that category with the Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode region leading at $141,910. Central Missouri and Nevada were the only two non-California regions in that top 5.

Where NPs work

More than 122,000 of the 258,000 NPs working in 2022 were in physician offices. Another 58,080 were in hospitals and 23,760 were in outpatient facilities, according to BLS.

Home health services paid the highest mean salary for NPs at $148,960, followed by vocational rehabilitation at $139,640. The mean wage was $121,880 for physician offices, $129,330 for hospitals and $134,030 for outpatient centers.

Last year BLS projected Nurse Practitioner would be the fastest growing job in the country with NP jobs  expected to increase more than 45 percent by 2031.