Careers / Nurse Practitioners

Nurse Practitioners — Career Decision Dashboard

United States

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Median annual wage

$132,300

United States, 2025

Employment

323,040

United States, 2025

Typical education

Master's Degree

Job Zone 5

Skills identified

35

10 related careers

Career overview

Diagnose and treat acute, episodic, or chronic illness, independently or as part of a healthcare team. May focus on health promotion and disease prevention. May order, perform, or interpret diagnostic tests such as lab work and x rays. May prescribe medication. Must be registered nurses who have specialized graduate education.

O*NET code
29-1171.00
Job zone
5
Experience required
Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years

Typical tasks

  • Supervise or coordinate patient care or support staff activities.
  • Maintain complete and detailed records of patients' health care plans and prognoses.
  • Develop treatment plans, based on scientific rationale, standards of care, and professional practice guidelines.
  • Provide patients with information needed to promote health, reduce risk factors, or prevent disease or disability.
  • Analyze and interpret patients' histories, symptoms, physical findings, or diagnostic information to develop appropriate diagnoses.
  • Diagnose or treat complex, unstable, comorbid, episodic, or emergency conditions in collaboration with other health care providers as necessary.
  • Prescribe medication dosages, routes, and frequencies, based on such patient characteristics as age and gender.
  • Diagnose or treat chronic health care problems, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Choose a location

Salary analysis — United States

$101,340
10th
$117,990
25th
$132,300
Median
$156,700
75th
$174,420
90th

10th percentile

$101,340

25th percentile

$117,990

75th percentile

$156,700

90th percentile

$174,420

Most important skills

  • Active Listening4.1
  • Critical Thinking4.1
  • Complex Problem Solving4.1
  • Reading Comprehension4.1
  • Speaking4.0
  • Judgment and Decision Making4.0
  • Active Learning4.0
  • Monitoring4.0
  • Social Perceptiveness4.0
  • Writing4.0
  • Service Orientation3.9
  • Coordination3.8

What skills do you need?

Select the skills you already have

Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.

Skill coverage

0%

0 of 23 identified skills

Matched

0

Missing

23

Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.

Skills to develop

SkillImportanceRequired levelYour levelGap
Active Listening4.14.9Not selected4.9
Reading Comprehension4.14.9Not selected4.9
Social Perceptiveness4.04.6Not selected4.6
Critical Thinking4.14.1Not selected4.1
Complex Problem Solving4.14.1Not selected4.1
Judgment and Decision Making4.04.1Not selected4.1
Active Learning4.04.1Not selected4.1
Monitoring4.04.1Not selected4.1
Speaking4.04.0Not selected4.0
Writing4.04.0Not selected4.0
Service Orientation3.94.0Not selected4.0
Coordination3.83.9Not selected3.9
Science3.83.9Not selected3.9
Learning Strategies3.53.9Not selected3.9
Time Management3.43.9Not selected3.9
Persuasion3.33.9Not selected3.9
Instructing3.13.9Not selected3.9
Operations Analysis3.03.4Not selected3.4
Systems Analysis3.03.3Not selected3.3
Systems Evaluation3.13.1Not selected3.1
Management of Personnel Resources3.03.1Not selected3.1
Mathematics3.03.1Not selected3.1
Negotiation3.03.1Not selected3.1

Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.

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How salary varies by location

LocationMedianEmploymentYear
San Jose, CA$231,5601,5802025
San Francisco, CA$219,0803,1102025
Vallejo, CA$182,3701802025
Napa, CA$176,270602025
Modesto, CA$173,3803802025
Sacramento, CA$172,0101,1702025
Riverside, CA$169,9201,7102025
Hanford, CA$168,540702025
CA$168,52025,1202025
Santa Cruz, CA$167,1901902025
Chico, CA$167,0801402025
Santa Rosa, CA$167,0402802025
Fresno, CA$166,5705702025
Salinas, CA$166,0901402025
Bakersfield, CA$165,5804302025
Santa Maria, CA$165,5802002025
Yuba City, CA$165,020702025
El Centro, CA$164,700702025
Kahului, HI$164,210602025
San Diego, CA$163,8602,3402025
All locations with published data

Career transition paths

Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Nurse Practitioners to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.

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Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0.

Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).

Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.