How Much Do Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners Make?

Psychiatric nursing offers a rewarding healthcare career that helps patients with mental health challenges. Nurses working within the psychiatric nursing specialty can earn higher wages compared to other specialties.

This guide includes the most recently available psychiatric nurse salary data, including the 2020 statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and other sources. Read on for details about psych nurse salaries, projected employment growth rates, and ways to increase earnings for a psychiatric nurse.

For a more general overview on psychiatric nursing, check out NurseJournal’s career guide.

PayScale reports an average annual psychiatric nurse salary of $66,840. According to the 2020 National Nursing Workforce Survey, nurses who specialize in psychiatric, mental health, and substance abuse earn comparable paychecks to nurses specializing in acute care/critical care, cardiology, emergency/trauma, oncology, and perioperative nursing.

Psychiatric nurse salaries vary with geography, education level, experience, subspecialty, and certification.

Experience leads to a steady psychiatric nurse salary. The 2020 National Nursing Workforce Survey indicates that RNs have more experience and education than in prior years.

The survey demonstrates RNs’ annual pay increasing by $10,000 by the fifth year of practice, another $5,000 up to year 10, and an additional $10,000 after 11 years. Earning a graduate degree and an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) license leads to even higher compensation.

BLS state data does not include salaries specific to psychiatric nurses, but the statistics for RNs are typically comparable. The top highest-paying states for RNs include California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Alaska. The five lowest-paying states are Alabama, South Dakota, Mississippi, Iowa, and Arkansas.

Compensation depends on population rates, available jobs, and cost of living. For example, California tops the list of highest-paying states, and the state hosts the nation’s top 10 metropolitan areas for earnings, including San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Los Angeles.

The following information uses data from the 2020 National Nursing Workforce Survey to demonstrate how psychiatric nurse salaries compare to other popular nursing specialty areas. The psychiatric/mental health/substance abuse nurses surveyed reported a higher median salary than the national average reported by PayScale.

Gaining experience in general and in certain specialty areas or workplaces can lead to higher salaries, along with earning certifications and pursuing additional education.

This section focuses on three ways psychiatric nurses can increase their compensation rates. The rise of telehealth services, particularly during the pandemic, has provided more options for psychiatric nurses, often resulting in increased pay.

PayScale reports an average RN salary of $66,840, while the 2020 National Nursing Workforce Survey cites a median annual income of $71,000. Graduate nursing degree-holders licensed as APRNs and certified as PMHNPs average significantly more, at $120,000 per year.

At the RN level, psychiatric nurses spend 1-4 years in school, depending on whether they pursue a nursing diploma, associate degree in nursing, or bachelor of science in nursing, plus another two years logging work experience. APRNs can expect at least 2-3 more years of schooling to earn their graduate degrees.

A report by the American Psychiatric Nurses Association states that only 44% of adults and 20% of children and adolescents received the mental health and substance abuse care they needed in 2019. The report also specifies that psychiatric mental health nurses comprise the fastest-growing nonphysician specialty and can improve access to mental health services.

The most common workplaces for psychiatric nurses include general and psychiatric hospitals, where they assess patients and manage medications; correctional facilities, to provide crisis intervention and cognitive-behavioral therapy; and assisted living facilities, where nurses work on teams of health and mental health professionals to treat resident patients.