Flight Nurse salary
A flight nurse earns about $107,640 a year — roughly $51.75/hour, with most earning between $87,390 and $115,900. This is an estimate — a starting point, not an exact figure.
Flight Nurse — U.S. national
Specialty estimateMedian annual pay
$107,640
Hourly
$51.75/hr
- Typical range
- $87,390–$115,900
- What most nurses earn
- High end
- $155,620
- Top earners
- Entry level
- $75,930
- Newer nurses
What affects this pay
- Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN)
- Years of ICU / emergency experience
- Hospital-based vs private air-medical operator
- 24-hour shift and on-call structure
- Base location and transport volume
About Flight Nurses
What they do
Flight nurses manage the sickest patients in the most constrained environment in medicine — intubating, running ventilators and vasoactive drips, managing chest tubes and blood products at altitude, and making autonomous treatment decisions mid-flight, usually as one half of a two-person medical crew responding to trauma scenes and ICU transfers.
How to become a Flight Nurse
The path runs through the ICU or emergency department: programs typically want an RN with several years of high-acuity experience before hiring for the air. Most employers require or quickly expect the Certified Flight Registered Nurse (CFRN) credential, and CCRN certification plus a paramedic or prehospital background makes applicants far more competitive.
What drives the pay
Because no public wage dataset lists flight nurses as a distinct occupation, these estimates are anchored to registered nurse pay and adjusted upward. The role demands years of prior critical-care experience, advanced certification, and independent practice far from physician backup, and employers compete for a small qualified pool — structural pressures that push compensation well above the bedside RN baseline.
Flight Nurse pay by state
Estimated flight nurse pay where this role tends to earn the most. Open a state for the full local picture.
| State | Est. annual pay | vs U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| California | $148,540 | +38% vs national |
| Hawaii | $129,170 | +20% vs national |
| Alaska | $127,020 | +18% vs national |
| Oregon | $127,020 | +18% vs national |
| Washington | $127,020 | +18% vs national |
| Massachusetts | $123,790 | +15% vs national |
| New York | $121,630 | +13% vs national |
| District of Columbia | $120,560 | +12% vs national |
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Flight Nurse salary FAQ
- How much do Flight Nurses make?
- Flight Nurses earn an estimated $107,640 a year — about $51.75 an hour, with most between $87,390 and $115,900. Flight Nurses aren't reported as a separate role in public wage data, so this is a specialty estimate that starts from registered nurse pay.
- What is the hourly pay for Flight Nurses?
- Most Flight Nurses are paid an hourly wage. The national estimate works out to about $51.75 an hour at a full-time schedule, with a typical range of $42.01 to $55.72. Nights, weekends, and overtime differentials push the real hourly rate higher.
- Which state pays Flight Nurses the most?
- California is among the highest-paying states for Flight Nurses, at roughly $148,540 a year, followed by other West Coast and Northeast states. State figures are estimates based on national pay and local cost of living.
- Why is Flight Nurse pay shown as an estimate?
- No public source measures Flight Nurses as a separate occupation, so we start from registered nurse pay and apply the pay difference these nurses typically see. The figure is clearly labeled an estimate and sharpens as nurses submit their own pay.
- Why are some figures verified and others estimates?
- National pay for the main nursing roles — registered nurses, LPNs/LVNs, nurse practitioners, CRNAs, nurse midwives, and nursing assistants — comes from verified public wage data. State, city, and specialty figures that aren't reported on their own start from that national pay and are labeled "Estimated" or "Specialty estimate." We never show an estimate as a verified figure.
Source & confidence— An estimate for a specialty that public pay data does not list on its own. A ballpark to start from, not an exact figure.
Modeled specialty estimate
Flight Nurse is not broken out by BLS. Figures are modeled from the SOC 29-1141 median using a specialty differential of 1.15×, reflecting commonly reported pay differences. Treat as directional, not precise.
Source year 2024. Last reviewed June 1, 2025. Full methodology
This role isn’t broken out in public wage data, so the figure starts from registered nurse pay and sharpens as nurses submit their pay. Last reviewed June 1, 2025.