PACU Nurse salary
A pacu nurse earns about $103,400 a year — roughly $49.71/hour, with most earning between $85,150 and $119,090. This is an estimate — a starting point, not an exact figure.
PACU Nurse — U.S. national
Specialty estimateMedian annual pay
$103,400
Hourly
$49.71/hr
- Typical range
- $85,150–$119,090
- What most nurses earn
- High end
- $145,720
- Top earners
- Entry level
- $73,080
- Newer nurses
What affects this pay
- Perianesthesia certification (CPAN/CAPA)
- On-call and callback requirements
- Surgical case volume and complexity
- Phase I vs Phase II recovery role
- Ambulatory center vs hospital OR
About PACU Nurses
What they do
In the minutes after surgery, PACU nurses guard the airway, score patients on standardized recovery scales, treat acute pain and post-operative nausea, manage emergence delirium, and take structured handoffs from anesthesia providers before clearing each patient to leave Phase I recovery.
How to become a PACU Nurse
Recovery-room hiring favors RNs with critical-care or emergency backgrounds, since anesthesia emergence can turn into an airway crisis without warning. ACLS is standard and PALS is expected where children recover; the CPAN and CAPA credentials from ABPANC follow after sufficient perianesthesia bedside hours.
What drives the pay
Since public wage files fold post-anesthesia nurses into the overall registered nurse count, the estimates on this page are derived from RN pay. Earnings tend to sit somewhat above that baseline because PACU roles layer on-call and callback compensation onto a critical-care-adjacent skill set built around airway rescue and rapid post-surgical assessment.
PACU Nurse pay by state
Estimated pacu 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 | $148,690 | +44% vs national |
| Hawaii | $144,500 | +40% vs national |
| Oregon | $136,750 | +32% vs national |
| Washington | $131,650 | +27% vs national |
| Alaska | $116,050 | +12% vs national |
| New York | $116,010 | +12% vs national |
| New Jersey | $112,890 | +9% vs national |
| Massachusetts | $110,820 | +7% vs national |
Why there is no pacu nurse pay table by state
The federal wage survey behind these figures (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) measures nursing by occupation code, not by clinical specialty. There is a published figure for Registered Nurse in every state, but none for pacu nurse specifically. Any state-by-state pacu nurse table would be the registered-nurse figure with a specialty adjustment applied — a model, not a local measurement, so we do not publish one.
For pay where you live, use the measured data: registered nurse salary by state, then apply the specialty difference described above. Our methodology explains how that adjustment is derived and where it is weakest.
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PACU Nurse salary FAQ
- How much do PACU Nurses make?
- PACU Nurses earn an estimated $103,400 a year — about $49.71 an hour, with most between $85,150 and $119,090. PACU 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 PACU Nurses?
- Most PACU Nurses are paid an hourly wage. The national estimate works out to about $49.71 an hour at a full-time schedule, with a typical range of $40.94 to $57.25. Nights, weekends, and overtime differentials push the real hourly rate higher.
- Which state pays PACU Nurses the most?
- California is among the highest-paying states for PACU Nurses, at roughly $148,690 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 PACU Nurse pay shown as an estimate?
- No public source measures PACU 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
PACU Nurse is not broken out by BLS. Figures are modeled from the SOC 29-1141 median using a specialty differential of 1.06×, reflecting commonly reported pay differences. Treat as directional, not precise.
Source year 2025. Last reviewed July 17, 2026. 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 July 17, 2026.