Nurse Midwives Salary and Pay
How much do Nurse Midwives make?
The median Nurse Midwives worker earns $128,790 a year ($61.92), and the mean annual wage is $128,110. BLS counted 8,280 people in this occupation in May 2024. The middle half of earners make between $104,260 and $146,520.
Nurse Midwives salary data without the self-reported noise: BLS surveyed the employers, and this page prints the ladder, the states, and the metros exactly as the survey published them.
Updated November 5, 2026
Salary converter for this occupation
Gross pay only, before taxes and benefits. The picker starts at this occupation's median ($128,790); the custom box accepts any annual figure, which is how you price an offer letter against the ladder below.
The national wage ladder (BLS OEWS, May 2024)
| Pay level | Annual wage | Hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $74,670 | $35.90 |
| 25th percentile | $104,260 | $50.13 |
| Median (50th) | $128,790 | $61.92 |
| 75th percentile | $146,520 | $70.44 |
| 90th percentile | $177,040 | $85.11 |
A percentile marks a point in this occupation's pay distribution: the worker one quarter of the way up the Nurse Midwives ladder earns the 25th percentile wage, $104,260. BLS top-codes very high wages ($239,200+ a year, $115.00+ an hour) and marks estimates it cannot publish as n/p.
Employment and concentration
May 2024 employment stood at 8,280, or 0.01% of the U.S. total. California leads the state table with 880 jobs; the top three states sum to 27.4% of the occupation. The concentration measure tells the more interesting story: Alaska posts a location quotient of 3.24, so a worker there is far more likely to meet a colleague in this field than the national pattern suggests.
One in ten workers in this field earns $74,670 or less, and one in ten earns $177,040 or more, so the top-to-bottom ratio is 2.4 to 1 and the annual gap is $102,370. The mean ($128,110) versus median ($128,790) comparison shows an unusually symmetric ladder in this occupation.
Pay by state
The state spread for Nurse Midwives runs from the $196,700 median in California down through every other publishing state. Employment concentrates in California (880 jobs). The complete table:
| State | Employment | Jobs per 1,000 | Location quotient | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 880 | 0.0 | 0.91 | $179,630 | $196,700 |
| Florida | 860 | 0.1 | 1.63 | $105,650 | $115,440 |
| Pennsylvania | 530 | 0.1 | 1.63 | $109,510 | $107,740 |
| New York | 490 | 0.1 | 0.96 | $138,570 | $137,860 |
| Georgia | 380 | 0.1 | 1.47 | $124,760 | $125,830 |
| Texas | 370 | 0.0 | 0.50 | $112,990 | $111,190 |
| North Carolina | 350 | 0.1 | 1.32 | $120,060 | $121,490 |
| Illinois | 310 | 0.1 | 0.96 | $107,280 | $114,420 |
| Michigan | 270 | 0.1 | 1.13 | $118,090 | $116,810 |
| Oregon | 270 | 0.1 | 2.52 | $117,640 | $123,080 |
| Maryland | 260 | 0.1 | 1.75 | $132,200 | $129,910 |
| Minnesota | 260 | 0.1 | 1.64 | $125,650 | $127,180 |
| Tennessee | 260 | 0.1 | 1.50 | $109,870 | $97,380 |
| Colorado | 210 | 0.1 | 1.34 | $118,020 | $132,670 |
| Massachusetts | 190 | 0.1 | 0.96 | $165,820 | $155,710 |
| New Jersey | 190 | 0.0 | 0.84 | $138,980 | $135,680 |
| Ohio | 150 | 0.0 | 0.52 | $123,690 | $121,720 |
| Washington | 150 | 0.0 | 0.77 | $149,980 | $145,000 |
| New Mexico | 130 | 0.1 | 2.72 | $91,050 | $118,650 |
| Connecticut | 100 | 0.1 | 1.07 | $126,960 | $124,530 |
| Indiana | 100 | 0.0 | 0.60 | $130,210 | $129,010 |
| Utah | 100 | 0.1 | 1.06 | $135,190 | $138,020 |
| Rhode Island | 90 | 0.2 | 3.24 | $127,610 | $127,480 |
| Wisconsin | 90 | 0.0 | 0.58 | $131,450 | $135,360 |
| Arizona | 80 | 0.0 | 0.45 | $174,870 | $135,590 |
| District of Columbia | 70 | 0.1 | 1.95 | $116,150 | $106,580 |
| Iowa | 70 | 0.0 | 0.87 | $149,040 | $136,450 |
| Alaska | 60 | 0.2 | 3.24 | $137,410 | $130,030 |
| Missouri | 60 | 0.0 | 0.36 | $134,690 | $134,970 |
| Delaware | 50 | 0.1 | 1.95 | $109,580 | $99,060 |
| Maine | 50 | 0.1 | 1.44 | $137,760 | $132,920 |
| New Hampshire | 50 | 0.1 | 1.49 | $116,250 | $135,860 |
| Idaho | 40 | 0.0 | 0.86 | $66,830 | $89,870 |
| Vermont | 40 | 0.1 | 2.47 | $138,410 | $140,240 |
| South Carolina | 30 | 0.0 | 0.26 | $114,770 | $118,100 |
| Louisiana | n/p | n/p | n/p | $103,170 | $95,420 |
| Nebraska | n/p | n/p | n/p | $132,680 | $133,890 |
| Virginia | n/p | n/p | n/p | $134,500 | $139,770 |
The occupation in context
Ranked against all 826 published occupations, Nurse Midwives stands number 710 by employment and number 56 by median pay. Inside its own major group, Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, the group median wage is $98,340 across 71 detailed occupations, so this occupation pays 31% more than its group median, and it supplies 0.1% of the group's 9,592,720 jobs. In 19 of the 38 states with a published median, the state median beats the national median of $128,790, which is the single best quick test of whether this occupation's pay is set nationally or locally: a high count means local markets regularly outbid the national figure.
Metropolitan areas: where the jobs and the pay sit
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ is the largest metro employer with 400 jobs, 4.8% of the national total. Two rankings follow across the 44 metros BLS publishes for this occupation: where the jobs are, then where the money is, with the pay ranking restricted to metros employing at least 500 people in this occupation to keep small samples out of the lead.
Largest metro employers
| Metropolitan area | Employment | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 400 | $143,540 | $138,980 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 320 | $138,460 | $139,770 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 310 | $126,800 | $125,830 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | 310 | $130,910 | $131,690 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 300 | $98,480 | $74,670 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 200 | $105,340 | $110,090 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 200 | $117,220 | $123,080 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 200 | $188,930 | $204,980 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 190 | $190,340 | $190,230 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 180 | $125,750 | $127,160 |
What the median pay looks like as a budget
As a household number, $128,790 a year is $10,732 a month gross, $4,953 every two weeks, $2,477 a week. Moving from the 25th percentile ($104,260) to the 75th ($146,520) is worth $42,260 a year, which is the realistic size of the experience and specialization premium inside this occupation. The next step from a gross figure is a net one: run the $10,732 monthly figure through the paycheck calculator applies your state's taxes, the salary calculator compares two offers in any unit, and the raise vs inflation calculator tells you whether a nominal raise is a real one.
To place a real offer: a salary of $141,669 would sit between the median ($128,790) and the 75th percentile ($146,520), inside the top half but outside the top quarter of this occupation's ladder. An offer at the 25th percentile, $104,260, is $24,530 under the median, the typical size of the discount attached to entry-level or low-cost-market postings in this field.
Related occupations in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations
Compare the ladder above with the closest relatives in the survey: Dietitians and Nutritionists, Ophthalmic Medical Technicians, General Internal Medicine Physicians, Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians, Nurse Anesthetists, Pediatricians, General. The Careers hub carries the whole branch, group by group.
Frequently asked questions
What is the median salary for Nurse Midwives?
$128,790 a year ($61.92), the middle wage among 8,280 counted workers in the BLS May 2024 estimates. The 75th percentile is $146,520 and the 90th is $177,040.
Where are Nurse Midwives jobs concentrated?
By headcount, California leads with 880 jobs; by concentration, Alaska leads with a location quotient of 3.24, meaning the occupation is 3.24 times as dense there as nationally.
What do the top 10% of Nurse Midwives earn?
$177,040 a year or more. The gap between the 90th percentile and the median ($128,790) is the size of the senior and specialist premium in this occupation.
How does EveryCalc get Nurse Midwives pay data?
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS bulk files for May 2024 (national, state, and metropolitan), downloaded November 5, 2026. Nothing on this page is self-reported by workers or scraped from job postings.