Pediatric Nurse Salary: Staff Pay, Hourly Rates, and State Benchmarks
BLS does not publish a separate pediatric nurse wage series—peds nurses are RNs in hospital and clinic data. This guide anchors pay to verified OEWS figures, covers PICU vs floor roles, travel pediatric contracts, and state benchmarks without inventing specialty averages.
PayAtlasUSA Team
8 min read
How to use this guide
This article explains concepts and typical rules. Dollar figures that come from PayAtlas data files are labeled as such. Confirm time-sensitive amounts with the official source before relying on them.
Quick answer
A Google search for pediatric nurse salary wants one clean number. BLS will not give you a pediatric-only median.
Pediatric nurses are Registered Nurses (SOC 29-1141) who work with infants, children, and adolescents—inpatient units, PICU, outpatient clinics, and sometimes schools. Federal wage surveys roll them into hospital, outpatient, and office employer categories with every other RN on the payroll.
PayAtlas’s Florida file (OEWS, survey year 2024) is the honest anchor: $79,430 median for RNs in general medical and surgical hospitals (where most inpatient peds jobs live), $77,710 for all Florida RNs, and $76,520 for outpatient care centers (relevant for clinic-based pediatrics). The middle half of Florida RNs earn $67,530–$92,290 (25th–75th percentiles).
Job boards list pediatric nurse salary California at six figures and pediatric nurse salary Texas in the $70s–$80s. Those postings are real offers. They are not the same thing as a government average pediatric nurse salary—because that statistic does not exist as a separate OEWS line.
Key takeaways
- No BLS pediatric-only row — benchmark staff pay with RN medians and hospital industry slices.
- PICU ≠ general pediatrics floor — acuity and certifications differ; pay grids may too.
- Children’s hospitals often pay competitively but use the same RN licensure.
- Travel pediatric contracts follow package math in the Travel Nurse Salary guide.
- California ($124,000) and New York ($100,370) lead PayAtlas’s cross-state RN table; Florida ($77,710) and Texas ($84,320) sit in the middle band.
- CPN certification and PALS move offers at the employer level—not in BLS tables.
What pediatric nurses do
Pediatric nurses provide nursing care for patients from infancy through adolescence—medication dosing by weight, family-centered communication, developmental considerations, and escalation when a child decompensates. Settings include:
- Inpatient pediatrics (general floor)
- PICU (pediatric intensive care—higher acuity; overlaps with NICU only for neonates)
- Emergency department pediatrics
- Outpatient clinics and specialty practices
- School nursing (often RN-licensed; different schedule and pay band)
You need an RN license. LPNs and CNAs are different occupations with lower BLS medians. Pediatric Nurse Practitioners are advanced practice providers—separate license, separate pay scale.
Hiring paths vary. Some nurses join a children’s hospital new-grad residency straight into peds. Others spend a year on med-surg or adult ICU, then transfer. That path affects starting salary more than the word “pediatric” on the job title.
The BLS benchmark
| Question | Answer from OEWS / PayAtlas |
|---|---|
| Is there a pediatric nurse SOC code? | No — use 29-1141 Registered Nurses |
| Best staff inpatient anchor (Florida) | $79,430 — General Medical and Surgical Hospitals |
| All Florida RNs | $77,710 median |
| Outpatient / clinic context | $76,520 — Outpatient Care Centers |
| Agency-employed RNs | $85,240 — Employment Services (not travel-only) |
Posting sites aggregate listings and label them “pediatric nurse.” BLS aggregates W-2 reports from employers. When the two disagree, trust the employer offer for your job and BLS for market context.
Hourly, weekly, monthly, and annual pay
Pediatric nurse salary per hour on an offer letter is usually base rate plus documented differentials.
| Florida benchmark (OEWS 2024) | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| All RNs, statewide | $77,710 | $37.36 (BLS field) |
| General medical & surgical hospitals | $79,430 | ~$38.19 (derived) |
| Outpatient care centers | $76,520 | ~$36.79 (derived) |
| Entry experience (0–2 yrs) | $60,210 | $28.95 (BLS field) |
| Senior experience (8–15 yrs) | $92,290 | $44.37 (BLS field) |
Monthly gross: $79,430 ÷ 12 ≈ $6,619 before tax.
Weekly from annual salary: $79,430 ÷ 52 ≈ $1,527 on a 40-hour week.
Shift workers paid hourly multiply rate × scheduled hours; surveys still annualize responses into medians.
Salary range
For what is the salary range for a pediatric nurse, use RN percentiles:
| Percentile | Florida RN annual |
|---|---|
| 10th | $60,210 |
| 25th | $67,530 |
| Median | $77,710 |
| 75th | $92,290 |
| 90th | $102,880 |
Experienced PICU nurses with nights and charge roles often land above the median. New grads on a peds floor with day shifts may start below it even with the same license.
Starting vs experienced pediatric earnings
Starting: PayAtlas’s 0–2 year band is $60,210 ($28.95/hr) for Florida RNs. A children’s hospital residency may advertise that base plus a training differential for the first year—read the grid.
Experienced: The 8–15 year band shows $92,290. Charge nurses, clinical ladder III/IV, and PICU preceptors negotiate within hospital bands.
Pediatric vs adult on the same system: Often the same clinical ladder with unit differential (peds, PICU, ED) layered on. The differential might be $2–$5/hr—employer-specific, not BLS.
Pay by state and metro
Keyword research targets pediatric nurse salary California, Florida, Texas, Los Angeles, NYC, and Ohio.
Statewide RN medians (PayAtlas cross-state table, OEWS 2024)
| State | Median annual | Median hourly |
|---|---|---|
| California | $124,000 | $59.62 |
| New York | $100,370 | $48.26 |
| Texas | $84,320 | $40.54 |
| Florida | $77,710 | $37.36 |
Ohio is not in that table. Use Ohio state hub for tax and COL context and BLS OEWS Ohio for RN medians when evaluating Cincinnati, Cleveland, or Columbus offers.
Florida metros (PayAtlas RN file)
| Metro | RN median annual |
|---|---|
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | $80,950 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater | $76,170 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford | $75,410 |
| Jacksonville | $74,580 |
Los Angeles and NYC pediatric roles typically track high-cost metro RN wages on BLS state pages. PayAtlas has not published separate pediatric occupation files for those metros—use statewide medians as a floor, not a ceiling.
State hubs: Florida, California, Texas, New York, Ohio.
Florida staff RN detail: Registered Nurse salary in Florida.
Employer and setting differences
| Setting (Florida, OEWS 2024) | Median annual | Notes for peds |
|---|---|---|
| General medical & surgical hospitals | $79,430 | Inpatient peds, PICU, ED |
| Outpatient care centers | $76,520 | Specialty clinics |
| Offices of physicians | $71,240 | Pediatric practices |
| Employment Services | $85,240 | Agency/travel context |
Children’s hospital systems (freestanding children’s hospitals vs peds units inside adult systems) negotiate on reputation, volume, and local labor markets—not a separate BLS category.
School nurse roles may be RN or BSN-required but often follow school district salary schedules—a different compensation model than acute-care hourly grids. Do not compare a 185-day school contract to a hospital annual salary without converting contract days.
What moves pediatric nurse pay (employer-level)
None of these are BLS fields—they show up on offer letters and grids:
- BSN vs ADN entry steps on the same ladder
- CPN or residency completion
- PICU vs general peds unit differential
- Magnet or union contract rules
- Local labor market (children’s hospital density in the metro)
- Shift choice (nights and weekends vs straight days)
A $3/hr unit differential on a $38 base is ~8%—material over a year, invisible in a statewide median.
Shift differentials, overtime, and bonuses
Pediatrics runs days, nights, weekends, and holidays—sick kids do not follow business hours.
Common pay add-ons:
- Evening/night/weekend differential
- Charge or preceptor pay when in role
- Overtime after scheduled hours (policy and union rules vary)
- Sign-on or retention bonuses (taxable; clawback clauses matter)
- Holiday pay multipliers
BLS medians blend base and recurring premiums. A $79,430 hospital median does not show how much came from $4/hr weekend diff.
Travel pediatric nurse salary
Travel pediatric nurse salary searches combine specialty demand with travel contract packages.
BLS does not publish travel pediatric averages. Agency quotes split taxable hourly wages, housing, meals, and bonuses—see Travel Nurse Salary for how to compare offers without mistaking weekly totals for annual salary.
PICU and specialized peds assignments can carry higher bill rates when the facility requires PALS, PICU experience, or scarce shift coverage. The premium appears in contract line items, not a government pediatric travel median.
Staff Florida hospital anchor remains $79,430; Employment Services RN median $85,240 is industry context only.
Pediatric nurse vs other nursing roles
| Role | Florida context (PayAtlas) |
|---|---|
| Staff RN (all settings) | $77,710 median |
| Hospital RN | $79,430 median |
| NICU nurse | Same RN code—see NICU Nurse Salary |
| Nurse Practitioner | $121,610 related-occupation median |
| LPN | $54,620 related-occupation median |
PICU vs NICU: NICU is neonatal; PICU is pediatric intensive care beyond the newborn period. Pay may track similarly on a grid; certifications differ (RNC-NIC vs CPN/PALS-heavy PICU paths).
ER pediatric nurses share ED differentials; med-surg baselines are often lower without critical-care certification.
Example staff salary calculation (hypothetical)
Scenario: Staff pediatric RN, Florida hospital, $39/hr base, $3/hr weekend differential on 48 weekend shifts (12 hrs each), full-time 2,080 hours. Illustration only—not BLS data.
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Base | $39 × 2,080 | $81,120 |
| Weekend diff | $3 × (48 × 12) | $1,728 |
| Gross annual | $82,848 |
That sits modestly above the $79,430 hospital RN median—reasonable for a day/evening mix with steady weekend coverage.
Career progression
Typical acute-care path:
- RN license + new-grad residency (adult or peds)
- Staff pediatric RN — general floor or specialty (hem/onc, cardio)
- PICU or ED peds with additional competencies
- Charge, educator, clinical nurse specialist (employer-dependent titles)
- Pediatric NP or MSN roles—exit the staff RN pay band
Salary growth on staff tracks clinical ladder steps, certifications (CPN), and differential eligibility—not a national pediatric COLA.
Total compensation
Base salary is the headline. Hospital pediatric roles often add:
- Health insurance (employer share)
- 403(b)/401(k) match
- PTO and sick banks
- Tuition support for BSN/MSN
- Employer-paid malpractice for employees
Travel roles swap some benefits for higher cash and stipends. Compare benefits dollar value + base when choosing staff vs agency.
Common mistakes
- Treating Indeed’s “average pediatric nurse salary” as BLS fact — listings skew high.
- Inventing a national pediatric premium % without employer data.
- Comparing school-year contracts to 12-month hospital salaries without converting days.
- Using NP medians for staff RN pediatric roles.
- Ignoring weekend and night differentials in hourly-to-annual math.
- Assuming Los Angeles pay equals Florida medians — check metro OEWS.
- Confusing PICU with NICU when reading job requirements and pay bands.
Related PayAtlasUSA resources
- Registered Nurse salary in Florida — BLS medians, metros, settings
- NICU Nurse Salary — neonatal ICU staff and travel benchmarks
- Travel Nurse Salary — contract packages and stipends
- Florida, California, Texas, New York, Ohio state hubs
- Guides Hub
- BLS OEWS Registered Nurses
This guide covers the pediatric nurse salary keyword cluster in one place—no thin duplicate pages for “average,” “hourly,” or “starting” variants.