CRNA Salary: What Nurse Anesthetists Earn
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I have been recruiting clinicians since 2009, and the first number a CRNA asks me for is the wage. The number worth starting from is the one the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes for nurse anesthetists alone. A combined figure that folds in nurse midwives and nurse practitioners answers a different question.
The National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists (opens in a new tab) is the certifying body for CRNAs. The wages below are for the occupation, wherever someone in it works.
What is the May 2025 CRNA salary?
In May 2025, the median annual wage for nurse anesthetists was $236,590 (opens in a new tab). The median hourly wage was $113.75. The mean, which is pulled up by the top of the range, was $248,320 a year, or $119.38 an hour. OEWS estimated employment at 51,840, and that count excludes the self-employed.
Those four figures are in the May 2025 national OEWS news release for SOC 29-1151, and the annual median is the same figure the Occupational Outlook Handbook prints for nurse anesthetists (news release table (opens in a new tab), national estimates file (opens in a new tab)).
The handbook also prints a median of $134,920 for nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners counted together, and a median of $50,980 for all occupations. The $134,920 figure is the group. The CRNA salary in that same table is the $236,590 row.
How wide is the range?
The national estimates file publishes a percentile wage, annual and hourly, for the same occupation. A percentile is a point in the distribution. At the 10th percentile, 10 percent of nurse anesthetists earned less and 90 percent earned more.
| Percentile | Annual wage | Hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $155,250 | $74.64 |
| 25th | $206,730 | $99.39 |
| Median (50th) | $236,590 | $113.75 |
| 75th | $294,350 | $141.51 |
| 90th | $339,500 | $163.22 |
| Mean | $248,320 | $119.38 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 national estimates, nurse anesthetists (SOC 29-1151), oesm25nat.zip (opens in a new tab). The same file is linked from the OEWS tables page (opens in a new tab).
State and metro estimates are in the separate state and area releases on that tables page. This page stays with the national occupation, which is the figure behind a national "CRNA salary" question.
What the wage survey leaves out
OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay. The survey includes base rates, cost-of-living allowances, guaranteed pay, hazardous-duty pay, incentive pay, and tips. It excludes overtime pay, severance pay, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses, and the employer cost of benefits (May 2025 technical notes (opens in a new tab)).
Call that is paid as overtime or as a shift differential sits outside the $236,590. So do health coverage, retirement, malpractice, and tail. Two offers can sit on either side of the median and still leave a CRNA in different places once those items are written down.
A staff package is usually a base, plus call, extra shifts, and benefits. Locum and contract work is usually a daily or hourly rate, with benefits and malpractice arranged differently. W-2 and 1099 change who carries the costs. The locum or staff CRNA guide is the comparison for practice model, call, and coverage. Read that before you line a day rate up against this median.
How many nurse anesthetists, and what is the outlook?
OEWS and the employment projections are different BLS programs, and they publish different counts.
The wage survey's May 2025 employment estimate is 51,840 nurse anesthetists, excluding the self-employed (national estimates file (opens in a new tab)).
The Occupational Outlook Handbook, which uses the employment projections, lists 54,500 nurse anesthetists in 2025 and 59,800 in 2035. That is a 10 percent increase, or 5,300 jobs. All occupations are projected to grow 3 percent over the same years. The combined group of nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners is projected to grow 36 percent. The 10 percent row is the nurse anesthetist row (handbook projections table (opens in a new tab)).
The handbook also says these roles typically need at least a master's degree, and that prospective nurse anesthetists need one year of critical-care experience as a registered nurse before an accredited program.
How do you read an offer next to the median?
Use the percentile table as a map, then ask the group to put the week in writing. Practice model, call, case mix, schedule, and malpractice coverage move the offer in ways the national median cannot see. Our CRNA recruiting page walks through that comparison from the program side and the clinician side.
If you want the wider operating-room picture, the clinical desk sits next to this page. A different clinical wage, with a classification problem of its own, is perfusionist salary. If you want to move without your current employer hearing about it, our confidential search explains how that works.
Related career guides: locum or staff CRNA roles, travel or staff perfusionist roles, pelvic floor PT jobs, remote dosimetrist jobs.
Where do these facts come from?
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 national estimates, nurse anesthetists (SOC 29-1151), employment 51,840, mean and percentile wages: oesm25nat.zip (opens in a new tab), also listed on the OEWS tables page (opens in a new tab)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages news release, May 2025, Table 1, nurse anesthetists: ocwage.t01.htm (opens in a new tab)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, nurse anesthetist median annual wage $236,590 (May 2025) and 2025–35 employment projections: bls.gov/ooh (opens in a new tab)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS technical notes, May 2025, what the wage includes and excludes: oes_tec.htm (opens in a new tab)
- National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists: nbcrna.com (opens in a new tab)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median CRNA salary?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $236,590 for nurse anesthetists in May 2025. That is SOC 29-1151. The combined median for nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners is a separate figure, $134,920.
What do CRNA salary percentiles show?
In the May 2025 national OEWS estimates, the 10th percentile annual wage for nurse anesthetists was $155,250 and the 90th percentile was $339,500. The 25th percentile was $206,730 and the 75th percentile was $294,350. The median was $236,590.
Does the published CRNA wage include call pay?
OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay. The survey excludes overtime pay and shift differentials, and it excludes the employer cost of benefits. Call paid as overtime or as a shift differential is outside these figures.
How many nurse anesthetists does the wage survey count?
The May 2025 OEWS employment estimate is 51,840 nurse anesthetists, and it excludes the self-employed. The Occupational Outlook Handbook uses a separate 2025 count of 54,500 for its projections, and it projects 10 percent growth for nurse anesthetists from 2025 to 2035.
Can I explore a move without my group finding out?
Yes. The first conversation is confidential. Your current employer is not contacted unless you ask.
Book a confidential career call
Tell me what you want the next role to feel like on a Tuesday. The conversation stays with us, and your current employer is not contacted unless you ask.
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