Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2011

29-2061 Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

Care for ill, injured, or convalescing patients or persons with disabilities in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, private homes, group homes, and similar institutions. May work under the supervision of a registered nurse. Licensing required.


National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
Geographic profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1) Employment
RSE (3)
Mean hourly
wage
Mean annual
wage (2)
Wage RSE (3)
729,140 0.6 % $20.21 $42,040 0.2 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $14.74 $16.67 $19.79 $23.04 $27.44
Annual Wage (2) $30,650 $34,670 $41,150 $47,920 $57,080


Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry Employment (1) Percent of industry employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Nursing Care Facilities 215,270 12.90 $20.72 $43,090
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals 136,190 2.62 $19.74 $41,060
Offices of Physicians 89,740 3.83 $18.48 $38,440
Home Health Care Services 73,760 6.55 $20.75 $43,160
Community Care Facilities for the Elderly 42,920 5.66 $20.66 $42,960

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in this occupation:

Industry Employment (1) Percent of industry employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Nursing Care Facilities 215,270 12.90 $20.72 $43,090
Home Health Care Services 73,760 6.55 $20.75 $43,160
Community Care Facilities for the Elderly 42,920 5.66 $20.66 $42,960
Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals 9,320 3.97 $19.81 $41,200
Offices of Physicians 89,740 3.83 $18.48 $38,440

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment (1) Percent of industry employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Grantmaking and Giving Services 100 0.08 $23.04 $47,930
Junior Colleges 30 (7) $22.87 $47,560
Employment Services 41,010 1.39 $21.96 $45,670
Office Administrative Services 920 0.23 $21.86 $45,480
Activities Related to Real Estate 100 0.02 $21.74 $45,230


Geographic profile for this occupation: Top

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.





States with the highest employment level in this occupation:

State Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Texas 72,100 7.00 1.23 $20.32 $42,260
California 64,460 4.59 0.81 $24.58 $51,130
New York 47,950 5.69 1.00 $21.07 $43,820
Florida 42,710 5.97 1.05 $19.60 $40,770
Ohio 42,250 8.49 1.49 $19.41 $40,370




States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in this occupation:

State Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Louisiana 22,150 12.04 2.12 $18.36 $38,180
Arkansas 12,190 10.69 1.88 $16.79 $34,920
Mississippi 10,620 9.90 1.74 $16.62 $34,580
Oklahoma 13,610 9.09 1.60 $17.06 $35,490
West Virginia 6,250 8.93 1.57 $16.01 $33,300




Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Connecticut 8,620 5.36 0.94 $25.49 $53,010
Nevada 2,140 1.93 0.34 $25.13 $52,270
Rhode Island 1,260 2.79 0.49 $24.95 $51,900
New Jersey 14,690 3.90 0.69 $24.65 $51,270
California 64,460 4.59 0.81 $24.58 $51,130





Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in this occupation:

Metropolitan area Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division 19,360 5.07 0.89 $23.91 $49,740
New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division 18,880 3.73 0.66 $24.25 $50,440
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX 11,930 4.68 0.82 $21.93 $45,610
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL Metropolitan Division 11,460 3.20 0.56 $21.29 $44,290
Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Metropolitan Division 11,160 5.46 0.96 $21.67 $45,070
Philadelphia, PA Metropolitan Division 10,370 5.71 1.00 $24.25 $50,440
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA 9,300 4.17 0.73 $18.73 $38,960
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 8,730 5.10 0.90 $20.22 $42,060
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH 8,170 8.35 1.47 $20.83 $43,320
St. Louis, MO-IL 7,890 6.21 1.09 $19.19 $39,910




Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in this occupation:

Metropolitan area Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Victoria, TX 990 20.75 3.65 $18.16 $37,780
Sherman-Denison, TX 840 20.42 3.59 $20.92 $43,510
Monroe, LA 1,340 18.05 3.18 $17.68 $36,780
Alexandria, LA 1,080 17.30 3.04 $16.68 $34,700
Rome, GA 590 16.94 2.98 $17.00 $35,370
Hot Springs, AR 590 16.84 2.96 $17.17 $35,710
Lima, OH 750 15.41 2.71 $18.52 $38,520
Sandusky, OH 540 15.36 2.70 $18.04 $37,530
Johnson City, TN 1,140 14.83 2.61 $16.38 $34,070
Shreveport-Bossier City, LA 2,540 14.78 2.60 $18.48 $38,440




Top paying metropolitan areas for this occupation:

Metropolitan area Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division 3,100 3.23 0.57 $29.44 $61,230
Salinas, CA 680 4.47 0.79 $28.48 $59,240
Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division 5,380 5.65 0.99 $28.09 $58,430
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA 490 2.82 0.50 $27.66 $57,530
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 1,770 2.02 0.35 $27.41 $57,010
Vallejo-Fairfield, CA 590 5.01 0.88 $26.90 $55,960
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA 1,190 4.17 0.73 $26.90 $55,950
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, CA 620 3.75 0.66 $26.84 $55,820
Napa, CA 250 4.12 0.72 $26.68 $55,480
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT 1,650 4.02 0.71 $26.33 $54,760

Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest employment in this occupation:

Nonmetropolitan area Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Eastern Texas nonmetropolitan area 3,640 13.14 2.31 $18.21 $37,880
Northwestern Texas nonmetropolitan area 3,390 13.70 2.41 $16.95 $35,260
Other Ohio nonmetropolitan area 2,720 10.22 1.80 $17.21 $35,790
Kansas nonmetropolitan area 2,620 6.88 1.21 $16.48 $34,290
Northeast Mississippi nonmetropolitan area 2,390 11.47 2.02 $15.50 $32,240

Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in this occupation:

Nonmetropolitan area Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
Winnsboro nonmetropolitan area 1,550 19.42 3.42 $17.01 $35,380
North Central Tennessee nonmetropolitan area 1,890 16.79 2.95 $15.67 $32,600
Western Tennessee nonmetropolitan area 2,130 16.35 2.88 $16.07 $33,430
East Georgia nonmetropolitan area 1,220 15.20 2.67 $16.43 $34,180
Hammond nonmetropolitan area 770 15.04 2.65 $18.54 $38,560

Top paying nonmetropolitan areas for this occupation:

Nonmetropolitan area Employment (1) Employment per thousand jobs Location quotient (9) Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage (2)
St. Mary's County, Maryland nonmetropolitan area 150 3.57 0.63 $26.15 $54,400
Eastern Connecticut nonmetropolitan area 230 8.75 1.54 $25.72 $53,500
Mother Lode Region of California nonmetropolitan area 150 3.67 0.65 $25.41 $52,860
Upper Eastern Shore nonmetropolitan area 310 4.70 0.83 $25.07 $52,150
North Valley Region of California nonmetropolitan area 130 4.66 0.82 $24.14 $50,220


About May 2011 National, State, Metropolitan, and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors, all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, and all states and the District of Columbia. The top employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable XLS files.

The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate--50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.


(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(7) The value is less than .005 percent of industry employment.

(9) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.


Other OES estimates and related information:

May 2011 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2011 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2011 Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2011 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download May 2011 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped XLS files

Technical Notes

 

Last Modified Date: March 27, 2012