Nurse practitioner salary in the Boston area
Start with Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH's BLS May 2025 employee wages: $155,480 mean annually and $147,480 median for nurse practitioners. These are wage estimates, not a promised offer or total compensation.
Boston area wage snapshot
| Measure | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Mean annual wage | $155,480 |
| Median annual wage | $147,480 |
| Employment estimate | 5,990 |
| Wage relative standard error | 1.4% |
Employee wages annualized at 2,080 hours. Not total compensation, guaranteed pay or a salary range. RSE measures estimate uncertainty, not your pay spread.
View official BLS wage data for this areaWhat the Boston area row can tell you
BLS covers Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH as one metropolitan area. The published mean is $155,480, which is above the median of $147,480; BLS does not say why. The employment estimate of 5,990 counts employee jobs, not open positions. The wage relative standard error is 1.4%, which describes how uncertain the estimate is. It is not a pay percentile.
The Massachusetts state mean for nurse practitioners is $152,320, so this metro mean is 2.1% above the state figure. The metro is part of the state estimate, so the two overlap.
Metro figures cover wage and salary employees only. Locum, 1099 and per diem pay can look very different, and benefits, call pay and bonuses are not included. Compare a written offer on hours, scope and benefits instead of reading these two wages as a salary range.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. How Saile salary pages work.
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How Boston compares
Rank within this role group
Mean wage rank: 4 of 50; employment rank: 6 of 50. Rank = one plus metros with a larger estimate; ties share rank. This site’s group, not all US metros.
Versus highest-mean Los Angeles ($163,610): $8,130 (5.0%) below; versus lowest-mean Knoxville ($112,460): $43,020 (38.3%) above.
Dollar gap = metro mean minus comparator mean; percent = difference divided by comparator, times 100. Absolute gaps shown.
National comparison
BLS OEWS national mean: $137,300; Boston is $18,180 (13.2%) above it, using the same gap formulas.
Same-state context
Massachusetts mean: $152,320; employment: 8,070. Metro share = 5,990 divided by 8,070, multiplied by 100 = 74.2%. Overlapping estimates; multi-state ratios are not resident shares.
Same metro, other roles
Family medicine physician mean in Boston: $264,900; Internal medicine physician mean in Boston: $233,800; Physician assistant mean in Boston: $147,520
What to check before using this number
The mean sits $8,000 (5.4%) above the $147,480 median; these are not salary-range endpoints.
This row's 1.4% RSE falls below the 1.8% group median; use it for estimate precision only.
This employment row is larger than the 1,790 group median at 5,990; do not convert job counts into current vacancies.
Mean–median = mean minus median. Group median = middle sorted value (average of middle pair); unavailable RSE excluded.
Licensing in Massachusetts: physician state licensing guidance; NP licensing guide. Check the relevant board and facility for your role.
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 metro/state rows; wages, not total compensation.
Nurse practitioner salary questions in the Boston area
What is the average nurse practitioner salary in the Boston area?
BLS May 2025 estimates a mean annual employee wage of $155,480 and a median of $147,480 for nurse practitioners in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH. The mean is the average; the median is the midpoint. These are employee wages, not total compensation, a guaranteed offer or a salary range.
What is the hourly pay equivalent in the Boston area?
Dividing the annual wage estimates by 2,080 hours gives about $74.75 per hour for the mean and $70.90 for the median, rounded to cents. This is an arithmetic equivalent, not a quoted locums, per-diem or telemedicine rate.
How many nurse practitioners work in the Boston area?
BLS estimates 5,990 nurse practitioners employed as wage and salary employees in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH. This counts employee jobs, not open positions or current vacancies.
How does the Boston area pay compare with Massachusetts?
The Massachusetts state mean for nurse practitioners is $152,320, so this metro mean is 2.1% above the state figure. The metro is part of the state estimate, so the two overlap.
How reliable is this metro estimate?
The wage relative standard error for this row is 1.4%. RSE describes how uncertain the estimate is. It is not a pay percentile or a negotiating band.
Where does Boston rank for nurse practitioner mean wages?
Boston ranks 4 of 50 by mean wage and 6 of 50 by employment in this site's role group. Rank = one plus metros with larger estimates; ties share rank. This is not every US metro.
Which other Massachusetts metros can I compare with Boston?
Worcester: $146,500 mean wage. Mapped to Massachusetts; metro/state estimates overlap.
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