What Registered Nurses earn in Pawnee County, OK
The median pay for Registered Nurses in Pawnee County, OK is $84,790 per year, which works out to $40.76 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Tulsa, OK metropolitan area, the labor market that Pawnee County, OK belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $87,380, which is 3.1% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 10,880 people working in this occupation across the Tulsa, OK metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Pawnee County, OK has roughly 15,795 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Registered Nurses in the Tulsa, OK metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $57,240 a year ($27.52 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $109,150 or more ($52.48 an hour). That is a gap of $51,910 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $79,950 at the 25th percentile and $99,580 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.9 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $40.76 an hour or $84,790 a year at the median for Pawnee County, OK. Before any deductions, that is $7,066 a month, $3,261 every two weeks and $1,631 each week. After taxes the same job pays $31.11 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Registered Nurses
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Registered Nurses this way: "Assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement nursing care plans, and maintain medical records. Administer nursing care to ill, injured, convalescent, or disabled patients. May advise patients on health maintenance and disease prevention or provide case management. Licensing or registration required."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records"; "Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions"; "Record patients' medical information and vital signs"; "Modify patient treatment plans as indicated by patients' responses and conditions".
Job outlook for Registered Nurses
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 3,465,400 jobs in 2025 to 3,660,100 in 2035, a change of +5.6%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 180,800 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 5.2% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: bachelor's degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $97,550 for this occupation; the Pawnee County, OK median of $84,790 is 13.1% below it.
How pay in Pawnee County, OK compares
Compared with the Oklahoma average
A worker in this occupation in Pawnee County, OK earns $2,436 more than the Oklahoma average of $82,354, a premium of 3.0%. Over a year that premium is worth $2,436 before tax and roughly $1,859 after tax. Within Oklahoma, Pawnee County, OK already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Registered Nurses is $99,368 across the contiguous United States. At $84,790, Pawnee County, OK pays $14,578 less, which is 14.7% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Pawnee County, OK
Among the 478 occupations with published wages in Pawnee County, OK, Registered Nurses ranks number 78 by median pay, ahead of about 84% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is General and Operations Managers at $96,150 a year, which is $11,360 more than the median for Registered Nurses.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Registered Nurses earning the Pawnee County, OK median of $84,790, they add up to $20,079. The result is $64,711 of take-home pay a year ($5,393 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $24 goes to taxes and $76 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 23.7%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $69,040. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $10,103, an effective 11.9% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $5,257 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,229. FICA totals $6,486, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Oklahoma
Oklahoma income tax on this salary is $3,490 a year, or 4.1% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 35% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $291 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Pawnee County, OK
IRS Statistics of Income data for Pawnee County, OK show an average adjusted gross income of $59,361 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 9.3% across all filers. Filers in the $75,000 to under $100,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.8%, compared with the 11.9% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Pawnee County, OK
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Pawnee County, OK: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $64,711 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Pawnee County, OK, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $805 a month ($9,660 a year), and at $972 for two bedrooms. For Registered Nurses, a one-bedroom absorbs 14.9% of take-home pay and 11.4% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 4.1% of gross pay for Registered Nurses in Pawnee County, OK. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Oklahoma residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,293 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $552, for $1,845 in total. Gasoline in Oklahoma averages $3.04 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,406.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $16,346 a year in Pawnee County, OK. Subtract that from $64,711 of take-home pay and $48,364 remains, which is $4,030 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 57.0% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Pawnee County, OK
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Pawnee County, OK: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Pawnee County, OK, set beside the Oklahoma and national medians.
Property taxes in Pawnee County, OK
Homeowners in Pawnee County, OK pay a median of $876 a year in real estate taxes, 45% below the Oklahoma median of $1,599 and 72% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $131,500, the median tax bill is 0.67% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Registered Nurses median of $84,790, a tax bill of that size would equal 1.0% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Pawnee County, OK
Renters in Pawnee County, OK pay a median gross rent of $864 a month in the Census survey, 15% below the Oklahoma median of $1,014. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $805 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $131,500, 34% below the Oklahoma median of $199,800. Median household income is $58,738, 10% below the Oklahoma median of $65,039, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 16.4% of that income.
Commuting in Pawnee County, OK
Workers in Pawnee County, OK who travel to a workplace spend an average of 28.0 minutes each way, 25% above the Oklahoma average of 22.4. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.7 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 4.3% of workers in Pawnee County, OK work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Registered Nurses afford to live in Pawnee County, OK?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $84,790 that ceiling is $2,120 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $805 is $1,315 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $15.48 an hour; the median for Registered Nurses is $40.76, which is 163% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $31.11 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 6.0 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $972 a month means $486 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $3,828 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $52,192.
How fast you can save
At $4,030 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 3 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 6 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Registered Nurses pay in Pawnee County, OK
How much do Registered Nurses make per hour in Pawnee County, OK?
The median is $40.76 per hour, based on $84,790 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $27.52 at the 10th percentile to $52.48 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Registered Nurses take home after taxes in Pawnee County, OK?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $84,790 becomes $64,711 a year. That is $5,393 a month, $2,489 every two weeks or $1,244 a week.
How much tax do Registered Nurses pay in Pawnee County, OK?
Total taxes are $20,079 a year, an effective rate of 23.7%: $10,103 federal income tax, $6,486 FICA and $3,490 Oklahoma income tax.
Do Registered Nurses earn more in Pawnee County, OK than elsewhere in Oklahoma?
Yes. The local median of $84,790 is +3.0% versus the Oklahoma average of $82,354, a difference of $2,436 a year.
Can Registered Nurses afford a one-bedroom apartment in Pawnee County, OK?
A one-bedroom costs $805 a month against take-home pay of $5,393, which is 14.9% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $2,120 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Registered Nurses in Pawnee County, OK?
About $4,030 a month ($48,364 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $16,346 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Pawnee County, OK at the 30% guideline?
$15.48 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $9,660 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Registered Nurses is $40.76.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Tulsa, OK metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Oklahoma rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.