In the US, the salary for nurse practitioners varies drastically from state to state. Nurse practitioners in Hawaii are among the top-paid health workers across the country. Due to its geographical location, unique structure, and high living costs, the medical practices and knowledge required are not the same as their counterparts.
Medical tourism and labor shortage have caused a high demand for nurse practitioners in Hawaii. The government battles to draw new talents from overseas while providing intensive training to local students.
In this article, a detailed breakdown of nurse practitioner salaries in Hawaii is examined. You will get a clear understanding of the respective salary of nurse practitioners depending on your specialty, years of experience, locations, etc.
Hawaii Nurse Practitioner Starting Salary
For nurse practitioners that are fresh out of college or training units, the average salary is $82,811 per year, which translates to $5,863 per month, and $61.51 per hour. The starting salary of nurse practitioners is considerably higher than the average salary in Hawaii, which is $73,973 per year.
Aside from the college/university/training school degree, you will need at least 600 clinical hours in a certified hospital or clinic before you are eligible to take the exam in your chosen speciality to be a certified nurse practitioner.
The demanding effort and tough training process are reflected in the above-average starting salary for the job. To examine the salary of nurse practitioners in Hawaii in a broader picture, Hawaii is ranked the most expensive state in the US in 2022. The salary correlates with the rising costs.
Expect variance in the starting salary depending on your chosen speciality, practicing location, and the type of medical institution. Despite being the most expensive state, the cost of living in Hawaii is not unified. There are regions significantly more luxurious than others. Your salary should align with the scale jump in the living standards in the area.
The institution you choose to work in will also impact your starting salary. Private hospitals and clinics tend to offer more comprehensive packages and welfare than public hospitals. Nurse practitioners will receive a higher salary in these institutions but the gap among them can still be large.
Public medical institutions have a more standardized salary scheme for healthcare workers. Your salaries over the years are an open book to others. Every in the same field with the same years of experience will get paid the same.
| Hourly | $61.51 |
| Monthly | $5,863 |
| Yearly | $82,811 |
Hawaii Nurse Practitioner Average Salary
On average, the yearly salary of a nurse practitioner in Hawaii is $94,143, which is $6,666 per month, and $69.93 per hour.
The average salary is a direct division of the salaries of all nurse practitioners in Hawaii. It should serve as a reference only because the specific salary depends on a lot of factors such as work performance, education, exam results, and more.
When you look into your expected salary, you should take into account your position, location, experience, and other determining factors.
| Hourly | $69.93 |
| Monthly | $6,666 |
| Yearly | $94,143 |
Highest-Paying Cities for Nurse Practitioners in Hawaii
Based on the location, demand, and cost of living, nurse practitioners earn different wages in Hawaii. On average, the cities listed below offer better salaries for nurse practitioners. But you should be mindful of the high cost of living in these areas as well.
Some of these cities are known for their skyrocketing housing prices and not-so-accessible public transport.
‘Aiea
- Located in the county of Honolulu
- A stable demand for nurse practitioners and a low turnover rate in medical institutions
- Among the nearly 10,000 usual residents in ‘Aiea, over 60% are married couples with young children. There is a high demand for pediatric nurse practitioners and private nurse practitioners
- The population comprises a large mix of ethnic backgrounds. Therefore, fluency in other languages in addition to English is a highly sought-after skill.
- The average nurse practitioner in ‘Aiea makes $136,343 per year.
| ‘Aiea | $136,343 yearly |
Kailua
- On the east coast of the island by Kailua Bay.
- A residential area with lots of schools, local business centers, community centers, and healthcare institutions nearby. There is a high demand for nurse practitioners in this 40,000-people region.
- A semi-popular place for medical tourism due to the media influence as many films were set here.
- The several fancy private schools here bring over parents with high purchasing powers for regular medical appointments.
- The average nurse practitioner in Kailua makes $134,407 per year.
| Kailua | $134,407 yearly |
Kihei
- Located on the coast of the south side of Maui with a population of 21,000
- There is a stable demand for general nurse practitioners as the age spectrum is evenly dispersed.
- Given its diverse population, being multilingual would be a huge advantage
- The average nurse practitioner in Kihei makes $131,642 per year.
| Kihei | $131,642 yearly |
Kailua-Kona
- No correlation with the Kailua previously mentioned.
- Being the second-largest settlement on the island of Hawaii on the east side, Kailua-Kona has a high demand for nurse practitioners.
- There is a particularly high demand for high-end medical institutions and staff due to a large number of incoming tourists each year.
- Medical tourism is thriving in this area, leading to the rising demand for nurse practitioners in different specialized fields.
- There are lots of specialized medical institutions, university facilities, outpatient centers, and other types of clinics.
- The average nurse practitioner in Kailua-Kona makes $114,783 per year.
| Kailua-Kona | $114,783 yearly |
Top Companies for Nurse Practitioners in Hawaii
There are companies in Hawaii that pay higher because of their prestigious status, gracious funding, and higher employee welfare standards. Some companies can offer nearly double the ongoing market rate.
Examples of these companies are INNOVATIVE HEALTH ($289,930 per year), UCLA Health ($165,800 per year), Straub Medical Center ($162,772 per year), Molina Healthcare ($153,034 per year), Northwell Health ($150,141 per year), Dignity Health ($149,958 per year), Wound Care Plus, LLC ($146,965 per year), Anthem, Inc. ($143,263 per year), Advantmed ($141,187 per year).
Getting a seat at these companies will be more competitive than usual. Applicants will undergo a series of aptitude tests and interviews to determine their candidacy. Top companies in the industry are usually bigger corporate with more capital to provide higher-quality training to retain their staff.
Aspiring nurse practitioners need to know that the companies listed are mostly big corporates with operations in multiple states because their data is easily accessible. This does not mean smaller clinics or private doctors do not pay as well.
Quite the contrary, if you work for an individual doctor or a small clinic, you may be entitled to a higher salary because the pay system is less rigid. Nothing is set in stone here. The top companies here are those that publicly agreed to offer better pay. You should still search for a suitable employer as the salary in small companies will not be publicly available.
| INNOVATIVE HEALTH | $289,930 per year |
| UCLA Health | $165,800 per year |
| Straub Medical Center | $162,772 per year |
| Molina Healthcare | $153,034 per year |
| Northwell Health | $150,141 per year |
| Dignity Health | $149,958 per year |
| Wound Care Plus | $146,965 per year |
| Anthem, Inc. | $143,263 per year |
| Advantmed | $141,187 per year |
Hawaii Nurse Practitioner Years of Experience Salary
In this highly specialized field, nurse practitioners are rewarded with greater jumping points in salaries throughout their career based on their years of experience. The ratio of salary to experience is a bell curve with an average of $2,000 per annum jump during the few years.
The scale does not fluctuate too much as the nurse practitioner job landscape is fairly stable. As mentioned in the above section, the starting salary is $82,811 per year. During the first 3 years of your career, there will not be a significant pay raise.
Unlike many other states like Alabama which offer an immediate jump of around $14,000 right after the first year, Hawaii is stricter in its jumping grades. Most nurse practitioners will receive similar salaries for the first 3 years.
Year 3 is the turning point for new nurse practitioners. After gaining 3 years of experience, the bargaining power will increase drastically. You will now be a junior-level nurse practitioner. The average salary becomes $127,690 per annum for those with 3 to 5 years of experience. That is $74.85 per hour.
Right after this massive yearly jump in the 3rd year, the salary of nurse practitioners in Hawaii becomes stagnant again. This time, your salary will stay frozen for another few years. You can expect minor raises, improved benefits, and higher compensations in other aspects, but your base salary will remain roughly the same.
Nurse practitioners do not get another big raise until they have reached the 5th-year mark. By then, you will become a mid-level nurse practitioner with a yearly salary of $131,000 and an hourly salary of $76.34.
Being a mid-level nurse practitioner means you will be taking up more responsibilities. Your role may extend beyond the typical caring for patients. You will get involved in more communications and training roles for new nurse practitioners as well as the organizational role to ensure the daily operation in the clinic is smooth and problem-free.
After a decade of experience, you are fully aware of what the job entails. Then, you will be a senior-level nurse practitioner earning $153,070 per year, or $78.57 per hour. Senior members of the team will take up various roles in management and delegation of tasks. You will have possessed a strong understanding of the whole structure in your field.
Oftentimes, senior nurse practitioners will attend seminars, meetings, and participate in research groups to stay current with medical innovation and further contribute to the safety of patients by addressing recent issues. Your role will no longer be limited to your department. Cross-department work may be required. You may be asked to assist nurse practitioners in other fields or doctors.
When you have 20 years of experience, you are considered a respectable pillar of the industry. By then, you have become a top-level nurse practitioner. Your daily tasks may already be completely different than where you have started two decades ago.
Assisting patients will not be your main task anymore. With your expertise in the field, you are expected to work for the betterment of the medical sector. You are overseeing the operation of the entire nurse practitioner department in the institution, how to attract new talents, and what benefits you should fight for your fellow colleagues.
You will have a lot more burden on your shoulders. The starting salary for top-level nurse practitioners is $167,750 per year, which is $80.65 per hour.
Nurse practitioners in Hawaii enjoy continuous increments throughout their careers. The job security is decent and positively correlates with your experience. But with each jump, the period until the next pay raise is longer. After year 10, you will approximately wait for another decade for the final big jump. This bell curve salary over the years means your salary will stabilize after some years.
| Years of experience | Salary per year |
| 0-3 | $82,811 |
| 3-5 | $127,690 |
| 5-10 | $153,070 |
| >20 | $167,750 |
Hawaii Nurse Practitioner Speciality Salary
The specialized field you choose will affect your salary range. In general, nurse practitioners working in a specialized field will earn above the typical average salary ($94,143 per year). Although the average salary for each institution and location differs, the salary ratio of general nurse practitioners to specialized nurse practitioners remains similar.
Therefore, in this section, we will be using percentages so you can better understand how much more you should expect working in the same facility in a specialized field.
Mental health/psychiatric ward
- 82% higher salary than average
Salaries for nurse practitioners working in the mental health department or psychiatric ward are the highest among all specialized fields. It is around 82% higher than the standard average salary general nurse practitioners are getting.
When you enter the college or university, you will need to choose your desired field. The practice in each educational institution varies, but most schools separate the psychiatric field as a different stream. Nurses in the general or other specialized streams can interchange departments throughout the years.
But for psychiatric nurse practitioners, their chosen stream will limit their path to this selected department, at least in the near future after their graduation.
Since the psychiatric field is the most delicate and less mobile, the high salary ensures a low turnover rate. The skills required are not at all the same as other units.
Surgical nurse practitioners
- 40% higher salary than average
Being a surgical assistant takes years of practice on the job. Once you are out of the training school, you will be assigned to the surgical ward. You may indicate your preference in your application.
To qualify as a surgical nurse practitioner, a minimum of two years of experience will be required by most institutions. It will not necessarily take you two years before you are allowed in the surgical room but it will take that long before you are put in charge.
Surgical nurse practitioners get paid around 40% more than average nurse practitioners at around $128,000 per year. Surgical nurse practitioners cover a wide range of duties including communication with patients’ families, discussing options with patients, and alerting the in-charge doctor when the vital signs are off…
Behavioral health
- 19% higher salary than average
The majority of nurse practitioners in the behavioral health speciality field work in an educational institution, university clinic, or a private clinic, as opposed to a large multi-function hospital.
Usually, you will work with a therapist, doctor, or counselor to assess the conditions of the patients. If you are an in-school nurse practitioner, you may conduct regular checkups for members of the facility.
Family nurse practitioners
- 15% higher than average
Private hospitals may separate family nurse practitioners for wealthy clients. You will get assigned to solely handle a few families. It should be noted that the salaries of family nurse practitioners may fluctuate tremendously depending on the doctor you work for, the credibility of the practice, the years of experience, and the wealth of your clients.
The average salary of a family nurse practitioner in Hawaii is $151,538 per year but there are quite a few outliers in the equation. If you are working in a bigger company with separated apartments, a better benchmark would be a 15% increase in the general nurse practitioner’s salary.
Hawaii Nurse Practitioners’ Compensation and Benefits
Whether you are employed in the private or public sectors, nurse practitioners are well-known for their extensive welfare packages and compensation for their constant hard work and overtime.
An average nurse practitioner in Hawaii will receive $16,875 per year for overtime. Each extra shift is docked and compensated for. Labor benefits are well-protected.
Workers normally get 6 weeks of paid holiday, which is noticeably higher than the average US paid holiday entitlement of 9 days. Other benefits include 401(k), dental and health insurance, employee discount, paternal leave, relocation program, retirement scheme, transport and travel reimbursement, paid training and further study opportunities, health savings, and more.
In most cases, after working in the same facility for a period of time, these benefits extend to the family members as well. Nurse practitioners are seen as one of the most stable occupations as the demand for them has only increased throughout history. Thus, more companies are willing to provide more benefits to retain talents.
Number of Nurse Practitioners in Hawaii
There are currently around 100,000 practicing nurse practitioners registered in Hawaii. There are 65.1 nurse practitioners per 100,000 population, which meets the Healthy People 2020 Target (35.1 nurse practitioners per 100,000 population).
Hawaii Nurse Practitioner Salary Compared to Other Nursing Careers
Nurse practitioners in Hawaii are decently paid among all nursing careers. Although the nursing industry is not particularly fluid, there are still chances to shift to other fields with continuous studying.
Below is a glimpse of how much other healthcare workers are making on average. Nursing practitioners’ average salary stands in the middle compared to other nursing fields. It may not seem to be impressively high, but it is still one of the better-paying professions in the nursing field and certainly a high-paying job in Hawaii.
| Occupation | Salary per year |
| Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) | $208,854 |
| Advanced Practice Registered Nurse | $99,484 |
| Nurse Practitioner (NP) | $94,143 |
| Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)/Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) | $76,639 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) | $35,455 |
Hawaii Nurse Practitioner Salary Compared to Other Healthcare Careers
Salaries in the healthcare industry in Hawaii stand in the median. The spectrum of income of healthcare workers is stretched. Lower-paying jobs like primary care physicians only have a yearly income of $42,755, while high-paying jobs such as urgent care physicians can earn $462,652 yearly.
The salary table below shows the median salary of each occupation. This is the average salary you are expected to earn throughout your career but the starting salary and capped salary can be drastically different for each profession depending on their experience and other factors.
| Occupation | Salary per year |
| Urgent Care Physician | $462,652 |
| Surgeon | $431,571 |
| Family Medicine Physician | $265,076 |
| Dentist | $224,211 |
| Pharmacist | $150,189 |
| Nurse Practitioner (NP) | $94,143 |
| Speech therapist | $91,190 |
| Audiologist | $92,071 |
| Physician Assistant | $50,877 |
| Primary care physicians | $42,755 |
Summary
Now, you should have a broader understanding of the elements that affect your salary as a nurse practitioner in Hawaii. As an attempt to push the healthcare industry forward, companies are increasing the salaries and benefits of nurses each year. This beautiful island state may just be your next home to save some lives as a nurse practitioner.
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