The salary a nurse practitioner earns might pop into your head if you’re looking for a career in nursing and exploring your options, if you are moving up in the nursing world to become a nurse practitioner, or if you are established as a nurse practitioner and you’re doing your research about income.
Whether any of these options apply to you, there are several factors to determine when selecting a location to pursue nursing school or to carry out your nurse practitioner dreams come into play. Take the giant country of the United States.
Within each of the 50 states, there are more cities and towns further divided into counties and subsections within the counties. Bigger states have more options and smaller states provide less opportunity to work in different locations.
But they might allow you to form a closer-knit community and provide care to families and the same patients rather than meeting several new patients each day.
Furthermore, you can break down the salary of nurse practitioner’s down between states, cities, counties, and subsections. You could make less money in a bigger city and more money in a smaller city. It truly depends on the location.
For this article, we chose to examine the nurse practitioner salary within the state of Oklahoma. We also will compare the salary of a nurse practitioner in Oklahoma with nurse practitioners in other states, and how the nurse practitioner’s paycheck compares to other medical profession salaries in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Nurse Practitioner Salary-Starting Out
Maybe you’re fresh out of college or just embarking on your career as a nurse practitioner and decided to try out your options in Oklahoma. Good news for you, Oklahoma offers a decent starting salary for nurse practitioners and the field allows opportunities and room for growth and pay raises. Of course, the salary ranges between cities, sections, and suburbs so let’s get to the breakdown.
The average rate an entry-level nurse practitioner in Oklahoma makes is $99,698 annually. This comes down to $47.90 an hour and $1,917.27 per week. That’s a great amount of money to start with, but that makes the competition more fierce. A lot of nursing students who recently graduated will aim to get that job, but with the right education and prerequisites, you too can earn this high-paying job.
| Hourly | $47.90 |
| Monthly | $8308.17 |
| Annual | $99,698 |
Oklahoma Nurse Practitioner Salary – Average
Once you’ve completed your first few years of entry-level nurse practitioner work, you move on to a more steady and more assured salary. The amount to start with is incredible, but once you have more experience, you have the ability to make even more a year and have more responsibility in your job description.
So, on average, nurse practitioners in Oklahoma make around $113,341 a year, $2,179.63 a week, and $54.49 an hour.
| Annual | $54.49 |
| Monthly | $9445.08 |
| Annual | $113,341 |
Oklahoma Nurse Practitioner Salary – Years of Experience
A bunch of factors can increase salary in professions. Nurse practitioners are no different. The more experience you have, the more knowledge you gain, and the more useful you are to your profession.
The nurse practitioner field recognizes the talent, devotion, and hard work you put into your career and responds to that information by compensating you with higher rates for your time spent in the field.
Even if you ace all your nursing classes and internships, you will never learn everything you need to succeed in the nursing industry until you get your foot in the door and start working in the field. On-the-job training and experience is one of the most beneficial and helpful tactics anyone pursuing a career can experience.
Learning quickly on-the-job sets you up for real-life dilemmas that occur in a hospital or medical setting. Sometimes you will have to work on your feet and come up with decisions on the spot. That is why the more experience you have in the medical field, the more you will be compensated.
Also, spending more time in a medical setting influences how you work. You learn more about the intricacies of the systems and what to do to get the best results. That’s not a lesson they can teach in school.
In Oklahoma, the starting salary for nurse practitioners is $99,698 per year or $47.90 per hour. After three or five years of working your way up the proverbial ladder to become a more experienced nurse practitioner, you can earn up to $121,314 per year, or $58.32 per hour. Within just a couple of years, your salary can increase by around $20,000.
Stay in the field and after ten years of experience, nurse practitioners in Oklahoma can expect to earn around $123,734 per year. That amounts to $2,379.5 per week, or $59.49 a week.
| Years of Experience | Hourly | Monthly | Annual |
| Starting (Entry-Level) | $47.90 | $8308.17 | $99,698 |
| 3-5 Years of Experience | $54.49 | $9445.08 | $113,341 |
| 20 Years or More Experience | $59.49 | $10,311.17 | $123,734 |
Oklahoma Nurse Practitioner Salary – By Practice Setting
As mentioned above, a lot of different factors influence the exact amount a nurse practitioner receives annually. In addition to experience, education, certifications, and specialties, a nurse practitioner can earn more or less money a year based on the setting they practice in. That means the kind of office they work in, a hospital, a doctor’s office, a walk-in clinic, etc.
In Oklahoma, nurse practitioners have vast options to choose from to satisfy their career desires. Before selecting the right place for you, take some time to reflect on the environment you think you will most enjoy.
Would you rather sit back and enjoy a slower-paced doctor’s office with regular clients you can spend time with, or would you enjoy the fast-paced environment of a hospital or emergency room where you have to be on your feet and will probably experience higher stress levels than the doctor’s office?
Maybe you want a mix of both with a walk-in clinic or urgent care. Let’s look at the salary breakdown for each of those environments below.
| Type of Practice Setting | Hourly | Monthly | Annual |
| Hospitals | $56.91 | $9107.15 | $118,393 |
| Outpatient Facilities | $57.41 | $9186.16 | $110,234 |
| Doctor’s Offices | $52.33 | $8373.85 | $108,860 |
| Other Healthcare Provider Offices | $50.76 | $8123 | $105,599 |
| Colleges and Universities | $50.57 | $8092.30 | $105,200 |
Oklahoma Nurse Practitioner Salary – By Speciality
Another factor that affects nurse practitioners’ salaries is their specialty. The broad term is nurse practitioner, but that encompasses a ton of different specialties that comes down to the individual’s strengths and interests. Some specialties nurses in Oklahoma can choose between are women’s health, pediatric care, family practices, psychiatry, and emergency care.
Depending on the specific specialty the nurse practitioner is interested in, they might need to complete additional education or certifications to begin their career as a specialist. This varies between geographical locations and the settings of the facilities the nurse practitioner works in.
Even though someone studying to become a nurse practitioner might choose one specialty during their education, the job is flexible and provides opportunities for nurse practitioners to change or add on specialties throughout their careers.
Maybe you originally want to go into pediatric care, but once you’ve spent fifteen years working with kids, you decide you want to work in an emergency care setting. That is great! All you have to do is speak with your supervisor and begin your journey to get the added certifications.
Dealing in the medical profession comes with a lot of surprises. It makes sense that nurse practitioners get curious and want to expand their experience by tackling additional certifications and specialties. The best nurse practitioners specialize in several different fields.
Below are some of the nurse practitioner specialties in Oklahoma, their salary, and what the position entails.
Geriatric Nurse Practitioner
- These nurse practitioners specialize in treating the older population
- They focus on aging and how it affects the human body
- They study the different ways aging can change the body and they know how to speak to the older generation so as not to scare them and to help them understand their changing bodies
- They treat illnesses and provide care to aging patients, but they can also assist with daily tasks such as eating, bathing, drinking, and exercise
- They can work in hospitals, clinics, ambulances, rehabs, nursing homes, or doctor offices
- They can write prescriptions and treatment plans to help the patient receive the best possible care
- Average salary of $104,000 per year in Oklahoma
| Hourly | $50 |
| Annual | $104,000 |
Emergency Room Nurse Practitioner
- Diagnose and provide immediate care to patients experiencing symptoms or in need of medical assistance
- Perform medical procedures
- Orders tests for the patient, notes results, works with physicians to treat the patient
- Works in high-stakes, fast-paced environments
- Need to be able to work well under pressure
- Also should be able to help calm the patient
- Can write prescriptions and referrals for the patient to receive other kinds of treatment
- Work in emergency rooms or ambulances
- Average salary per year in Oklahoma is $108,691
| Hourly | $52.25 |
| Annual | $108,691 |
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
- Works closely with a doctor to examine, diagnose, and treat infants, children, and young adults for illnesses
- Study how to treat people from birth through childhood to adolescence and can explain tricky situations and difficult topics to each age group
- Help children and families understand their conditions and illnesses in a caring and comforting manner
- Work in clinics, outpatient facilities, and doctor’s offices
- Average salary per year in Oklahoma is $105,200
| Hourly | $50.57 |
| Annual | $105,200 |
Trauma Nurse Practitioner
- Provide care to patients who need immediate attention and experience critical health crises
- Assess the patient’s conditions which can include gunshot wounds, car accident damage, broken bones, overdoses, etc.
- Conduct minor operations including surgeries, order tests, read and record the test results
- Diagnose illnesses or conditions
- Prescribe medications or other treatments
- Work in fast-paced environments, must be good under pressure
- Work in emergency room settings or ambulances
- Average salary per year in Oklahoma is $96966
| Hourly | $46.61 |
| Annual | $96,966 |
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
- Work with patients experiencing mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, or substance abuse issues
- Diagnose, assess, and provide therapy to patients struggling with mental health issues
- They can prescribe medication to their patients and provide treatment plans
- Help educate patients on their conditions and their options for treatment
- Specialize in speaking to families about the patient’s condition and can provide comfort and support to the family
- They work in all medical settings. Doctor’s offices, outpatient care, hospitals, clinics, urgent care, etc.
- Average salary per year in Oklahoma is $102,440
| Hourly | $49.25 |
| Annual | $102,440 |
Neonatal Nurse Practitioner
- Specialize in caring for sick infants or infants who need extra care
- Assessing, diagnosing, and treating the infants
- Prescribing medications
- Ordering tests and analyzing the results
- Write treatment plans and discuss/educate/comfort parents about their child
- Need to work in high-stake environments and do well under pressure
- They work in the neonatal ICU (NICU) in hospitals
- Average salary per year in Oklahoma is $119,042
| Hourly | $57.23 |
| Annual | $119,042 |
Oklahoma Nurse Practitioner Salary – By City
Another huge factor in determining your pay grade is the location of the city your practice is in. Working in California pays a lot more than a nurse practitioner career in Alabama due to the geographical location of the states. Pay attention to the different salaries throughout the cities in Oklahoma when applying for nurse practitioner jobs there.
The salary rate further varies between the kind of city or town you find yourself in. Bloomin metropolises like Oklahoma City and Tulsa will have more opportunities for work so the demand might be less than Perry or Guthrie. When you find a location with a high demand for nurse practitioners, the pay grade is usually higher and the positions are more competitive because there are fewer positions to fill.
Keep these factors in the back of your mind when deciding on a location to work as a nurse practitioner in Oklahoma.
Let’s take a look at some of the major cities in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma City
- Population: 676,492 in 2022
- The most populous state in Oklahoma and the capital of the state
- Average salary of $105,599
| Hourly | $55 |
| Annual | $105,599 |
Tulsa
- Population: 403,518 in 2022
- The second-largest city in Oklahoma
- Average salary of $110,905
| Hourly | $53.31 |
| Annual | $110,905 |
Norman
- Population: 127,988
- The third-largest city in Oklahoma. The population increased 14% since 2010
- Average salary of $104,906
| Hourly | $50.43 |
| Annual | $104,906 |
Broken Arrow
- Population: 113,588
- The largest suburb of Tulsa
- Average salary of $110,558
| Hourly | $53.15 |
| Annual | $110,558 |
Edmond
- Population: 97,537
- Borders Oklahoma City
- Average salary of $105,252
| Hourly | $50.60 |
| Annual | $105,252 |
Oklahoma Nurse Practitioner Salary – Comparison to Other Nursing Careers
Oklahoma nurse practitioners need a lot of training and education, but the preparation will pay off once hired as a nurse practitioner. In Oklahoma, nurse practitioners make more than $30,000 more than registered nurses, even at an entry level.
Nursing salaries vary greatly between different specialties. In Oklahoma, the lowest nursing salary is $34,750 per year for pharmacy technicians. Of all offered nursing professions, the one that makes the most money per year is a nurse anesthetist.
They make $181,660 per year in Oklahoma which is about $70,000 more than what the average nurse practitioner makes per year in Oklahoma (113,341). The salary for nursing professions in Oklahoma is high, but it is well deserved.
Several years of education, thousands of hours of studying, and several certifications go into becoming a nurse. To become a well-paid nurse, you do have to put in the effort.
| Occupation | Average Yearly Salary |
| Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) | $181,600 |
| Nurse Practitioner (NP) | $113,341 |
| Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) | $108,974 |
| Nursing School Professor | $93,580 |
| Registered Nurse (RN) | $68,180 |
| Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)/Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) | $47,428 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) | $31,847 |
Oklahoma Nurse Practitioner Salary – Comparison to Other Healthcare Careers
Physician assistants and nurse practitioners earn similar salaries per year with the nurse practitioners earning around $7,000 more per year. On the lower side of the Oklahoma salary scale, we have speech therapists earning $81,890, occupational therapists clocking in at $87,707 a year, and physical therapists bringing home $88,587 annually.
The highest-paid medical professional in Oklahoma is a podiatrist who makes $202,545 per year. Nurse practitioners make $113,341 per year in Oklahoma, falling around the middle of the pay scale for medical professionals in Oklahoma.
| Occupation | Average Yearly Salary |
| Podiatrist | $202,545 |
| Dentist | $164,642 |
| Optometrist | $125,158 |
| Pharmacist | $134,909 |
| Nurse Practitioner | $113,341 |
| Physician’s Assistant (PA) | $105,996 |
| Chiropractor | $147,589 |
| Veterinarian | $104,112 |
| Physical Therapist (PT) | $88,587 |
| Occupational Therapist (OT) | $87,707 |
| Speech Therapist | $81,890 |
Oklahoma Nurse Practitioner Salary – Comparison Nationwide
Nurse practitioners in Oklahoma make an average of $113,341 per year. The average salary for a nurse practitioner in the United States is $121,865. Looking at these numbers, Oklahoma nurse practitioners make about $8,500 less per year than the national average for nurse practitioners.
How to Become a Nurse Practitioner
If you aren’t already a nurse practitioner, you might read these numbers and find yourself wanting to become a nurse practitioner. But where do you begin? For starters, to become a nurse practitioner you need to become a registered nurse and have a master’s or a doctoral degree. If you choose a specialty, you need to have a few years of experience working in that specialty as a registered nurse.
The time it takes to become a nurse practitioner in Oklahoma varies from person to person. The degree path you choose to pursue, the specialty you pick, and the kind of student you are (full-time or part-time) influence the amount of time it will take you to become a nurse practitioner.
The process of becoming a nurse practitioner is a time-consuming, tiring, and difficult journey, but it will pay off once you can call yourself a nurse practitioner.
Requirements for registered nurses (the profession you must have before becoming a nurse practitioner) include a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing which you can obtain during undergraduate education. Once you have this degree, you need to enroll and pass the NCLEX, or the National Council Licensure Examination, to receive your nursing license.
After you have completed those steps, it is time to move on to graduate school where you need to study and receive a Master’s or Doctoral degree in Nursing, an MSN- Master’s of Science in Nursing or a DNP- Doctor of Nursing Practice. Then you can get certified for the nurse practitioner specialty you choose.
There are regular programs that operate under traditional time frames for schooling and then there are accelerated programs for those who can work at quicker paces. The path you take is completely up to personal preference.
Undergraduate education takes three or four years to receive a BSN, while graduate education takes one or two years to receive an MSN or a DNP. On the other hand, if you need more time you can take extra semesters or fewer classes per semester to finish the program on a schedule that works best for you.
Conclusion
Whether you are beginning nursing school or you just graduated grad school and are researching the different options for income, many elements affect salaries for nurse practitioner positions in Oklahoma. Location, setting, experience, education, and certifications are all factors that contribute to the annual salary for nurse practitioner jobs.
If you think the wonderful state of Oklahoma is the right choice to pursue your nurse practitioner profession, you have many well-paying specialties, and many picturesque locations to choose from.
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