Nurses to Riches

Nurses to Riches We went from $37 per hour in NYC to over $115 per hour in California. Paid off six figures of debt in under a year. Founder of Map My Pay.

Now we help nurses do the same with data, strategy, and transparency.

Do you agree?
04/07/2026

Do you agree?

04/07/2026

Most people have no idea CRNAs were the original anesthesia providers in this country. We were doing anesthesia all the way back to the Civil War, and we even helped train the first physicians who got into the field.

Then somewhere along the way, physicians took on the supervisor role and the story flipped. Now hospitals hire anesthesiologists to "supervise" CRNAs even when the law does not require it. I've talked to admins who genuinely believed supervision was legally required. It is not. Someone told them it was and they just ran with it.

A lot of this comes down to money, ego, and old medical culture.

See what nurses actually take home in your city at https://mapmypay.com
The full interview with Jason Bolt CRNA is on my YouTube channel Nurses to Riches.

03/28/2026

Kaiser Permanente Southern California nurses wrapped up their new contract after 4 weeks on strike and the numbers are worth paying attention to regardless of where you work.

📅 Year 1 (3/9/2026): new wage grid effective
📅 Year 4 (10/1/2028): final contract wages

Benefited RN — Level III (ICU, ED, PACU, OR):
💵 Inexperienced: $58.295/hr → $67.512/hr by Year 4
💵 5 Years: $79.986/hr → $92.633/hr by Year 4
💵 10 Years: $88.985/hr → $103.054/hr by Year 4
💵 25 Years: $95.982/hr → $111.158/hr by Year 4

Per Diem RN — Level III (ICU, ED, PACU, OR):
💵 Inexperienced: $69.954/hr → $81.014/hr by Year 4
💵 5 Years: $95.983/hr → $111.160/hr by Year 4
💵 10 Years: $106.782/hr → $123.665/hr by Year 4
💵 25 Years: $115.178/hr → $133.390/hr by Year 4

NorCal Kaiser comparison:
📍 NorCal new grad: ~$86/hr base
📍 NorCal 10+ years: $106.61+/hr base

NYP comparison (2028):
📍 CN-I new grad + BSN: $73.28/hr
📍 CN-I 35 years + BSN: $90.63/hr
🌙 Night shift adds $3.08/hr on top

SoCal nurses got 21.5% over the life of this contract. NYC nurses got 12% over the same period. A 10-year benefited nurse just crossed $100/hr for the first time. And every other SoCal hospital is now going to have to step up to compete with these wages.

But what $100/hr actually buys depends entirely on your zip code. A one-bedroom in the Bay Area runs $3,200/month. In LA it's $2,400. In the Inland Empire you're looking at $1,600 to $1,800. Same paycheck, completely different life.

Go to https://mapmypay.com to compare your nursing salary against 21,000 other cities.

03/27/2026

Kaiser Permanente Southern California nurses wrapped up their new contract after 4 weeks on strike and the numbers are worth paying attention to regardless of where you work.

📅 Year 1 (3/9/2026): new wage grid effective
📅 Year 4 (10/1/2028): final contract wages

Benefited RN — Level III (ICU, ED, PACU, OR):
💵 Inexperienced: $58.295/hr → $67.512/hr by Year 4
💵 5 Years: $79.986/hr → $92.633/hr by Year 4
💵 10 Years: $88.985/hr → $103.054/hr by Year 4
💵 25 Years: $95.982/hr → $111.158/hr by Year 4

Per Diem RN — Level III (ICU, ED, PACU, OR):
💵 Inexperienced: $69.954/hr → $81.014/hr by Year 4
💵 5 Years: $95.983/hr → $111.160/hr by Year 4
💵 10 Years: $106.782/hr → $123.665/hr by Year 4
💵 25 Years: $115.178/hr → $133.390/hr by Year 4

NorCal Kaiser comparison:
📍 NorCal new grad: ~$86/hr base
📍 NorCal 10+ years: $106.61+/hr base

NYP comparison (2028):
📍 CN-I new grad + BSN: $73.28/hr
📍 CN-I 35 years + BSN: $90.63/hr
🌙 Night shift adds $3.08/hr on top

SoCal nurses got 21.5% over the life of this contract. NYC nurses got 12% over the same period. A 10-year benefited nurse just crossed $100/hr for the first time. And every other SoCal hospital is now going to have to step up to compete with these wages.

But what $100/hr actually buys depends entirely on your zip code. A one-bedroom in the Bay Area runs $3,200/month. In LA it's $2,400. In the Inland Empire you're looking at $1,600 to $1,800. Same paycheck, completely different life. Head to mapmypay.com to see what your wages actually buy in over 21,000 cities.

Go to https://mapmypay.com (or click the link in our bio) to compare your nursing salary against 21,000 other cities.

03/23/2026

ICU nurses have the skills. The knowledge. The certifications.

But they don't make more per hour.

I analyzed nurse union contracts from the top paying hospitals in the country.

📍 Kaiser Sacramento, 5 years experience
→ 2025: $99.80/hr
→ 2026: $105.03/hr

ICU and med-surg. Same rate.

📊 Glassdoor confirms it nationally
→ ICU median: $96K
→ Med-surg median: $95K

And med-surg isn't easier.
→ Med-surg ratios: 5 to 9 patients per shift
→ ICU ratios: 2 patients, maybe 3 on a bad day

Different challenges. Same paycheck.

🩺 ICU skills that add $0 to your hourly rate
→ Ventilator management
→ Vasopressor titration
→ ECMO
→ CRRT

All the same pay as passing pills.

📺 This is a clip from the full video on YouTube. I break down CRNA salaries, travel rates, and what actually pays more.

💰 See how your pay compares at mapmypay.com

03/22/2026

I used to think ICU was the highest paid nursing specialty.

I was wrong.

I looked at Kaiser contracts, travel rates, and union pay scales. In 2025, an ICU nurse with 5 years at Kaiser Sacramento made $99.80 an hour. A med-surg nurse with the same experience made the exact same. And wages are even higher now in 2026.

More training. More certifications. More liability. Same paycheck.

The only time ICU skills translate to more money is CRNA school. $208K salary. 1.1-year payback on tuition. $2.3 million lifetime earning difference.
If you're not going to CRNA school, you're doing ICU for the passion, not the pay. And that's fine. But know that going in.

You want to make more money regardless of unit? Move to California. Northern California nurses make over $200K a year. ICU or med-surg. That's $100K more than the national average.

Or go per diem. Monica makes $142/hr. She's not in ICU.

Or do what we did. Work 20 hours a week and build something on the side.

This is a clip from the full video on YouTube. I break down travel rates, CRNA math, and more.

See how your pay compares at mapmypay.com

03/18/2026

Last month me and Monica made $23,571 combined. And neither of us is a travel nurse.

Here's how it broke down 👇
💰 Monica works per diem in tele, night shift
➡️ 13 days worked in 6 weeks.
➡️ $149/hr plus $15 night shift differential
➡️ $10,143 take home

💰 Jason works staff ER, evening shift
➡️ 15 days counted (includes 5 from previous pay period, so 6 weeks total) ➡️ $116/hr
➡️ $10,476 take home

Now here's the real part. We spent $6,926 on travel and lifestyle. Monica's mom's flight had to turn around midair because of what was happening in Qatar. So we had to cover rebooking and lodging last minute. That was $4,347 in flights and $1,519 in lodging.

Then our Volvo XC90 started making a noise. I thought it was brake pads. It was the control arms. $3,200 later we were back on the road.
Even with all of that, the income held up. That's the point.

If you want to see what nurses in your city are actually keeping after taxes and housing, go check out Map My Pay at mapmypay.com.

03/17/2026

This clip is from our latest YouTube video. Full budget breakdown on the channel.

$149/hr. Per diem. 13 days of work.
Take-home: $10,143.

$116/hr. Staff. 15 days of work.
Take-home: $10,476.

Other income: $2,951 (Misc. work-related benefits and programs)

Combined: $23,571 in one month.
↳ No overtime.
↳ No travel nursing.
↳ No agency.
↳ 8-hour shifts at a hospital in Sacramento.

That is net pay. Not gross. That is what hit our bank accounts.

Monica works tele on night shift. $15/hr night differential.
Jason works ER on evening shift.

$23,571 deposited in 1 month.

Then life happened.

Monica's mom was mid-flight to the Philippines when Qatar got bombed. Her plane made a U-turn over the ocean. We had to buy new tickets on the spot. $2,000.

Our daughter is at NYU for nursing. With everything going on in the world, we bought her a flight home to Sacramento. $500 for a ticket that normally costs $250.

Our son turns 5. We're flying family in from out of state for his birthday at Legoland. More flights. Two hotel rooms. Tickets from Costco Travel at $109 each.

Total travel and lifestyle this month: $6,926.

Then our Volvo needed both control arms replaced. Jason went in expecting a $400 brake job. Walked out with a $3,500 bill.

Total auto: $3,920.

A normal month for us is about $9,500 in expenses.

This was not a normal month.
We showed every dollar anyway.

Net worth when we moved to California: negative $200,000.
Net worth now: over $800,000.

The system we built around our money is what absorbs months like this.
👉 This is exactly why knowing your real take-home matters. We built Map My Pay so nurses can compare salaries across 1000+ cities after taxes and cost of living.

If you want to see how much you would actually take home as a nurse in your city after taxes and cost of living, check out https://mapmypay.com

03/16/2026

This clip is from my full interview on our YouTube channel with a CRNA who built 4 income streams and now keeps over $22K/month.

Here's how her money breaks down every single month:
↳ $8K from real estate (after all expenses)
↳ $4K from CRNA shifts (1-2 days per week)
↳ $11K from coaching, courses, and memberships (on autopilot)

That's $22-23K per month. Working one to two days a week in the hospital.

And she's not done. She's now hosting retreats for nurses to decompress, learn about plant medicine, and figure out what they actually want out of life beyond nursing.

The part that hit me the hardest in this conversation was when I admitted that sometimes my wife and I feel like we need to pick up extra shifts. Then I stop and look at our net worth and realize we're doing just fine. That mindset shift is everything.

Most nurses think more shifts equals more money. She proved that building income streams outside the hospital is how you actually get free.

🎥 Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel.

To see what CRNAs and nurses earn across 1000+ cities after taxes and cost of living, visit https://mapmypay.com

03/12/2026

This clip is from my full interview on our YouTube channel with a CRNA who turned $156K in student loan debt into a real estate portfolio.

CRNAs make $2-3K a day for an 8-hour shift.

She graduated with $156K in student loan debt. Most people would just grind shifts and pay it off slowly.

Not her.

She bought a house while still in CRNA school. That home has now appreciated $150K.

After graduating she strategically chose Las Vegas for her first CRNA assignment because real estate was cheap and the Raiders were moving there. She always has a plan.

Two months after landing she bought another home.
↳ Turned it into an Airbnb.
↳ Made $5,000 by month two.

She didn't just earn great money. She made it work for her.

This is why I keep saying. Your nursing income is a tool. What you do with it is what separates the nurses who retire early from the ones still picking up overtime at 60.

🎥 Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel.

To see what CRNAs and nurses earn across 1000+ cities after taxes and cost of living, visit https://mapmypay.com

03/09/2026

This clip is from a longer, more in-depth video on our YouTube channel.

Search Nurses to Riches on YouTube to watch the full breakdown.

UNAC/UHCP collected $52.6 million in dues in 2024. They represent about 40,530 members across California and Hawaii, including nurses, therapists, pharmacists, and technicians.

Their total assets sit at $28.2 million.
About $27.4 million of that is usable.

In January 2026, 30,000 of those members walked off the job at Kaiser Permanente. It was the largest nurse strike in U.S. history. They were out for four weeks. No paycheck. Bills still due. Families still needed to eat.

The union paid them $0.

I pulled their LM-2 report. These are public federal filings. Every union has to submit them to the Department of Labor. Here is where the money went instead:

$22.9 million went to staff salaries and benefits. That is 44 cents of every dues dollar.
$3.8 million went to conventions, including $2 million at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles.
$2.5 million went to politics and lobbying.
$158,000 went to donations.
$0 went to striking members.

A new grad nurse striking for four weeks lost $6,736. A nurse with 25 years lost $10,936. The union had $27.4 million sitting there.

For comparison, NYSNA has $55.9 million in liquid assets and paid $500 per nurse after public pressure. CNA has $247 million in cash alone.

This is not about being anti-union. Unions are why California nurses make $70 to $150 an hour while nurses in some states make $28 to $35. That matters.

But when your members sacrifice four weeks of income to stand on a picket line, they deserve to know if the union has their back.

To see what nurses earn across over 1,000 cities after taxes and cost of living, visit https://mapmypay.com

03/08/2026

A nurse union with 40,000 members collected $52.6 million in dues in 2024. When 30,000 of those nurses walked off the job at Kaiser Permanente for four weeks, they received $0 in strike benefits. Not a single dime.

I pulled their LM-2 filing — the financial report every union has to file with the government. Anyone can look this up. Here is what I found.

💰 $22.9 million went to staff salaries. The highest paid person was not even an officer. A Rep Director named Debra Jo Sung made $307,528. The union president made less than her.

💰 $3.8 million went to hotel conventions. The Westin Bonaventure in downtown LA alone cost $2 million. The Hilton San Diego Bayfront cost another $1.4 million. The Sheraton Universal cost $355,000.

Meanwhile, a senior nurse with 25 years of experience lost nearly $11,000 during those four weeks on strike. A new nurse lost over $6,700. And the union had no strike fund. No plan. Nothing set aside to help members when it counted most.

44% of every dollar in dues went to paying staff. That is not a criticism of the individuals. That is a structural problem that needs to change.

I support unions. Unions are the reason California nurses earn $70 to $150 an hour while nurses in some states earn $28 to $35. But financial transparency matters. You pay the dues. You deserve to know where the money goes.

These numbers come directly from the publicly available LM-2 filing with the Department of Labor. Go look it up yourself.

If you want to see how your nursing salary compares to nurses in over 1,000 cities across the country, visit https://mapmypay.com

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https://mapmypay.com/

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