One question I get asked often is, ‘How much does Nursing Informatics pay?’ Even though salary information seems to be widely available on websites, Nursing Informatics is such a niche area that there are few salaries reported. Answering this question is actually harder than it seems for a few reasons. But there are a couple of resources that can help with estimating salary.

Compensation terms to know

First, it helps to make sure everyone knows a few terms companies use to define compensation. ‘Compensation’ refers to a package composed of several key parts:

Base salary: This is what most people are used to focusing on, and represents what a person will be paid on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis once taxes and benefits are removed from what they earned.

Benefits: This is another area many people focus on, and usually includes things like health insurance, dental and vision coverage, child-care, transportation, and other items. An additional benefit companies are adding post-pandemic is remote work flexibility (if the company did not have it before).

Bonus: This is a payment made on top of the base salary. Bonuses vary by company, level, and other factors such as individual performance in a given year. Bonuses may be paid on a quarterly, bi-annual, or annual basis, or following specific events such as upon hire or after six months of employment.

Equity: Equity compensation is non-cash pay that represents ownership in the company by the company’s employees. This may be in the form of stock options, performance shares, or a few other variations on stocks that have specific qualifications around them. This is a form of payment used by both large, publicly-traded companies, as well as startups.

What makes it hard to estimate how much Nursing Informatics pays

As I mentioned before, it is hard to say what a ‘typical’ Nursing Informatics salary is for a few reasons:

Reason #1: Because Nursing Informatics overlaps with technology and business, the salary structure is different.

Nurses in clinical roles usually have an hourly rate. If you work overtime or weekends, you may be paid one-and-a-half times your hourly rate. If you work holidays, you might be paid two times your hourly rate. Clinical roles may receive bonuses upon hire and for referring other nurses to the company, but it is unusual for these roles to receive annual bonuses.

Informatics Nurses, on the other hand, have a salary instead of hourly pay. They do typically receive regular bonuses on a quarterly, bi-annual, or annual frequency. You might see bonus ranges from 15% to 50% depending on the role. To understand what an Informatics Nurse is being paid, you would need to combine base salary with bonuses to reach total compensation.

A base salary of $90,000 plus a 15% annual bonus means total compensation of $103,500. However, websites reporting salaries often do not make that distinction and report only base salary.

Reason #2: Informatics Nurses may receive payment in the form of equity.

Informatics Nurses who receive equity compensation may sell their shares at some point, thereby converting their shares into cash. Or they may treat their equity as another form of savings and allow it to grow over time. One nurse I know used her stock options to put her three kids through college.

It is normal for the value of a company’s stock to change, especially for publicly-traded companies where non-employees can buy shares. For example, if an Informatics Nurse who works for Johnson & Johnson received 100 shares of stock in 2016, the value of that stock was $1,230 ($123 per share). But if that same nurse receives 100 shares of stock this year, the value is now $1,697.50 ($169.75 per share).

On the other hand, a company’s stock may go down over time. For example, if an Informatics Nurse who works for health information technology company McKesson received 100 shares of stock in 2016, the value was $1,971. But that same stock payment only has a value of $1,891 this year.

All of these factors make it hard to calculate a ‘typical’ salary for Informatics Nurses with this compensation structure.

Reason #3: Informatics Nurses can (and are expected to) negotiate salary and other forms of compensation.

This means what one nurse earns can be vastly different from what another nurse earns. Just because Ziprecruiter reports the average salary in a given area is $102,000 does not mean every Informatics Nurse in that area has to accept that salary. Also keep in mind that many companies have policies prohibiting employees from disclosing compensation because of the ability to negotiate. That means a number of Informatics Nurses may not reveal their salary to websites like Glassdoor or Salary.com.

A few trusted resources for Nursing Informatics salary

So, if you need to find out what a typical Nursing Informatics salary is, where can you go? There are a few resources I trust to be a bit more accurate:

1: Ziprecruiter

According to Ziprecruiter, the national average Informatics Nurse salary is $102,230. They report that the majority of salaries range between $71,000 and $117,000. In my state, the average salary listed is a bit higher at around $108,000. However, the cities that have the highest salaries for Informatics Nurses are San Jose, CA ($126,268), Oakland, CA ($124,815), and Tanaina, AK ($124,248).

I believe Ziprecruiter’s numbers are closest to an accurate picture as compared to other salary websites.

2: HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society)

HIMSS does a survey of the Nursing Informatics workforce with nurses who are members of certain professional organizations. This survey asks respondents about their base salary, not including bonuses and other forms of compensation. Their 2020 survey found that about half of respondents reported a base salary of over $100,000, with compensation going up over the years.

The problem is their survey does not give you data on a local level and only represents information respondents choose to provide.

3: Ask an Informatics Nurse where you want to work

The most accurate way to find out what an Informatics Nurse is making in your area and at your desired employer is to ask one.

Isn’t that kind of a personal question? Yes, and they may choose not to answer. They also may not be allowed to answer depending on company policy.

But you will never know unless you ask. That is how I learned what salary to ask for when negotiating my first Nursing Informatics job after finishing my master’s degree. I asked one of the nurses already working in that role what she makes, and she told me.

Key Takeaways:

There are a number of factors that make it hard to answer what a ‘typical’ salary is for an Informatics Nurse. However, it is a well-compensated area as technology careers tend to be. Salaries in the six-figures are normal, as are bonuses and other forms of compensation. The key thing is to do some research and, if possible, ask someone at the organization where you want to work.

Like this topic? You may have what it takes to be a great Informatics Nurse! Here are two ways to get started:

Option 1: Sign up for Career Coaching! If you would like hands-on help planning your Nursing Informatics career, apply for one of my career coaching packages or book a Coaching Call. Check out my Services page for more information.

Option 2: Check out From Bedside Nurse to Informatics Nurse: A How-To Guide available in our online store.