State nursing wages fall below national mean

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, meanwhile, averaged $15.69 per hour.

Missouri’s nursing wages fall short of nationwide averages of $28.71 for registered nurses and $18.05 for licensed nurses.

The statistics are a result of an occupational employment survey conducted by the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Data was not available for the Springfield metropolitan area’s registered nursing employment, but licensed nurses in Springfield numbered 1,300 in May 2006, earning $14.07 an hour on average.

Registered nurses were among the most prevalent occupations in Missouri in May 2006, with 55,470 workers representing 2.1 percent of the state’s work force, according to the survey. Licensed nurses made up 0.7 percent, or 17,860 workers, of Missouri employment.

Missouri’s employment shares for both groups of nurses were higher than the national average, which was 1.8 percent of the work force for registered nurses and 0.5 percent of the work force for licensed nurses.