How Much Does a Nurse Practitioner Make?

A Formula for Determining How Much Nurse Practitioners Make

If you’re looking for a formula on how to calculate your own earnings potential as a primary care NP, Dr. Carolyn Buppert provides one in her textbook, Nurse Practitioner’s Business Practice and Legal Guide, Fifth Edition:

Dr. Buppert provides the following formula:

# of patients seen per day multiplied by the amount earned on average per patient

Using this formula, primary care nurse practitioners see an average of 24 patients per day and are reimbursed an average of $70 per patient. In this scenario using Dr. Buppert’s formula, the nurse practitioner brings in $1,680 per day. Assuming a 90 percent collection rate and six weeks of time off, the primary care nurse practitioner brings in $347,760 per year.

To calculate the nurse practitioner’s deserved salary, Dr. Buppert deducts the following amounts from nurse practitioner–generated revenue:

The cost of practice expenses or hospital overhead per nurse practitioner varies widely, from 20 percent in large practices to 50 percent in very small practices. These expenses include rent, benefits, continuing education stipend, supplies, malpractice insurance, and depreciation of medical equipment. If the nurse practitioner does not receive health insurance benefits or paid time off, which may be the case for NPs working in some part-time or locum tenens roles, this percentage would be lower.

Physician consultation costs refer to the supervisory agreements that some states require. In her book, Dr. Buppert explains that employers often displace this cost, which is usually around 15 percent of their generated revenue, onto nurse practitioners. Furthermore, practice profit is the amount the employer wishes to keep for themselves, which is usually around 10 percent.

Deducting these percentages from the primary care nurse practitioner who generates $347,760 per year leads to a salary of $159,621. In a state without mandated physician consultation requirements, this same nurse practitioner would ideally earn a 15 percent higher salary (i.e., $177,357).

Dr. Karen Van Leuven offers a similar analysis in Chapter 6 of Financial and Business Management for the Doctor of Nursing Practice. Dr. Van Leuven assumes that the primary care nurse practitioner sees 20 patients per day at an average reimbursement of $56.50 per visit. She allots only four weeks of time off, resulting in annual revenue of $216,960. In this scenario, nurse practitioners share in the company profits, and none of the revenue is given to a supervising physician. With 40 percent overhead, this leaves the primary care nurse practitioner with a salary of around $130,000.

Using these formulas, the revenue generated by a primary care nurse practitioner ranges from around $217,000 to $350,000. And, using those numbers, the nurse practitioner’s annual salary should be anywhere from $130,000 to $160,000.

The Best Way to Find Out How Much You Can Make? Talk to a Recruiter.

Check out our current openings for NPs and reach out to one of our recruiters to learn how much you can make with your next opportunity!