Nurse Practitioner vs Registered Nurse: Which Field Is Better?

Dimension	Nurse Practitioner	Registered Nurse
Median pay	$129,210	$93,600
Projected growth (2024–34)	40.1%	4.9%
Annual openings	29,500	189,100
2024 employment	320,400	3,391,000
2034 projected employment	448,800	3,557,100
Self-employed share	1%	0.5%
Typical entry education	Master's degree	Bachelor's degree
Related work experience	None	None
On-the-job training	None	None

Dimension

Nurse Practitioner

Registered Nurse

Median pay

$129,210

$93,600

Projected growth (2024–34)

40.1%

4.9%

Annual openings

29,500

189,100

2024 employment

320,400

3,391,000

2034 projected employment

448,800

3,557,100

Self-employed share

0.5%

Typical entry education

Master's degree

Bachelor's degree

Related work experience

None

On-the-job training

None

Nurse Practitioner: main tradeoff

One of the fastest-growing occupations with strong compensation and a large national workforce, but it requires graduate nursing education and state-dependent practice rules.

Registered Nurse: main tradeoff

Employment security is exceptional, but workload, burnout, and retention are central career risks rather than footnotes.

Which should you choose?

Nurse Practitioner has the higher national median pay in the BLS data. Nurse Practitioner has the higher projected 2024–2034 growth rate. The larger decision is whether you prefer the training path, work style, and occupation-specific tradeoffs of Nurse Practitioner or Registered Nurse.