Nurse Salary Abroad: What 7 Governments Publish
Cross-agency · employment
Quick answer
Seven destinations publish nurse pay officially: a USD 97,550 median in the United States, CAD 43.27 an hour in Canada, a A$32.09 award floor in Australia, NZ$77,667 to NZ$109,407 in New Zealand, Band 5 in the UK, S$5,276 in Singapore and EUR 4,310 in Germany.
Every figure on this page is from official published documents: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Government of Canada, Job Bank and 2 more.
Last verified 4 sources, listed below
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | Occupational Outlook Handbook, Registered Nurses1 · Government of Canada, Job Bank | Registered Nurse (R.N.) in Canada, Wages2 · NHS Employers | Pay scales for 2026/273 · Fair Work Ombudsman | Nurses Award 2020 [MA000034]4. PHGuides is independent and not affiliated with any agency.
Most pages promising a nurse salary abroad quote a jobs board. Seven destinations publish the figure themselves, either through a statistics agency or in a signed agreement, and those are the ones this page carries.
They are not comparable to each other. Read what each one measures before putting two side by side.
What each government publishes
| Destination | Headline figure | What it measures | As at |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | USD 97,550 a year, USD 46.90 an hour | Median across the occupation | May 2025 |
| Canada | CAD 43.27 an hour | Prevailing median | Nov 2025 |
| New Zealand | NZ$77,667 to NZ$109,407 | Agreed step ladder, 7 steps | 2 Mar 2026 |
| United Kingdom | £32,073 to £39,043, Band 5 | Agreed step ladder | 1 Apr 2026 |
| Singapore | S$5,276 a month | Median gross, residents only | Jun 2024 |
| Germany | EUR 4,310 a month | Occupational group average | Apr 2024 |
| Australia | A$1,219.50 a week, A$32.09 an hour | Legal minimum, not typical pay | 1 Jul 2026 |
The four kinds of number
Putting a median beside a legal minimum and calling it a comparison is the single most common error in this subject. There are four different things in the table above.
| Kind | Destinations | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Median across everyone in the job | United States, Canada, Singapore | Half earn more, half earn less |
| Agreed step ladder | United Kingdom, New Zealand | Exactly what you will be paid, and when it rises |
| Legal minimum | Australia | The floor, not the offer |
| Group average | Germany | The middle of a broad occupational group |
Australia’s A$32.09 an hour is the least generous-looking figure in the table and also the least informative, because it is the lowest an employer may lawfully pay rather than what anyone is actually paid. Most Australian nurses sit above it on a state or enterprise agreement that Fair Work does not publish.
Where the ladders end up
The two destinations that publish a full ladder are the two where you can see the whole career in advance.
| Bottom | Top | Steps | Time to top | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom, NHS Band 5 | £32,073 | £39,043 | 3 points | 4 years |
| United Kingdom, Band 6 | £39,959 | £48,117 | 3 points | 5 years |
| New Zealand, registered nurse | NZ$77,667 | NZ$109,407 | 7 steps | 6 years |
New Zealand has already printed the next round: the same steps pay NZ$79,221 and NZ$111,596 from 2 March 2027. The UK award for 2026/27 was 3.3 percent, effective 1 April 2026.
What none of them tells you
No conversion. Nothing on this page is converted to pesos, because a rate on the day you read it is not the rate on the day a source published, and a converted number is one no source stands behind.
No cost of living. A higher figure in a more expensive city is not more money in hand. None of these sources publishes housing, tax or living costs alongside the wage.
No entry rules. All seven regulate nursing, and every one of them handles registration, credential recognition and language testing outside the document that publishes the pay. None of it is stated here.
No figure for a newly arrived foreign nurse. Singapore’s dataset covers residents only and says so plainly. The rest cover everyone in the occupation without separating by nationality or visa.
The Philippine side is the same everywhere
Whatever the destination decides about entry, the exit documents are the Philippine government’s and the schedule does not change by country.
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| DMW processing, direct hire | USD 100, in peso equivalent |
| DMW processing, manual OEC through a landbased agency | ₱200.00 |
| OWWA membership | USD 25 |
| Pag-IBIG | ₱600.00 |
Charging above the allowable schedule is illegal recruitment under RA 10022, carrying 12 years and 1 day to 20 years and a fine of ₱1,000,000.00 to ₱2,000,000.00, and a placement fee loan may not bear interest above 8% per annum.
The recruitment agencies guide covers the DMW licence directory, the deployment bans and placement fees guide covers when no fee may be charged at all, the work visa requirements guide explains the split between what DMW controls and what it does not, and the OEC guide covers the exit certificate itself.
Related
The caregiver salary abroad comparison does the same for caregiving, where far fewer destinations publish anything, the PEOS guide covers the free pre-employment seminar to take before applying anywhere, the medical exam for abroad guide covers the clinic step every destination requires, and the OWWA membership guide covers the USD 25 that buys the benefit package.
Frequently asked questions
- Which country pays nurses the most?
- This page cannot answer that, and no honest page can from published data alone. The seven sources use different bases, periods and currencies, and none of them is converted here. What the page does is show what each government actually publishes so you can compare like with like where that is possible.
- What does each source actually measure?
- The United States and Singapore publish a median across everyone in the occupation. Canada publishes prevailing low, median and high. Australia publishes a legal minimum. The UK and New Zealand publish a step ladder agreed with unions. Germany publishes an occupational group average.
- Why are the figures not converted to pesos?
- Because a conversion needs an exchange rate, and the rate on the day you read this is not the rate on the day a source published. Adding one would put a number on the page that no source stands behind.
- Which figures are floors rather than typical pay?
- Australia's. The Nurses Award sets what an employer may lawfully pay at minimum, A$1,219.50 a week or A$32.09 an hour for a registered nurse level 1. Most Australian nurses are paid above it under a state or enterprise agreement.
- Which are the most predictable?
- The UK and New Zealand, because both publish a named step and the date it changes. An NHS Band 5 runs from £32,073 to £39,043, and a New Zealand registered nurse from NZ$77,667 to NZ$109,407 with the next increase already printed for 2 March 2027.
- Do any of these cover a nurse arriving from the Philippines?
- Only indirectly. Singapore's dataset covers residents only and says so. The others cover everyone in the occupation without separating by nationality or visa, so none of them is a figure for a newly arrived foreign nurse specifically.
- Does the Philippine side change by destination?
- No. The OEC, OWWA membership and the licensed agency or qualifying direct hire rule apply the same way to all seven, because they are Philippine exit requirements rather than destination entry requirements.
- How often do these change?
- The UK and New Zealand on named dates, 1 April and 2 March respectively. Australia at the annual wage review, currently 1 July 2026. The United States, Canada, Singapore and Germany when the statistical agency publishes its next round, which is annual but not on a date you can plan around.