New findings highlight regional pay differences, rising minimum rates, and targeted premiums for hard-to-fill shifts.
- Median national base pay for health care staff increased 3.1% from 2025 to 2026.
- Salary increase budgets held steady at 3.0% for the third consecutive year, with the same increase projected for 2027.
- Pay increases for registered nurses (RNs) continue to move faster than pay for other staff in nearly all regions, including a 7.4% increase in the West.
- 69% of organizations now maintain minimum pay rates above $15 per hour, up from just 16% in 2022.
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SullivanCotter, the nation’s leading independent consulting firm in the assessment and development of total rewards programs, workforce solutions, and data products for health care and not-for-profits, has released the latest benchmarks from its 2026 Health Care Staff Compensation Survey. This survey includes data from nearly 2,600 organizations representing 2.6 million clinical and non-clinical employees – making it one of the industry’s most comprehensive health care staff compensation resources for hospitals and health systems.
After several years of post-pandemic compensation volatility, the latest data suggests the broader market is settling into a more sustainable pattern. Median national base pay increased 3.1% from 2025 to 2026, compared with 4.3% the prior year. Meanwhile, the median salary increase budget remained at 3.0% for the third consecutive year, and organizations are projecting another 3.0% for 2027. Average salary structure adjustments reached 2.7% in 2026, up from 1.6% in 2025.
“While the broader market is becoming more stable, that does not mean the pressure has disappeared. Organizations have less need to make across-the-board compensation adjustments and more need to understand exactly where their workforce risks are. The challenge now is making increasingly targeted investments in the roles, markets, and skills that matter most,” said Kristina Hudson, Principal, SullivanCotter.
Nursing and Geographic Markets Continue to Create Pay Pressure
Regional pay trends reveal a more varied picture than the national data. Median base pay increases for health care staff varied considerably by region, ranging from 1.9% in the Northeast to 5.3% in the West. RNs experienced even greater movement, with increases reaching 7.4% in the West and exceeding 4% in the North Central, South Central, and Southeast regions.
Drilling down even deeper, the survey’s metro-level data further illustrates the importance of evaluating compensation within local labor markets.
- Median RN base pay in Los Angeles is approximately 46% above the national median, while New York City is 35% above and Boston is 28% above.
- For all staff positions, New York City and Los Angeles are 28% and 26% above the national median, respectively.
Critical Roles Require More Targeted Action
While most positions experienced relatively modest pay increases this year, pockets of significant pressure remain. Among jobs with positive changes in median hourly base pay from 2025 to 2026:
- 69% increased between 1% and 5%, which is generally consistent with current salary increase budgets
- Another 27% increased between 5% and 15%
- A small share (4%) increased 15% or more.
Roles experiencing some of the greatest movement span the workforce and include food service positions, LPNs in ambulatory care, specialty RNs, ECMO technicians, sleep technologists and research pharmacists.
“A number of these positions also compete directly with employers outside health care, adding an additional layer of pressure for hospitals and health systems. Rather than responding with across-the-board increases, organizations can use job-level market data to identify where targeted structure adjustments or off-cycle increases may be necessary to address recruitment and retention challenges,” said Alexa Haley, Senior Consultant, SullivanCotter.
Entry-Level Competition Pushes Minimum Rates Higher
Competition for entry-level workers also remains strong. In 2022, just 16% of organizations reported minimum pay rates above $15 per hour. By 2026, that figure had climbed to 69%.
Over the same period, the percentage paying exactly $15 per hour declined from 54% to 23%, while only 8% now report minimum rates below $15.
Fifteen dollars an hour has increasingly shifted from a destination to a starting point. While raising the baseline may help to address an immediate recruitment issue, organizations must also consider what happens to the jobs sitting just above it. Without a clear job and pay structure, those changes can quickly create compression and additional costs.
Premium Pay Remains an Important Staffing Tool
Organizations are also using premium pay more strategically, directing additional compensation toward shifts and employee populations where coverage is most critical, rather than applying uniform premiums across the workforce.
Shift differential data shows particularly strong premiums for RNs during difficult-to-fill shifts. The median flat-dollar differential for a staff RN working a weekend night is $7.00 per hour, compared with $3.25 across all jobs. Weekend evening differentials are $5.50 for RNs compared with $2.75 across all jobs. Across organizations, 53% use flat-dollar shift differentials, while other organizations use a percentage of hourly pay, a flat hourly rate or a combination of approaches.
“As the post-COVID era continues, and in line with broader budget normalization, organizations are taking a closer look at their premium programs to ensure rate structures are internally consistent, financially sustainable, and competitive enough to attract and retain the talent needed to maintain optimal staffing levels,” Haley added.
What’s Next?
Looking ahead to 2027, the survey findings point to a more deliberate phase of workforce management. While compensation remains critical to attracting and retaining employees, health care organizations are confronting a broader set of interconnected issues: staffing shortages, burnout, rising labor costs, different total rewards preferences by generation, pay transparency requirements and rapid technological change.
“Health care organizations cannot solve these challenges by simply paying more. As financial pressures increase, the opportunity is to connect compensation with the overall employee value proposition, including career development, skills, and total rewards. Employees need to understand not only what they are paid today, but how they can grow, develop new skills, and advance within the organization,” said Hudson.
About SullivanCotter
SullivanCotter partners with health care and other not-for-profit organizations to understand what drives performance and improves outcomes through the development and implementation of integrated workforce strategies. Using our time-tested methodologies and industry-leading research and information, we provide data-driven insights, expertise, and data products to help organizations align business strategy and performance objectives–enabling our clients to deliver on their mission, vision, and values.
For more information on SullivanCotter’s surveys, please visit our website at http://www.sullivancotter.com or contact us via email or by phone at 888.739.7039.
Note to media: Additional data and interviews are available on request.
Contacts
Becky Lorentz
SullivanCotter
[email protected]
314.414.3719
Amy Fisher
Padilla
[email protected]
612.455.1773
