CRNA Salary 2026: What Nurse Anesthesiologists Really Earn

Everybody wants the number. Not the range, not the caveat, not the “well, it depends.” The number. So here it is. Full-time CRNAs averaged around $248,000 in 2024. But what actually lands in your account comes down to where you work, how you’re set up, and whether you’ve done the 1099 math yet. We’ll get into all of it.

Average CRNA Salary in 2026

Two solid sources land in the same neighborhood. The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology’s 2024 Compensation and Benefits Survey reports a median around $251,000 for full-time CRNAs.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics backs that up. Its May 2024 wage data puts the mean annual wage for nurse anesthetists at about $248,000, with the bottom 10% near $155,000 and the top 10% above $339,000. One honest caveat before the breakdowns below: the by-setting and by-state numbers that follow are approximate ranges drawn from BLS and industry compensation data, and real pay swings hard with region, setting, and W-2 versus 1099. Treat them as ballparks, not promises.

CRNA Salary by Practice Setting

Setting	Typical Range
Hospital employed (W-2)	$160,000 to $220,000
Anesthesia group (1099)	$180,000 to $280,000
Independent contractor (short-term contracts)	$220,000 to $400,000+
CRNA-owned practice	$200,000 to $500,000+
Military / VA	$130,000 to $180,000 + benefits
CRNA school faculty	$120,000 to $160,000

CRNA Salary by State

Where you practice can move the number by $70,000 or more. And it’s not always the states you’d guess. Rural states and high cost-of-living markets both push pay up, just for completely different reasons.

State	Mean Annual Salary
Wyoming	$276,000
Montana	$265,000
Oregon	$258,000
Wisconsin	$250,000
California	$245,000
Texas	$215,000
Florida	$198,000
New York	$205,000

W-2 vs. 1099: What Is the Real Difference?

W-2 employment gives you the safe, predictable setup. Benefits like health insurance, a retirement match, malpractice coverage, and a paycheck you can plan your life around. The catch is you take home less, and you’ve got less room to move.

1099 contractor work usually pays more than the same job as a W-2, because now you’re covering your own taxes, your own malpractice, your own benefits. And honestly, for a lot of CRNAs the math works hard in your favor once you run it, especially if you’re maxing out tax-advantaged accounts as a self-employed person. That’s the part people don’t realize until they sit down and actually do it.

Short-term contract work is where the real money is for most CRNAs. You contract through an agency or straight with a facility for short assignments, and you’re typically paid by the hour or by the day. In the high-demand markets the hourly rates run well above what those same hours pay as staff, and a lot of the time travel and housing are covered on top of that.

Is the CRNA Salary Worth the Investment?

Let’s be real about what it costs to get here. School runs $50,000 to $120,000 in tuition depending on the program, and then there’s 28 to 36 months of income you’re not making because you walked away from your ICU job. Add it all up and for some people the lost wages and tuition together hit $300,000 to $400,000. That’s a lot of blood, sweat, and tears before you ever pick up your first case as a CRNA.

Here’s the other side of it. With a median starting salary of $170,000 to $190,000 and a ceiling well over $300,000, most CRNAs make that money back inside 3 to 5 years of graduating. The long game is strong, especially if you go the 1099 route and start investing hard early.