Nursing has long carried a certain stereotype: you won't get rich, but the pay is steady, the bills get covered, and there's a sense of security that comes with the scrubs. That's what one 28-year-old in Omaha, Nebraska, thought she was signing up for. Instead, she says the reality looks nothing like the job description she imagined.
In the Nursing subreddit, she posted under the title "Anyone else struggling immensely financially?" and laid out her situation bluntly: "Hi, I have been a nurse for 2.5 years and thought as soon as I became a nurse, my financial situation would get better. Boy, was I wrong." Despite earning $31.85 an hour, she explained that "approximately 75% of my income goes to bills and rent. Can't catch a break and it's miserable." She later added in an edit that after paying off a debt, "it will be more like 65% of my income goes toward bills."
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Suggestions rolled in quickly. One Omaha nurse said weekends are the secret: "Honestly if you are single without kids look for weekender positions. I'm in the Omaha area making $55/hr just by doing weekends." She replied that she had already been weighing her options: "I've thought about it. May get a side gig."
The stories that followed showed her struggle isn't unique. A Maryland nurse said, "I'm 5 years in, in Maryland, making 41.50 an hour and struggling. You're not alone." Another described how, even after canceling subscriptions, shopping only sales, and selling personal items, their account hit zero and their savings dropped to $8: "Why am I this broke?"
Others injected sarcasm to drive the point home. "I've fed four children, three cats, grown raspberries, and financed a house on what you make. It's easy! All you have to do is live in a park near work, buy bulk ramen, and never think about having any fun whatsoever." Then came the reality check: "Rent and cost of living is through the roof even in ‘LCOL' places. You can't budget your way out of being underpaid."
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And even in higher-paying states, the pattern looked the same. "I make way more than I ever imagined 20 years ago when in nursing school. But me and my husband still live paycheck to paycheck. I hate it," said a nurse in New Jersey. A traveling nurse captured the mood with gallows humor: "I hate to say I'm ‘drowning'… but I definitely am a few beers in at the wrong side of the pool kind of situation."
Nationally, registered nurses average about $98,430 a year, or $47.32 an hour, according to data from Nursa. Her $31.85 hourly wage also falls below Nebraska's own average. Registered nurses there typically earn about $82,890 a year, or $39.85 an hour—a gap that makes her struggle stand out even more.
Omaha's cost of living may be lower than the national average, but not enough to soften the blow. RentCafe reports housing runs about 18% cheaper than the U.S. norm, yet average rents hover around $1,300 a month, with groceries and utilities only slightly discounted. When three-quarters of every paycheck is already spoken for, "affordable" quickly becomes relative.
For this nurse, the career that was supposed to offer stability has turned into a juggling act of bills and side-gig considerations—an experience many of her nursing peers admit feels all too familiar.
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