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Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)

$236,590
median / year
$155,250 – $339,500
what most earn per year (10th–90th percentile)

What the job actually is

Give anesthesia and monitor patients before, during, and after surgery and other procedures.

You may also see this posted as: Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), Nurse Anesthetist, Staff Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (Staff CRNA), Staff Nurse Anesthetist.

Where you work

Operating rooms, hospitals, and clinics

The hours

Long shifts, on-call common

The day to day

What you'd actually spend time doing

  • Manage patients' airway or pulmonary status, using techniques such as endotracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation, pharmacological support, respiratory therapy, and extubation.
  • Respond to emergency situations by providing airway management, administering emergency fluids or drugs, or using basic or advanced cardiac life support techniques.
  • Monitor patients' responses, including skin color, pupil dilation, pulse, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, ventilation, or urine output, using invasive and noninvasive techniques.
  • Select, order, or administer anesthetics, adjuvant drugs, accessory drugs, fluids or blood products as necessary.
  • Select, prepare, or use equipment, monitors, supplies, or drugs for the administration of anesthetics.

Good fit if you like…

Social

helping, teaching, caring for, or supporting other people

Investigative

solving problems, analyzing evidence, and figuring out how things work

Realistic

working with tools, equipment, materials, or the physical world

O*NET job zone 5 of 5

Extensive preparation—often graduate education and significant experience—is common.

Work styles that matter most

Attention to DetailStress ToleranceDependabilityCautiousness

Software that shows up in the work

Examples employers report—not a checklist you must already know.

Epic SystemsPatient management softwareeClinicalWorks EHR softwareMEDITECH softwareMicrosoft WordAetherPalm InfusiCalc

By the numbers

May 2025 BLS wage & employment data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.

Median pay
$236,590
per year
Hourly median
$113.75
per hour
What most earn
$155,250–$339,500
yearly, 10th to 90th percentile
Openings a year
~2,700
projected, 2024–34
Outlook to 2034
+8.6%
Faster than average
Working in the U.S.
51,840
people, nationwide

Openings a year counts new jobs plus the ones that open when people retire or move on — a truer picture of your odds than growth alone.

“Median” means half earn more and half earn less. Your city, employer, and years on the job move it a lot — that is what the 10th-to-90th range shows.

BLS estimates 3.9% of workers in this occupation are self-employed.

What it pays in your state

Statewide medians are a better starting point than the national number. Your city and experience still matter.

BLS state wage tables

How you get in

Typical starting education

Master's degree

Training path: Master's or doctorate + CRNA cert.

Related work experience: None.

On-the-job training: None.

License or certification

Requires an RN background, a graduate degree, an APRN license, and national CRNA certification.

Check the path where you live

Licensing rules and available programs change by state. These federal tools take you to the current official listings.

What it takes

Anesthesia carePatient monitoringCritical thinkingComposure

The honest take

Among the highest-paid nursing roles, reached only after years as a registered nurse and advanced graduate training.

Standard Occupational Classification 29-1151. Pay and employment from the BLS May 2025 OEWS survey; outlook and openings from the 2024–34 employment projections; job context from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; tasks, interests, work styles, software examples, and job zone from O*NET 30.3. See something off? Tell us.