Nurse Anesthetists: Salary, Job Outlook & How to Become One (2026 Parent Guide)
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · SOC 29-1151 · O*NET 29-1151.00
Administer anesthesia, monitor patient's vital signs, and oversee patient recovery from anesthesia. May assist anesthesiologists, surgeons, other physicians, or dentists. Must be registered nurses who have specialized graduate education.
Nurse Anesthetists fall under the Healthcare Practitioners and Technical category in the U.S. occupational classification. Nurse Anesthetists earn a median salary of $223,210 per year, ranking in the top 1% of all U.S. occupations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects +8.6% job growth through 2034, projected to grow faster than the US average. Entry into this field typically requires a bachelor's degree followed by a master's or doctoral degree, with specific licensing or certification depending on the state and employer. For parents whose teenager is exploring this path, the most actionable step is mapping the education requirements to specific colleges and majors before junior year — not waiting until application season.
What parents should know about nurse anesthetists right now
Nurse anesthetists, known professionally as CRNAs (certified registered nurse anesthetists), administer anesthesia and provide pain management for surgeries and procedures across hospitals, surgical centers, dental offices, and pain clinics. They are advanced practice registered nurses, and CRNAs are the primary anesthesia providers in many rural U.S. hospitals and across the U.S. military. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook reports that employment of nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners as a group is projected to grow 35 percent from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations, with about 32,700 annual openings; the median annual wage for nurse anesthetists specifically was $212,650 in May 2024. The path requires a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, RN licensure, at least one year of critical care experience, and a doctoral degree (DNP or DNAP). As of 2025, every accredited nurse anesthesia program now confers a doctorate, formalizing what had been a phased transition. Demand drivers include the aging population, rising surgical volume, and the cost advantage of CRNAs in rural and ambulatory settings; many states have also expanded scope of practice. For a teen who is academically strong, calm under pressure, and drawn to patient-facing acute care, this is one of the highest-paid nursing pathways in the country. Parents can support the journey with strong high school science, exploration of BSN programs, and conversations about the multiyear ICU step before doctoral school.
What do nurse anesthetists earn?
The median annual wage for nurse anesthetists is $223,210. That puts nurse anesthetists at #5 on the BLS ranked list of all U.S. occupations by median pay. Nurse Anesthetists sit firmly in the top tier of U.S. earnings. Pay this high almost always requires extensive postgraduate education, board certification, or executive-level responsibility. Actual pay varies meaningfully by state, employer type, and years of experience — entry-level salaries are typically 30–40% below the median, while top-decile earners often exceed it by 50% or more.
| 10th percentile (entry-level) | $137,230 |
| 25th percentile | $187,110 |
| 50th percentile (median) | $223,210 |
| 75th percentile | — |
| 90th percentile (top earners) | — |
| Median hourly wage | $107.31/hr |
Is nurse anesthetists a growing career?
The 10-year outlook for nurse anesthetists is +8.6%, projected to grow faster than the US average. Employment is projected to move from approximately 53K positions in 2024 to 58K in 2034, a net change of 5K. Faster-than-average growth means hiring is consistently outpacing the labor market overall. New entrants generally find their first roles faster than peers in stable fields.
What do nurse anesthetists do every day?
According to O*NET task surveys of working nurse anesthetists, these are the core responsibilities most professionals perform. This is what your teen would actually be doing in this role.
- 1.Obtain informed consent from patients for anesthesia procedures.
- 2.Select and prescribe post-anesthesia medications or treatments to patients.
- 3.Discharge patients from post-anesthesia care.
- 4.Read current literature, talk with colleagues, and participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in nursing.
- 5.Request anesthesia equipment repairs, adjustments, or safety tests.
- 6.Disassemble and clean anesthesia equipment.
- 7.Respond to emergency situations by providing airway management, administering emergency fluids or drugs, or using basic or advanced cardiac life support techniques.
- 8.Monitor patients' responses, including skin color, pupil dilation, pulse, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, ventilation, or urine output, using invasive and noninvasive techniques.
Top skills for nurse anesthetists
O*NET ranks these as the most important skills for this occupation, on a 1–5 importance scale derived from worker surveys.
What education does my child need to become nurse anesthetist?
Becoming a nurse anesthetist typically requires a bachelor's degree followed by a master's, doctoral, or professional degree, plus state licensure or board certification depending on specialty. For parents helping a teen prepare, the highest-leverage step before junior year is identifying colleges and programs that feed reliably into this occupation — Solyo's college search lets parents filter by major and admissions data side by side.
Based on O*NET surveys of incumbents — what people in this job actually have, not what employers list as required.
Licensing requirements for nurse anesthetists
Nurse Anesthetists are regulated at the state level in the United States. Practicing without a current license is not legal in most jurisdictions.
Related careers your child might also consider
How parents help teens explore careers like this
Solyo helps parents map a teen's interests to specific careers, then back to the colleges and majors that lead there. Salary, outlook, and education data come from BLS and O*NET — the same sources high school counselors use — but presented for the parent's planning lens, not the student's exploration view.
Common questions parents ask about nurse anesthetists
What is the median salary for nurse anesthetists?
The median annual salary for nurse anesthetists is $223,210 according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Is nurse anesthetists a growing career?
BLS projects +8.6% growth for nurse anesthetists from 2024 through 2034, which is fast growth projected to grow faster than the US average.
What education does my child need to become nurse anesthetist?
The typical entry path requires a bachelor's degree followed by a master's or doctoral degree, plus any state licensure or certification specific to the role. Programs that align well with this career can be filtered inside Solyo's college search.
What careers are similar to nurse anesthetists?
Related occupations within the Healthcare Practitioners and Technical category share education paths and skill profiles, so they're a useful starting set when a teen is uncertain. The "Related careers" section below lists nearby options.
Salary data sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics program. Skills, tasks, and education distribution from the O*NET database. Job outlook from the BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 release.