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Nursery Manager Salary in the United States

How much does a Nursery Manager make in the United States?

As of September 01, 2026, the average salary for a Nursery Manager in the United States is $132,647 per year, which breaks down to an hourly rate of $64.

However, a Nursery Manager's salary can vary significantly. Here’s a look at the typical salary range:

  • Top Earners (90th percentile): $156,220
  • Majority Range (25th-75th percentile): $120,607 to $144,986
  • Entry-Level (10th percentile): $109,645
Salary Factors Salary-Boosting Skills Salary by Experience Related Job Salaries Top Paying Cities Explore Related Jobs

Key Factors That Influence Nursery Manager Salaries

A Nursery Manager's salary isn't a fixed number. It's shaped by several important factors. Below, we'll explore how your years of experience, geographic location, education and company size can directly affect your earning potential.

How Experience Level Affects Nursery Manager Salaries?

Experience is a primary driver of a Nursery Manager's salary. As you build your skills and take on more complex tasks, your compensation generally increases. Here's how the average salary grows at different career stages:

  • Entry-Level (less than 1 year): $101,658
  • Early Career (1-2 years): $115,488
  • Mid-Level (2-4 years): $135,155
  • Senior-Level (5-8 years): $163,727
  • Expert (over 8 years): $201,098
Levels Salary
Charge Nu... Level Nursery Manager$101,658
Nursing S... Level Nursery Manager$115,488
Nursery M... Level Nursery Manager$135,155
Nursing S... Level Nursery Manager$163,727
Nursing D... Level Nursery Manager$201,098
View as Graph

How Do Nursery Manager Salaries Vary from State to State?

Your salary can change significantly depending on where you work. States with a higher cost of living and strong industrial sectors often pay more to attract Nursery Managers. For example, consider the average annual salaries in these key locations:
  • District of Columbia: $146,867.
  • California: $146,310.
  • Massachusetts: $144,360.

Top Paying Cities for Nursery Managers

Salaries can also vary between different cities. Major metropolitan areas or cities with a high demand for technicians often offer more competitive pay. Here are a few examples of average annual salaries in different U.S. cities:

  • San Jose: $167,308
  • San Francisco: $165,476
  • Oakland: $161,989

What Skills Can Increase a Nursery Manager's Salary?

Demanded Skills for the Role:

  • Leadership (Mentioned in 9.73% Job Postings): Knowledge of and ability to employ effective strategies that motivate and guide other members within our business to achieve optimum results.
  • Acute Care (Mentioned in 2.58% Job Postings): Acute care is a branch of secondary health care where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for a severe injury or episode of illness, an urgent medical condition, or during recovery from surgery. In medical terms, care for acute health conditions is the opposite from chronic care, or longer term care. Acute care services are generally delivered by teams of health care professionals from a range of medical and surgical specialties. Acute care may require a stay in a hospital emergency department, ambulatory surgery center, urgent care centre or other short-term stay facility, along with the assistance of diagnostic services, surgery, or follow-up outpatient care in the community. Hospital-based acute inpatient care typically has the goal of discharging patients as soon as they are deemed healthy and stable. Acute care settings include emergency department, intensive care, coronary care, cardiology, neonatal intensive care, and many general areas where the patient could become acutely unwell and require stabilization and transfer to another higher dependency unit for further treatment.
  • Assisted Living (Mentioned in 1.48% Job Postings): Assisted living exemplifies the shift from "care as service" to "care as business" in the broader health care arena predicted more than three decades ago. A consumer-driven industry, assisted living offers a wide range of options, levels of care, and diversity of services (Lockhart, 2009) and is subject to state rather than federal regulatory oversight. "Assisted living" means depends on both the state and provider in question: variations in state regulatory definitions are significant and provider variables include everything from philosophy, geographic location and auspice, to organizational size and structure.
Skills Demand Percentage
Leadership 9.73%
Acute Care 2.58%
Assisted Living 1.48%
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What skills can make your compensation higher?

Mastering certain specialized skills can lead to a significant increase in pay. Here are examples of skills and the potential impact they can have on a Nursery Manager's salary.

  • Risk Management: Can increase your salary by up to 7%.
  • Alignment: Can increase your salary by up to 4%.
  • Clinical Nursing: Can increase your salary by up to 3%.
Skill Salary Salary % Increase
Risk Management $141,932
7%
Alignment $137,953
4%
Clinical Nursing $136,626
3%
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Nursery Manager Salary by Industry: Top Paying Sectors

For Nursery Manager roles, the industry you choose can impact your earning potential by as much as 40% (the gap between the highest and lowest paying industries). Data shows that the highest-paying industry, Healthcare, offers compensation 20% above the average. Conversely, Nursery Manager positions in Business Services typically offer lower base pay, as this sector often view Nursery Manager as a support function rather than a direct revenue driver.

The top paying industry for a Nursery Manager

Industry Sector Average Annual Salary Average Hourly Rate Pay vs.Avg
Healthcare$159,176$77.020%

How Education impacts a Nursery Manager's Salary?

Your level of education can impact your salary potential. While many Nursery Managers enter the field with a Bachelor's Degree degree, higher education can lead to more specialized and higher-paying roles.

According to our 100% employer-reported salary data, the median salary for a Nursery Manager with a Bachelor's Degree is between $119,641 and $126,006).

Nursery Manager Salaries by Degree Level

Typical Education for Nursery Manager
Degree Level % of user with this level of education
No Diploma 0.3%
High School 3.5%
Associates 23.8%
Bachelors 46.0%
Masters 25.6%
Doctorate 0.9%
View as Graph

Nursery Manager Salary: Hourly Rate, Weekly Pay, and Monthly Pay

Understanding how a Nursery Manager's annual salary breaks down can help with budgeting. Below, you can see the average hourly rate, weekly pay, and monthly pay for this role. Use the buttons to switch between different pay periods.

Last Updated on September 01, 2026
$120,607
Average $132,647/year
$144,986
$10,051
Average $11,054/month
$12,082
$2,319
Average $2,551/week
$2,788
$58
Average $64/hour
$70
Annual Salary Monthly Pay Weekly Pay Hourly Wage
75th Percentile $144,986 $12,082 $2,788 $70
Average $132,647 $11,054 $2,551 $64
25th Percentile $120,607 $10,051 $2,319 $58

Most common benefits for Nursery Manager

  • Social Security
  • 401 (k)
  • Disability
  • Healthcare
  • Pension
  • Time Off (days)

Common company salaries for Nursery Manager

Here are companies hiring for Nursery Manager and their salaries, click below for more details.

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FAQ about Nursery Manager

1. What industry pays the highest salary for Nursery Manager?

The Healthcare industry offers the highest average compensation for Nursery Manager roles, with salaries approximately 20% above the market median.

Where Does Our Salary Data Come From?

Salary.com provides salary estimates, histograms, trends, and comparisons using data from employer job postings and third-party sources.

We offer detailed salary information across multiple percentiles for your reference. (Click here to learn Why the Salary Midpoint Formula Is Crucial for Achieving Pay Equity.)

With the most extensive online, real-time compensation data available, Salary.com helps you pinpoint your exact pay target.

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