Nurse Practitioner Salary in Georgia for 2025

Written By: Pattie Trumble, MPP, MPH

The average nurse practitioner salary in Georgia reflects the fact that NPs practicing in the Peach State have one of the most limited scopes of practice in the U.S. (As an example of just how restrictive Georgia’s laws are in this regard, Georgia is the only state in the US that doesn’t allow NPs to order routine imaging tests.) According to Ga. Rules & Regs. §410-11-.14, nurse practitioners can only practice under the terms of written protocols with delegating physicians, and delegating physicians must review the records of all patients an NP treats at least once quarterly. Furthermore, delegating physicians are legally liable for all care delivered by NPs. What this means, essentially, is that even though Georgia is currently suffering from a severe shortage of primary healthcare providers, Georgia NPs cannot take up the slack. How much does a nurse practitioner make in Georgia? This article will give you an in-depth look at the nurse practitioner salary in Georgia for 2025.

What is the Starting Salary of a Nurse Practitioner in Georgia?

To a large degree, entry-level salaries are determined by demand. On average, the entry-level nurse practitioner salary in Georgia is $39.71 an hour, which multiplies out to $6,880 a month or $82,590 annually. This is more than 37 percent less than the average entry-level NP salary for all parts of the U.S. ($131,543). Since NPs in the Peach State can’t practice independently without physician oversight, their effectiveness as primary care physician substitutes is hampered, and demand for their services may be lower than it might otherwise be.

The starting nurse practitioner salary in Georgia is also influenced by NP specialty. Neonatal nurse practitioners, for example, make an average entry-level salary of $75,658, which is 5 percent higher than the average entry-level salary for all NPs in the Peach State.

What is the Average Salary of a Nurse Practitioner in Georgia?

What is the average salary of a nurse practitioner in Georgia? The average salary of a nurse practitioner in Georgia is $115,440, which breaks down to $9,620 a month or $55.50 hourly. While this is nearly 12 percent less than the average salary of all NPs working through the U.S. ($131,543), it’s still 111 percent higher than the average salary for all occupations across the U.S. ($54,532). NPs are among the Peach State’s highest-paid workers. Georgia ranks 24th out of the 50 states in terms of NP salary.

Average salaries in a particular location reflect the local cost of living. One of the perks of living in the Peach State is that the cost of living is approximately 2 percent below the national average. As an NP in Georgia, you may make less than the national average, but the dollars you earn will stretch farther. The median cost of housing in Georgia, for example, is 18 percent lower than it is in the rest of the country.

Other considerations that affect the average salary of a nurse practitioner in Georgia include experience, practice setting, NP specialty, and local demand. Experienced NPs earn higher salaries than NPs straight out of school because education is no substitute for practice when it comes to hands-on clinical skills. In practice settings like outpatient care clinics where nurse practitioners end up making a bigger contribution to the bottom line, they end up being paid more. And in cities like Atlanta where multiple healthcare employers are competing for their services, NPs also end up with more money in their pockets.

Nurse Practitioner Salary in Georgia by Years of Experience

By the time you’ve worked as a nurse practitioner in the Peach State for four years, you can expect to earn approximately $101,780 annually, which is 23 percent higher than the average NP entry-level salary of $82,590. As a nurse practitioner with two or more decades of experience, your annual $148,710 salary will be nearly 80% what you earned as an entry-level nurse practitioner.

Somewhere between 10 and 19 years of experience, you’ll hit the $129,460 mark, which is the average salary for NPs at all levels of experience in Georgia. Thereafter, your salary differential won’t increase as dramatically. NPs with five to nine years of experience only make 10 percent more than NPs with one to four years of experience while NPs with five to nine years of experience only make 13 percent less than NPs with 10 to 19 years of experience.

Total Annual Nurse Practitioner Compensation (Including Other Benefits) in Georgia

But salary alone does not tell the complete story of nurse practitioner compensation in the Peach State. Nurse practitioners also receive generous benefits from their employers. Benefits are compensation over and above salary.

For NPs working in Georgia’s private sector healthcare industry, these benefits on average are equivalent to $48,775 annually, an amount that equals 42 percent of the cash value of their average annual salary. NPs working for state and local governments in Georgia get an even better deal: their average benefits are equivalent to $70,999 annually, an amount that equals 62 percent of the cash value of their average annual salary. In contrast, benefits make up 32 percent of an employee’s total compensation across all occupations in the U.S.

Nurse practitioner compensation falls into two categories: legally mandated benefits and benefits that are provided at an employer’s discretion. The former category includes things like workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance; the latter category includes things like medical insurance, retirement contributions, and paid time off as well as perks like liability insurance and paid leave for professional activities.

When you’re evaluating a salary offer, it’s always advisable to look at the benefits that are bundled with that salary. For example: At first glance, a job at a local municipal community clinic that pays $115,350 a year may not appear to be as good a financial bet as a job at a hospital that pays $115,450 a year. But when you add the value of the associated benefits to the compensation package, the government job pays $186,349 a year while the private job pays $164,225.

Nurse Practitioner Salary in Georgia by Practice Setting

Outpatient care centers are the practice settings that pay the highest average nurse practitioner salary in Georgia. Outpatient care centers include in-and-out surgery centers, outpatient clinics in hospitals, and urgent care clinics. They are one of the biggest revenue generators in today’s healthcare environment, and NPs who work for them are well-compensated: On average these Georgia NPs make $59.67 an hour, which works out to $124,100 a year. Hospital-based nurse practitioners in the Peach State earn $57.57 an hour or $119,750 annually, which is 4 percent less than their counterparts who work in outpatient care settings.

The majority of Georgia’s practicing nurse practitioners work out of physicians’ offices, which makes sense given the restrictions the Peach State places on NP scope of practice. These NPs make $54.26 an hour or $112,850 annually, which is 6 percent less than hospital-based NPs in Georgia. It is likely that nurse practitioners affiliated with physicians’ offices are the lowest compensated NPs in Georgia because even though nurse practitioners working in educational settings are paid lower salaries, these NPs probably have much more generous benefits, making their total compensation packages quite competitive.

Nurse Practitioner Salary in Georgia by Specialty

1. Adult Gerontology-Acute Care Nurse Practitioner:

Adult gerontology-acute care nurse practitioners specialize in the care of patients whose critical illnesses or injuries require hospitalization. Many Georgia residents are high utilizers of hospital services— one in 10 Georgia adults has diabetes, and Georgia has the 14th highest rate of cardiovascular disease in the nation—so AG-ACNPs have plenty of job opportunities in the Peach State. The average adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner pay in Georgia is $56.02 an hour or $116,520 a year.

Hourly	$56.02
Annual	$116,520

2. Adult Gerontology-Primary Care Nurse Practitioner:

The average adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner salary in Georgia is $52.97 an hour or $110,180 a year. Georgia is facing a serious shortage of primary care providers, particularly in rural areas. It’s been estimated that more than 80% of Georgia counties contain areas where residents are without a single primary care provider. While AG-PCNPs have the training and the skills to help bridge that healthcare gap, until the state grants them more practice authority, they won’t be able to do so effectively.

Hourly	$52.97
Annual	$110,180

3. Dermatology Nurse Practitioner:

Most of the Peach State’s dermatology nurse practitioners work with dermatology practices throughout the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. The average dermatology nurse practitioner salary in Georgia is $55.24 an hour or $114,910 annually. Dermatology NPs make relatively high salaries because, over time, they attract their own patient following within the dermatology practice with which they are affiliated. They are compensated highly because of the role they play in generating revenue for the practice.

Hourly	$55.24
Annual	$114,910

4. Family Nurse Practitioner:

Georgia’s family nurse practitioners specialize in front-line healthcare services such as health maintenance, disease prevention, and health education. Collectively, this bundle of care is referred to as “primary care.” FNPs are trained to work with patients across the lifespan, from infants to senior citizens.

More than 13 counties in Georgia have either one primary care physician or no primary care physician, and 129 out of the Peach State’s 159 counties contain regions identified by the federal government as “primary care health professional shortage areas.” There are no physicians in these areas, in other words, with whom Georgia nurse practitioners can enter into protocol agreements. This means that despite their extensive training and skills, Georgia’s NPs can’t provide necessary healthcare services to the residents who need them the most. The average family nurse practitioner salary in Georgia is $54.96 an hour or just under $114,300 a year.

Hourly	$54.96
Annual	$114,300

5. Neonatal Nurse Practitioner:

Neonatal nurse practitioners specialize in the care of medically fragile newborns in intensive care nursery settings. The average neonatal nurse practitioner salary in Georgia is $58.98 an hour or $122,680 a year, making NNPs the highest-paid nurse practitioners in Georgia. The incidence of pre-term births keeps rising in the Peach State. In 2013, 10.7 of Georgia’s births were premature; by 2019, that number had grown to 11.7 percent. Georgia’s NNPs make high salaries because the demand for their services is high.

Hourly	$58.98
Annual	$122,680

6. Pediatric-Acute Care Nurse Practitioner:

Pediatric-acute care nurse practitioners work with critically ill children and teens in intensive care hospital settings. Many of them have the skills to work in intensive care nurseries as well, which makes them effective substitutes for neonatal nurse practitioners. Most P-ACNPs in the Peach State are employed by health systems in Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah, and Macon. On average, the pediatric-acute care nurse practitioner salary in Georgia is $57.48 an hour or $119,570 annually.

Hourly	$57.48
Annual	$119,570

7. Pediatric-Primary Care Nurse Practitioner:

Pediatric-primary care nurse practitioners are trained to provide front-line health services such as health maintenance and disease prevention to children and teenagers. Many children in Georgia outside the Atlanta metro area face real challenges when it comes to accessing high-quality healthcare. Making the P-PCNP scope of practice independent of physician oversight would help these children get the care they need. The average pediatric-primary care nurse practitioner salary in Georgia is $53.22 an hour or $110,700 a year.

Hourly	$53.22
Annual	$110,700

8. Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP):

Georgia has a shortage of mental healthcare providers: 78 counties don’t have a single practicing psychiatrist. The state ranks 47th in the nation in terms of access to mental healthcare providers. It’s also one of the top 11 states for prescription opioid deaths. The Peach State is facing the type of mental health crisis, in other words, that psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners are qualified to address since these professionals work with patients who have mental health issues or substance abuse disorders. Like other NP specialties, however, the effectiveness of Georgia’s P-MHNPs is greatly hindered by the restrictions placed on their practice authority. The average psychiatric nurse practitioner salary in Georgia is $57.87 an hour or $120,370 a year.

Hourly	$57.87
Annual	$120,370

9. Women's Health Nurse Practitioner:

Women’s health nurse practitioners are trained in the provision of gynecological care and wellness. In Georgia, most WHNPs are working in OB-GYN practices, women’s health clinics, and community clinics throughout metro Atlanta and its suburbs. The average nurse practitioner salary in Georgia for women’s health nurse practitioners is $53.22 an hour, which works out to $110,700 a year.

Hourly	$53.22
Annual	$110,700

Nurse Practitioner Salary in Georgia by City

1. Atlanta:

Throughout the greater Atlanta metropolitan area, issues such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and the prevalence of low birthweight births are closely correlated with poverty levels, which speaks to a diminished access to primary healthcare services among low-income residents. Atlanta is home to many first-class medical centers, though, such as Emory University Hospital, Emory St. Joseph’s Hospital, and Piedmont Atlanta Hospital. Competition for qualified NPs among these healthcare providers drives up the average nurse practitioner salary in Atlanta. NPs in the Big Peach make $55.65 an hour or $115,750 annually.

Hourly	$55.65
Annual	$115,750

2. Augusta:

The average salary of a nurse practitioner in Augusta, GA, is just under $111,660 a year, which works out to just over $53.68 an hour. Health issues that impact residents of Augusta and surrounding parts of Richmond County include obesity, diabetes, and cardio/cerebrovascular disease. The city also struggles with escalating rates of opioid and methamphetamine abuse. Augusta’s top-ranked hospitals include University Hospital-Augusta, Aiken Regional Medical Centers, and Augusta University Medical Center.

Hourly	$53.68
Annual	$111,660

3. Columbus:

Columbus is an army town, dominated by the Fort Benning military base. Its median income is 22 percent less than the state’s median income, and more than 21 percent of its residents live beneath the poverty line. Interestingly, though, the salary of a nurse practitioner in Columbus is the highest in the state: $55.73 an hour or $115,910. This may reflect the fact that many of its nurse practitioners work for the Veterans Administration, which operates under federal guidelines. Nurse practitioners who work for the federal government enjoy full practice autonomy.

Hourly	$55.73
Annual	$115,910

4. Macon:

According to a recent joint report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute, Macon and surrounding Bibb County are one of the unhealthiest places in Georgia. Nearly 30 percent of Macon’s residents live beneath the poverty line. Smoking, obesity, and alcohol abuse are prevalent, and so are the diseases associated with these behaviors. The average NP salary in Macon, GA, is $53.11 an hour or $110,470 a year.

Hourly	$53.11
Annual	$110,470

5. Savannah:

Residents of Savannah have a higher than average risk of developing diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or experiencing a stroke. Twenty-four percent of its residents live in poverty. Since the state did not elect to implement the Medicaid expansion associated with the Affordable Care Act, many Savannah residents cannot afford health insurance and so, have limited access to primary healthcare services. The average NP salary in Savannah, GA, is $109,730 annually or $52.75 an hour.

Hourly	$52.75
Annual	$109,730

NP Pay in Georgia VS. Other Nursing Careers

Attending one of the best nurse practitioner programs in Georgia is a worthwhile investment. On average, NPs make nearly 36 percent more than registered nurses in the Peach State. The average yearly RN salary is $85,180 a year whereas the average nurse practitioner salary in Georgia is $115,440.

NP Pay in Georgia VS. Other Healthcare Careers

In Georgia, nurse practitioners make significantly less than dentists, podiatrists, pharmacists, and optometrists. To some degree, this reflects the fact that most NPs have a master’s degree while dentists, podiatrists, pharmacists, and optometrists complete doctoral-level programs. In 2004, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing recommended replacing the Master of Nursing Science degree with the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree as the educational benchmark for all advanced practice nurses, including nurse practitioners. If this recommendation is implemented fully, you can expect to see NP pay in Georgia rise in comparison with other healthcare careers.

Why is the Outlook Bright for Nurse Practitioner Salary in Georgia?

In 2014, the Georgia Department of Labor projected that the nurse practitioner career track would be one of the fastest-growing occupations in the state throughout the ensuing decade, with a 53 percent growth rate. There is a desperate need for primary care providers, particularly in rural areas of the state. Although House Bill 1092, currently in front of the Georgia legislature, doesn’t address full practice authority for NPs in the Peach State, if passed, it will improve their ability to practice to the full extent of their education and their training. All these things seem to indicate the average nurse practitioner salary in Georgia will keep going up.

Summing It Up

How much does a nurse practitioner make in Georgia? The average salary of a nurse practitioner in Georgia for 2025 is $115,440, but this figure varies widely according to the geographical location where you work and the number of years you’ve been working in your profession. If you’re looking for additional ways to increase your take-home pay, consider pursuing specific certifications within your chosen specialty.

TOP QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY OUR EXPERT

1. How many Nurse Practitioners are currently employed in Georgia?

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 8,110 nurse practitioners are employed throughout the state of Georgia.

2. How much does a nurse practitioner make per hour in Georgia?

The average nurse practitioner salary per hour in Georgia varies with years of experience. When an NP is fresh out of school, he or she can expect to earn $37.34 an hour. Five years into the career track, that amount increases by 36 percent to a little more than $53 an hour. With 10 years of experience, you’ll be making a full 57 percent more than your starting salary. After you’ve been working for two decades, your salary will be nearly twice your entry-level wage. The average NP salary across all years of experience is $55.50 an hour.

3. How does the average salary of a nurse practitioner in Georgia compare to the average NP salary in the U.S?

Georgia nurse practitioners earn $115,440 a year on average, which is nearly 7 percent less than $124,680, the average salary of NPs throughout all parts of the U.S.

4. How much does a family nurse practitioner make in Georgia?

The average FNP salary in Georgia is $54.96 an hour, which multiplies out to $9,530 a month or $114,300 a year.

5. How much does a psychiatric nurse practitioner make in Georgia?

The average PMHNP salary in Georgia is $120,370 annually, which breaks out into $10,020 a month or $57.87 an hour.

6. What are the 5 highest-paid Nurse Practitioners in Georgia?

The highest-paid nurse practitioner in Georgia is the neonatal nurse practitioner who earns $122,680 a year, 6 percent more than the average NP salary of $115,440. The dermatology nurse practitioner, on the other hand, earns $114,910, which is just under the average salary for all NPs in the Peach State.

7. What are the 5 highest paying cities for Nurse Practitioners in Georgia?

NPs who work in Athens-Clarke County earn $116,330 a year, which is 1 percent more than the average salary of all nurse practitioners throughout the state of Georgia. In contrast, nurse practitioners headquartered in Augusta-Richmond County, who earn $111,660 annually, make 3 percent less than the average NP salary throughout the state.

8. How much do Nurse Practitioners earn in the various metros of Georgia?

Nurse practitioners who work in Athens-Clarke County make $116,330 annually; this is the highest NP salary average in the Peach State. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell NPs earn salaries that are 16 percent higher than the take-home pay of NPs who work in Dalton where the average NP salary is $99,940 a year.

9. Where do the majority of Nurse Practitioners practice in Georgia?

Most nurse practitioners who work in Georgia are affiliated in some way with physicians’ offices. This makes sense given that NPs in the Peach State can only practice through means of a protocol agreement with a delegating physician.

10. What are the approximate number of annual job openings for nurse practitioners in Georgia for 2023?

Every year, approximately 1,250 nurse practitioner jobs open up in Georgia: 647 of these are positions that were previously filled by retiring or relocating nurse practitioners, but 603 of these positions are new jobs, created in response to the growth in demand for NP services.

11. What is the job outlook for NPs in Georgia?

Over the next seven years, the number of jobs for nurse practitioners in Georgia is projected to grow by 6,470 positions or 79 percent.