5. San Antonio — $80K median
San Antonio's RN median sits near $80K per BLS OES, but the market has significant depth: Methodist Healthcare, Baptist Health System, University Health, and the federal healthcare footprint at Brooke Army Medical Center make it one of the most diverse hospital markets in Texas.
Ongoing population growth in Bexar County and the ring of surrounding counties has kept RN demand climbing faster than the local nursing school pipeline can supply. Specialty roles in trauma, cardiac, and NICU are especially competitive, and travel contracts routinely post above the staff rate.
Base pay growth from 2023 to 2026 has run around 8 to 10 percent per Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies data. Sign-on bonuses of $10K to $20K are common across the four major systems, and San Antonio's cost of living, while rising, still sits below Austin and Dallas for equivalent RN roles.
