Nurse Salary in Norway (Sykepleier) 2026

This calculator compares a nurse's (sykepleier) pay in Norway with the official statistics from Statistics Norway (SSB) for nurses and specialist nurses, split by hospitals (central government), municipalities and the private sector. It converts part-time pay to a full-time equivalent, treats fixed pay and supplements separately, shows the minimum pay in the municipal collective agreement and estimates what you take home after tax. All figures are gross monthly pay in NOK unless stated otherwise.

What nurses earn in Norway

SSB separates nurses from specialist nurses (for example intensive care, anaesthesia and operating theatre nurses). The figures are for full-time employees in November 2025, the latest year in the data behind this page, so they come before the 2026 pay settlements. Central government includes the hospital trusts, and that is where most specialist nurses work: 13,016 of 21,162 full-time jobs. Nurses without a specialisation are spread more evenly between the municipalities and the hospitals. Do not assume that hospitals pay more: for nurses the median was lower in the hospitals (NOK 54,350) than in the municipalities (NOK 58,120), while for specialist nurses it was higher in the hospitals.

Fixed pay, supplements and what SSB counts

SSB's monthly pay is the agreed monthly salary plus irregular allowances and bonuses. Overtime is not included, and self-employed people are not covered at all. For nurses the supplements matter: the average agreed salary was NOK 51,630 while average monthly pay with supplements was NOK 56,720. Enter your fixed pay and the average of your supplements in separate fields. The calculator then compares the sum with monthly pay, and your fixed pay alone with the agreed salary and with the collective-agreement minimum. Part-time pay is divided by your position size, because the SSB figures are for full-time employees.

How pay is set: collective agreements, KS and Spekter

Most pay for nurses in Norway is set through collective agreements (tariffavtaler) between an employers' organisation and the unions, in Norway mainly the Norwegian Nurses Organisation (NSF). Every spring there is a pay settlement (lønnsoppgjør). In the municipalities and county authorities the employer side is KS, and the central agreement is the Main Collective Agreement (Hovedtariffavtalen, HTA). It sets a guaranteed minimum salary for each position code and number of years of seniority, and the pay is then negotiated locally on top. The current agreement runs for 2026 to 2028 with an interim settlement in 2027. The hospital trusts are covered by separate agreements with the employers' organisation Spekter, and Oslo municipality and private employers have their own, so the KS minimum below does not apply to them.

Minimum pay in the municipalities from 1 May 2026

In the KS area a nurse (code 7174) is placed in the group of positions that require a three-year university or college qualification, and a specialist nurse (7523) in the group requiring four years. The table shows the lowest annual salary at a 100% position. It is a floor, not a typical salary: the median for nurses in the municipalities is above it because of seniority, local pay negotiations and supplements.

Worked example

A nurse employed by a municipality works a 75% position with NOK 40,000 in fixed pay and on average NOK 4,000 a month in supplements, and has 8 years of seniority. The calculator gives:

Nurse pay after tax

The table taxes the SSB monthly pay for nurses as if it were earned all year. Your employer withholds tax using a tax table (see the Norway tax table calculator), so your payslip in a normal month shows a bit more tax withheld than the yearly average and December shows less. For the full picture of how yearly tax is calculated, see the Norway income tax calculator.

Women, men and pay growth

If you have just moved to Norway

• Nursing is a regulated profession. You need authorisation from the Norwegian Directorate of Health before you can work as a nurse, and the directorate's pages explain what applies to foreign qualifications.
• Ask your employer which collective agreement you are under and which position code and seniority you have been given. The minimum pay depends on both, and seniority from earlier work can be credited if it is relevant.
• Tax is withheld from every payslip based on your tax deduction card (skattekort). With table withholding there is normally no tax withheld in one month in the summer and only half in November or December, so those two months look different. If you have no tax deduction card, you will not get that reduction.
• Shift, evening, night and weekend supplements come on top of your fixed pay and are set in the agreement that applies to your employer. See the Norway overtime pay calculator for overtime, which SSB does not include.
• For how holiday pay (feriepenger) works, see the Norway holiday pay calculator.

Compare with the pay of doctors or check the industries in Norway that have a legal minimum wage (nursing is not one of them: nurses' minimum pay comes from collective agreements, not from a general minimum wage law).

What this calculator does not cover

It does not calculate overtime, on-call pay or the exact supplement rates of your rota. It shows the KS minimum only, not the minimum pay scales for hospital trusts (Spekter), Oslo municipality or private employers, and it cannot tell which position code or seniority your employer should give you. It does not include pension, holiday pay or benefits, and the tax estimate uses standard deductions only for a person taxed at the ordinary rate, with no other deductions and no special rules for northern Norway. The SSB figures describe the whole group of full-time nurses in 2025, so a comparison with your own pay is a guide, not a judgement of what you should earn.