Hourly quotes are common in psychiatric work: telehealth contracts, PRN shifts, locum assignments, and per-visit arrangements are all priced by time or by encounter. The trouble is that two offers with the same hourly number can differ by tens of thousands of dollars a year. This guide shows how to put any offer on the same footing.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median of $63.61 an hour for nurse practitioners of all specialties, as of May 2025. BLS does not publish a PMHNP figure. For psychiatric roles, our salary guide publishes the median of what live PMHNP postings advertise, with an hourly equivalent. Whatever number you start from, an hourly rate only means something once you know how many hours are paid, whether the role is W-2 or 1099, and what benefits come with it.
What Official Data Says About NP Hourly Pay
These are BLS figures for nurse practitioners as a whole occupation, covering every specialty.
| BLS measure, May 2025 | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Median | $63.61 | $132,300 |
| Mean | $66.01 | $137,300 |
The spread is wide. BLS puts the 10th percentile annual wage at $101,340 and the 90th percentile at $174,420. It annualizes hourly wages on a 2,080-hour basis, which is a full-time, year-round schedule.
Two cautions apply. This is not a psychiatric figure, because BLS does not break the occupation down by specialty. It is also survey data on wages paid to employees, so it does not capture what independent contractors bill.
Where to Find PMHNP-Specific Pay
For psychiatric roles, the most direct evidence is what employers put in postings. Our salary guide computes the median of advertised pay from live PMHNP postings that disclose a range, shows the sample size behind every figure, and withholds a number when there are too few postings to support it. It includes a derived hourly equivalent and breaks pay out by state.
If you already have an offer, the offer analyzer shows where it lands against advertised pay nationally and in your state.
Converting Hourly to Annual: The Schedule Decides
The same hourly rate produces very different yearly totals depending on paid hours. The table below is arithmetic, not market data. The second column assumes 40 paid hours a week for 52 weeks. The third assumes 35 paid hours a week for 48 weeks, which is closer to many outpatient and contract schedules once unpaid time off is counted.
| Hourly rate | 40 hours, 52 weeks | 35 hours, 48 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| $60 | $124,800 | $100,800 |
| $70 | $145,600 | $117,600 |
| $80 | $166,400 | $134,400 |
| $90 | $187,200 | $151,200 |
| $100 | $208,000 | $168,000 |
| $120 | $249,600 | $201,600 |
| $140 | $291,200 | $235,200 |
To run your own schedule, use the salary converter. It lets you change hours per week and weeks per year and see every pay period at once.
W-2 Hourly and 1099 Hourly Are Not the Same Dollar
A W-2 hourly rate and a 1099 hourly rate are different products.
Taxes. A contractor pays self-employment tax. The IRS sets that rate at 15.3 percent of net earnings, made up of 12.4 percent for Social Security and 2.9 percent for Medicare. An employee pays half of that, and the employer pays the other half. Benefits. A W-2 role usually comes with employer contributions to health insurance and retirement, paid time off, malpractice coverage, and often licensure and continuing education support. A contractor buys all of those. Unpaid time. Contractors are frequently paid only for completed visits. Documentation, messages, refill requests, and prior authorizations may be unpaid. Deductions. Contractors can deduct legitimate business expenses, which offsets some of the difference.The honest way to compare is take-home pay plus the value of benefits. Our 1099 vs W-2 calculator does that side by side and shows the break-even hourly rate a contract needs to match a salaried package. The 1099 tax guide covers quarterly payments and deductions.
Turning Per-Visit Pay Into an Hourly Figure
Per-visit contracts need one more step. The method:
- Multiply the per-visit rate by the number of paid visits you complete in a clinical hour.
- Work out what share of your working week is unpaid: documentation, messages, no-shows that are not compensated, meetings.
- Reduce the clinical hourly figure by that share. The result is your effective hourly rate.
Here is an illustration with invented numbers. Substitute the rates in your own contract. Suppose a contract pays $50 for a follow-up and you complete two an hour. That is $100 per scheduled clinical hour. If a quarter of the hours you work are unpaid, your effective rate is $75 an hour. If the contract pays nothing for no-shows and one visit in ten does not show, it falls further.
Ask these before you accept a per-visit rate:
- What is paid for a no-show or a late cancellation?
- How long is each visit type, and who decides?
- Is there a guaranteed minimum while your panel fills?
- Is time for documentation and messages paid?
Locum, PRN, and Telehealth Quotes
Short-term and flexible roles are almost always quoted hourly, and the numbers often look higher than salaried pay. They are higher because they leave things out: benefits, paid leave, and continuity. Locum assignments may add travel and housing, which changes the total again.
None of that makes them a bad choice. It means you should compare a year of each. You can see what current postings advertise on the 1099, per diem, and locum tenens job pages.
Five Questions That Make Any Offer Comparable
- How many hours a week, and how many weeks a year, will I be paid for?
- Am I an employee or a contractor?
- What is the dollar value of the benefits, and which ones do I have to buy myself?
- Which parts of my working time are unpaid?
- What does the rate become after the first year, and what triggers a raise?
Answer those five and you can convert any quote into a yearly total you can trust. From there, negotiation is a matter of knowing the market. Our salary negotiation guide covers how to make the ask.
Sources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025, Table 1: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025, Technical Note: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS profile, Nurse Practitioners (29-1171), May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/nurse-anesthetists-nurse-midwives-and-nurse-practitioners.htm
- Internal Revenue Service, Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes): https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes