Three in 4 CRNAs received a salary increase in 2025, and more than a third saw gains exceeding 10%, according to a new workforce survey from APEX Anesthesia Review.
The findings, drawn from 634 certified registered nurse anesthetists and student registered nurse anesthetists nationwide, offer a detailed look at compensation, mobility, and retention pressure in one of healthcare’s most supply-constrained specialties.
Despite broad pay growth, the profession remains highly mobile. About 60% of respondents said they are open to new opportunities, though just 11% are actively searching — a gap that signals a large passive talent pool accessible to employers who reach them proactively. Nearly 58% said they would consider relocating for better compensation or work-life balance.
The survey identified a clear and correctable friction point in hiring: 35% of CRNAs skip a job posting entirely when salary information is absent, making pay transparency the single largest driver of application abandonment. Location mismatch and insufficient job details followed as the second and third most common reasons to pass on a listing.
For CRNAs working locum or travel arrangements — roughly 23% of the workforce — hourly earnings are especially strong, with more than half reporting rates between $200 and $249 per hour and one in four earning $250 or more. Schedule autonomy also ranked as a top career priority, with 43% of respondents reporting they never work weekends or holidays.
APEX Anesthesia Review is a continuing education and job board platform built exclusively for the nurse anesthesia community under the TrueLearn family of brands.