Healthcare · Atlanta, GA
Atlanta pays registered nurses about 3% above the U.S. median yet has fewer of them per worker than the nation, while new emergency and hospital capacity comes to south Fulton in phases. Careerscape is a national agency with no Atlanta office, and its industry-specialized healthcare recruiters work for metro employers by phone and video.
Market context
Health systems sit near the top of metro Atlanta's private employers. In the Metro Atlanta Chamber's 2025 Top Employers Survey of the 29-county region, only Delta Air Lines had more full-time-equivalent staff than Northside Hospital (32,000). Piedmont Healthcare ranked third with 29,646 and Wellstar Health System fifth with 21,020. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (10,489) and Grady Health System (7,274) also made the top 15.
Where care is delivered has changed since Wellstar closed Atlanta Medical Center in November 2022. Fox 5 reported that the closures of Atlanta Medical Center and its south campus left some south Fulton residents up to 40 minutes from emergency treatment. Grady opened a 24/7 freestanding emergency department on Campbellton Fairburn Road in Union City on May 11, 2026. In March 2026 it announced a phased south Fulton campus of more than $1 billion next to that site: a medical office building expected in early 2028 and a 200-bed acute care hospital scheduled for 2031.
On the north side, Children's moved patients into its 446-bed Arthur M. Blank Hospital at North Druid Hills Road and I-85 in Brookhaven in September 2024. For employers, these openings mean competition for emergency nurses, imaging staff and respiratory therapists will come in phases. A south-side clinic will soon be recruiting against a hospital that is still hiring its first staff.
BLS pay and depth
In the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metro, registered nurses earn a median of $100,490, about 3% above the U.S. median of $97,550. Yet the metro has a smaller share of RNs than the nation (location quotient 0.90). LPNs (0.81), nursing assistants (0.86) and physical therapists (0.85) are also below the national share. The deeper pools are physician assistants (1.32), dental hygienists (1.14) and medical assistants (1.11).
| Occupation | Jobs in metro | Median pay · vs. U.S. | Concentration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurses | 56,460 | $100,490+3% | 0.90 |
| Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses | 9,710 | $65,060+1% | 0.81 |
| Nursing Assistants | 23,260 | $39,350−7% | 0.86 |
| Nurse Practitioners | 5,950 | $132,500±0% | 0.99 |
| Physician Assistants | 3,970 | $111,810−18% | 1.32 |
| Physical Therapists | 4,250 | $103,440+1% | 0.85 |
| Radiologic Technologists and Technicians | 3,990 | $80,710+1% | 0.93 |
| Medical and Health Services Managers | 6,300 | $137,260+11% | 0.57 |
| Medical Assistants | 16,910 | $46,060+1% | 1.11 |
| Medical Records Specialists | 2,790 | $58,950+15% | 0.77 |
| Respiratory Therapists | 2,670 | $95,520+16% | 1.03 |
| Dental Hygienists | 4,710 | $100,370+2% | 1.14 |
Two roles pay well above the U.S. median: respiratory therapists ($95,520, about 16% above) and medical records specialists ($58,950, about 15% above). Medical and health services managers are the thinnest pool here (0.57) and earn $137,260, about 11% above the U.S. median. Physician assistants run the other way. The pool is deep, but the $111,810 median sits well under the U.S. median of $135,880, and pay is unusually spread out (25th percentile $62,230, 75th $141,740). Look at that range before you quote the median to a PA candidate. Jobs and median annual pay for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metro area, all employers, from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025). “Vs. U.S.” compares with the national median. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: above 1.0 means the job makes up a bigger share of local employment than it does nationally.
Where care clusters
Clinical employers in the metro sit in a few clusters. Commute direction matters more than distance, so ask candidates which side of I-285 they live on.
Near GA 400 and I-285 in Perimeter Center: Northside Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital (Emory Healthcare) and Children's at Scottish Rite, served by MARTA's Medical Center station on the Red Line.
Children's 446-bed Arthur M. Blank Hospital, open since September 2024 at North Druid Hills Road and I-85.
Grady Memorial Hospital, flagship of the public Grady Health System, which had 7,274 FTEs in the Chamber's 2025 survey.
Northside's Gwinnett campus, which had 388 beds when Northside filed a 2022 expansion application with the state.
Kennesaw State's Wellstar School of Nursing, where BSN enrollment rose from 512 in 2019-20 to 1,155 in 2023-24.
Grady's freestanding emergency department (open since May 2026) and the planned campus, with a 200-bed hospital scheduled for 2031.
Georgia approvals
A Georgia license is only the first step for advanced practice hires. For NPs and PAs, the physician relationship needs as much planning as the license.
| Role | License or approval | Issued by or filed with | What to plan for |
|---|---|---|---|
| RN and LPN | Georgia license, or a multistate license from another compact state | Georgia Board of Nursing (multistate licenses issued since January 19, 2018) | A Georgia multistate license goes only to nurses who declare Georgia as their primary state of residence. |
| Nurse practitioner (APRN) | APRN authorization plus a nurse protocol agreement with a delegating physician | Board of Nursing; the physician files the agreement with the Georgia Composite Medical Board within 30 days of signing | Ordering drugs, tests and imaging is delegated through the agreement. The physician reviews records at least quarterly and observes on site at least once a year. |
| Physician assistant | PA license and a delegating or supervising physician | Georgia Composite Medical Board | A physician may delegate to or supervise no more than the combined equivalent of eight APRNs and PAs at one time, with exemptions for certain accredited sites. |
Summary of Georgia Board of Nursing compact guidance and Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Chapter 360-32. Not legal advice. Source: Georgia Rules and Regulations, Chapter 360-32 (APRN protocol agreements).
Hiring advice
These steps come from the metro's own data and Georgia's rules.
Atlanta's RN median of $100,490 is above the U.S. median. An offer based on a statewide or national survey can come in low. Compare against the registered nurse salary guide and the metro range.
Ask now which physician will sign the protocol agreement and whether they have room under the eight-person limit. Then the filing can go in within days of the start, not weeks. See NP pay benchmarks.
The metro pays them about 16% above the U.S. median, a sign of competition for a pool that is only about the national size (location quotient 1.03). Start the search before a unit opening, not after.
Candidates in south Fulton now have a local emergency department and, later, a full hospital. A long drive to a northern campus will be a harder sell for them.
New units and campuses hire in phases. Contract staffing or direct hire for the core team, with contract coverage around it, keeps a launch on schedule.
What we recruit
Careerscape's healthcare recruiters work by specialty, not by city, and fill these roles for Atlanta hospitals, outpatient groups and practices.
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FAQ
The median annual wage for registered nurses in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metro was $100,490 in May 2025, according to BLS. That is about 3% above the U.S. median of $97,550. The middle half of Atlanta RNs earned between $82,500 and $108,680. Specialty, shift and unit change where an offer lands in that range, so check the metro figures before relying on a national benchmark.
Yes, in practice. Georgia APRNs perform delegated medical acts, such as ordering drugs and tests, under a nurse protocol agreement with a delegating physician. The physician files it with the Georgia Composite Medical Board within 30 days of signing, reviews records at least quarterly and observes the APRN on site at least once a year. One physician can cover no more than the equivalent of eight APRNs and PAs at once.
Yes. Georgia is a member of the enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact and has issued multistate licenses since January 19, 2018. A nurse whose primary state of residence is another compact state can practice in Georgia on that home-state multistate license. Nurses who move to Georgia and make it their primary residence apply for a Georgia license through the Georgia Board of Nursing.
No single hospital has. Wellstar closed Atlanta Medical Center in November 2022. Grady Health System opened a freestanding 24/7 emergency department in Union City on May 11, 2026, and plans a south Fulton campus of more than $1 billion: a medical office building expected in early 2028 and a 200-bed hospital scheduled for 2031. Patients who need admission from the freestanding ED are transported to a hospital.
Careerscape is a national agency with a remote team. Healthcare recruiters who specialize by role search for candidates in Georgia and beyond, screen them by phone and video, and send employers a short list of pre-screened candidates in a private Employer Portal. Read more on our healthcare staffing service page, or see the wider Atlanta market on our Atlanta staffing agency page.
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