Compared with the local labor market
Nurse III pay vs. Maine
Across all employers in Maine, the median wage for Registered Nurses — about 16,540 people — is $86,990. Department of Corrections: Central Office pays a median base salary of $65,193 for this role, 25% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Department of Corrections: Central Office sits in the local pay range
$74,160
$79,890
$86,990
$101,460
$106,950
Department of Corrections: Central Office median · $65,193
The bar is the range of annual wages for Registered Nurses across every employer in Maine, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Corrections: Central Office’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Registered Nurses — about 3,379,720 people — is $97,550. Department of Corrections: Central Office’s median base salary is 33% below that national figure, below the 10th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$68,940
$80,330
$97,550
$112,350
$137,470
Department of Corrections: Central Office median · $65,193
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Maine range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Corrections: Central Office is $84,225, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.