Licensed Vocational Nurses in Orange County earn a median of $69,640 annually ($33.48/hour) per O*NET, sitting slightly below California's state median of $73,150 but well above the national LPN/LVN median of $59,730.
Per O*NET, the top 10% of LVNs in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro (which includes Orange County) earn over $86,290 annually — roughly $20,000 more than the national 90th percentile LPN.
Federal wage tables do not publish a separate LVN percentile table for Orange County. O*NET reports the occupation under the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metropolitan area, which includes Orange County but also covers a much larger Southern California workforce. This page separates that regional estimate from salary ranges published directly by the County of Orange.
Why some figures differ: older O*NET releases remain visible in summaries and archived pages. The tables below use O*NET's current 2025 wage data. Every figure is labeled as regional, statewide, national, or County-employer pay so the sources are not presented as interchangeable.
O*NET's current table, based on 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, places the 50th-percentile wage for Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metropolitan area at $79,310 per year, or $38.13 per hour. The published range runs from $64,200 at the 10th percentile to $96,630 at the 90th percentile. These are regional occupational estimates, not a survey limited to employers inside Orange County.
The regional median is $440 below the California LVN median of $79,750 and $14,910 above the national median of $64,400. For a wider explanation of percentile wages and state comparisons, the national LVN salary guide provides the broader benchmark. The County of Orange salary schedules shown later on this page answer a different question: what one local public employer currently publishes for specific LVN classifications.
The federal reporting area used as the regional benchmark for Orange County. Source: O*NET, using 2025 BLS wage data.
| Percentile | LA-LB-Anaheim Annual | LA-LB-Anaheim Hourly | CA Annual | National Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th | $64,200 | $30.87/hr | $64,390 | $49,740 |
| 25th | $73,860 | $35.51/hr | $74,840 | $59,000 |
| 50th (Median) | $79,310 | $38.13/hr | $79,750 | $64,400 |
| 75th | $92,930 | $44.68/hr | $93,720 | $76,030 |
| 90th | $96,630 | $46.46/hr | $100,450 | $83,440 |
The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim median is nearly even with California's statewide figure and $14,910 above the national median. Nearby markets provide more useful context than treating the regional figure as an Orange County-only survey.
| Reporting Area | Median Salary | vs LA-LB-Anaheim | vs CA State |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $76,970 | -$2,340 | -3% |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $79,720 | +$410 | Approximately even |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | $79,020 | -$290 | -1% |
| Bakersfield-Delano, CA | $76,130 | -$3,180 | -5% |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $94,310 | +$15,000 | +18% |
The County's classification schedules provide a local employer example that is separate from the regional O*NET estimate. These are base salary ranges for defined public positions, not a countywide average of every LVN job.
Community-health nursing work under the supervision of physicians, registered nurses, or standardized procedures.
Assignments can include correctional health, juvenile health, emergency shelter, and 24-hour mental-health care settings.
Different job definitions: the comprehensive-care classification covers assignments with different environments, responsibilities, and qualification requirements.
Range is not starting pay: a published minimum and maximum do not reveal where a specific applicant will be placed or which premiums may apply.
Employer data is narrower: these schedules describe County of Orange positions. They do not represent private hospitals, nursing facilities, home-health agencies, or clinics.
Salary schedules checked August 20, 2026. Confirm the current range on the linked County pages before relying on it for an application or compensation decision.
Three distinctions prevent regional statistics, employer schedules, and individual job offers from being mistaken for the same measurement.
The O*NET percentile table covers Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim. Anaheim appears in the reporting-area name, but the dataset is not limited to Anaheim or Orange County. It should be used as a regional benchmark rather than described as an Orange County survey.
An O*NET percentile describes how wages are distributed across a labor market. A County of Orange salary schedule defines the authorized range for one classification. Neither number, by itself, predicts a specific applicant's offer.
The County's comprehensive-care classification has a higher published range than its general LVN classification. The class specification connects that difference to correctional, juvenile, emergency-shelter, and 24-hour mental-health assignments rather than presenting it as a simple experience premium.
The regional median is useful for seeing where Southern California sits relative to California and the nation. The County schedules are useful for evaluating two concrete public-employer classifications. A current job announcement is still needed to determine the actual opening, work location, schedule, eligibility requirements, and compensation terms.
This distinction also keeps the Orange County guide separate from the Anaheim LVN salary page and the Santa Ana salary guide. Those city pages can explain their local employment context, while this page remains the countywide source for public classifications and regional methodology.
Search accredited LVN programs in and around Orange County to compare cost, schedule, NCLEX-PN pass rates, and bridge options.
Enter search terms or use filters to find accredited LVN programs.
Use the statewide and national guides for broad benchmarks, then compare the county with city and regional pages. The Orange County guide is the parent page for Anaheim and Santa Ana.
O*NET reports Orange County within the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim labor market. The $79,310 median is useful regional context, but it is not an Orange County-only wage survey.
The County publishes separate ranges for its general LVN and comprehensive-care LVN classifications. The work definitions and assignment environments differ, so the ranges should not be blended into a single county average.
A classification maximum is not an expected starting salary. The active recruitment, candidate qualifications, bargaining terms, schedule, and assignment determine what applies to a specific opening.
Anaheim and Santa Ana share the same regional wage benchmark. Their separate pages must add city-specific employment context rather than relabel the same federal table as two different city surveys.
O*NET updates its wage tables as newer BLS data becomes available. Compare figures from the same release year before calculating differences between Orange County, California, and the nation.