Sharp vs Kaiser Nurse Pay in San Diego: Who Pays RNs More?

If you're a registered nurse weighing job offers in San Diego, Sharp HealthCare and Kaiser Permanente are two of the biggest names on the table. Both pay well above the national average. But they pay differently — and which one comes out ahead depends almost entirely on where you are in your career.

Here's the short version: Sharp starts you higher. Kaiser rewards you more once you stay. We compared the reported RN wage scales side by side, then ran both through take-home pay after California taxes.

Starting pay: Sharp wins

Out of the gate, Sharp pays more. A newer Sharp RN starts around $64.55/hr, while a new Kaiser Level III nurse starts at $58.30/hr under the Year 1 (March 2026) contract rates.

That's a 10.7% higher starting base at Sharp. For a nurse early in their career, that difference is real money every paycheck.

Mid-career: Kaiser pulls way ahead

This is where the two scales diverge sharply. Kaiser's contract is built to climb fast in the first decade, while Sharp's rises more gradually. By around the 10-year mark, the gap is dramatic:

At this stage a Kaiser Level III RN earns about $16.17/hr more than a Sharp RN with similar experience — roughly 22% higher base pay. Over a year, that's about $33,600 more in gross pay for the same 40-hour week.

Top of scale: nearly even, but Kaiser gets there sooner

At the very top, the two scales almost converge. The catch: Kaiser reaches its top rate at 25 years, while Sharp's scale keeps stepping up to 35 years.

They land within about $3,500/year of each other at the top — but a Kaiser nurse hits that ceiling a full decade earlier, and Kaiser's rates keep rising through 2028 under the new contract (topping out around $111.16/hr for benefited Level III RNs in Year 4).

Take-home pay after taxes

Gross pay is only half the story — what matters is what lands in your account. Here's the estimated net for a single filer in California at 40 hours/week, using each employer's base rate:

Net estimates include federal income tax, CA state tax, Social Security, Medicare, and SDI. They do not include health insurance, pension/401(k), or union dues, which differ between the two employers. At incomes above $200k the extra 0.9% Medicare tax applies.

What about shift differentials?

Sharp's published RN differentials are +$3.25/hr for evenings and +$4.75/hr for nights. A starting Sharp RN working nights earns about $9,880 more per year than the base day rate. Kaiser's Level III scale also carries premium pay for nights and, notably, offers a much higher per-diem track (up to $115.18/hr at 25 years in Year 1) for nurses who trade benefits for a higher hourly rate. If you work a lot of nights or want per-diem flexibility, run your actual shift mix through the numbers rather than comparing base rates alone.

So which should you pick?

• Newer nurse, want the highest paycheck now? Sharp starts higher.
• Planning to stay 5–15 years? Kaiser's faster-climbing scale wins by a wide margin mid-career.
• Career nurse near the top? The two are close, but Kaiser reaches its ceiling sooner and its new contract keeps raising rates through 2028.
• Value benefits vs. cash? Kaiser's per-diem option pays a big hourly premium if you don't need the benefits; compare total compensation, not just base rate.

Pay is one piece of the decision — unit, commute, benefits, and pension all matter. But on wages alone, the "better" employer genuinely depends on how long you plan to stay.