BagMask.com Releases CRNA Salary by State 2026 Q1 Report

The advertised ceiling for CRNA pay jumped sharply, the top-five state rankings reshuffled, and one Northeast market posted the largest single-quarter average increase in the country.

GAMBRILLS, Md., May 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- BagMask.com, the only anesthesia job board dedicated to empowering anesthesia professionals with transparent data, has released its CRNA Salary by State 2026 Q1 Report. Built from thousands of real job postings collected from January through March 2026, the report delivers state by state advertised averages, minimums, maximums, and rankings for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists — and the first quarter of the year did not look like the end of the last one.

In Q4 2025, advertised CRNA salaries typically ran from roughly $220,000 to more than $350,000. The Q1 2026 data tells a different story at the top of the market. Several states pushed advertised maximums well past the prior ceiling, the highest-paying states reshuffled, and a handful of regions posted average increases of $45,000 to $55,000 in a single quarter.

What's New in the Q1 2026 Report

• A new national ceiling: the highest advertised maximum broke through the previous high-water mark by a meaningful margin — and the state setting it may surprise you.
• A reshuffled top five: one long-time top-five state dropped out, and a Northeast market entered for the first time.
• The largest single-quarter jumps: the report ranks the ten states with the biggest advertised increases since Q4 2025.
• A floor that rivals other states' averages: one state's advertised minimum is now higher than the advertised average in more than half the country.

"Q4 2025 closed with a fairly stable market. Q1 2026 did not stay stable," said Patrick Flaherty, Founder of BagMask.com. "Facilities are pushing advertised pay to levels we have not tracked before, and the states leading the market are not the ones most people would guess. Anyone evaluating an offer or benchmarking a compensation plan should be reading Q4 and Q1 side by side."

The report focuses on advertised base pay from active job postings, but actual CRNA earnings are typically higher. Call pay, overtime, signing and retention bonuses, relocation packages, and CME and retirement benefits all sit outside the posted range — where real negotiation happens.

Both the Q4 2025 and Q1 2026 reports are available free in the CRNA Salary Data Center for side-by-side comparison: https://bagmask.com/crna-salary-data-center/

About BagMask.com

Founded in 2017, BagMask.com is a leading career platform for the anesthesia community, serving anesthesiologists, CRNAs, and CAAs with job listings, salary insights, educational resources, and scholarship opportunities. BagMask.com is the only anesthesia job board that gives back to the community through its national scholarship fund.

Media Contact

Patrick Flaherty, Founder, BagMask.com
443.239.2533 | [email protected]

SOURCE BagMask.com