CRNA Salary Georgia 2026

Georgia CRNAs earn a mean of $198,229 per year (TheCRNA 2026 blended dataset, incorporating BLS OEWS May 2025 state-level data with aggregator corrections). That is 20.2% below the national CRNA mean of $248,320 — a meaningful gap that reflects Georgia’s physician supervision requirement, right-to-work labor environment, and Atlanta-centered market dynamics. Georgia is not a low-CRNA-pay state by Southeast standards; Florida and the Carolinas are comparable. But it is not Ohio or the Mid-Atlantic.

The critical fact every CRNA considering Georgia needs to understand: the state has not exercised the federal opt-out that would allow unsupervised CRNA practice in Medicare-certified hospitals. Georgia law requires physician direction for all CRNA cases. In practical terms at Emory, Grady, or WellStar, this means an anesthesiologist of record is part of the care team — which constrains the “CRNA only” practice model and pushes down wages compared to full-practice-authority states.

Georgia CRNA Salary vs. National Benchmark

The national CRNA mean is $248,320 per year and the median is $236,590 (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 29-1151). Georgia sits at $198,229, which ranks near the bottom quartile nationally. For reference, neighboring states: Florida CRNAs average roughly $224,000–$240,000; Tennessee is in a similar range to Georgia at approximately $200,000–$210,000; Ohio, with the same supervision requirement, manages $260,773 because of its academic medical center anchor effect.

The CRNA-over-RN premium of 108.5% in Georgia is the key number for nurses weighing the CRNA training investment. At $198,229 versus $95,080 for a Georgia RN, you gain $103,149 per year. With CRNA programs running 36–51 months and total education costs (tuition + lost ICU income) typically $200,000–$350,000, break-even is roughly 2–4 years post-graduation — solid math for a nursing career with 20+ remaining years.

CRNA Salary by Employer: Emory, Grady, WellStar, Piedmont

Georgia’s CRNA market is dominated by the Atlanta metro systems. Emory Healthcare and Grady Memorial Hospital anchor the academic premium; WellStar, Piedmont, and Northside Hospital represent the largest private-system employer tier.

Emory is the ceiling. If you have cardiac or neuro anesthesia subspecialty training and can land a position at Emory University Hospital or Emory Saint Joseph’s, you’re looking at $230,000–$245,000 in base salary — significantly above the state mean. Grady Memorial is worth noting for a different reason: it’s Atlanta’s Level I trauma center and runs one of the busiest trauma anesthesia services in the Southeast. The case complexity is high, the volume is relentless, and the call premium is meaningful. CRNAs at Grady often earn $220,000–$235,000 in total compensation including call pay.

Georgia CRNA Physician Supervision Rules

Georgia law (O.C.G.A. §43-34-26.1) requires all CRNAs to practice under the direction and supervision of a licensed Georgia physician or dentist. Georgia has not exercised the federal CMS opt-out under 42 CFR 482.52 that allows Medicare-certified hospitals to permit unsupervised CRNA practice when state law allows it.

The practical impact: Georgia CRNAs are almost exclusively employed in team anesthesia models rather than fully independent CRNA practices. This constrains the ceiling for private-practice CRNA entrepreneurship that is available in full-practice-authority states like Wisconsin, Iowa, or Idaho. It also means Georgia CRNAs tend to be W-2 employees rather than independent contractors, which affects your ability to capture the full economic value of your work.

There is a meaningful exception: ambulatory surgery centers in Georgia increasingly operate with a surgeon-supervised CRNA model where the supervising “physician” is the operating surgeon rather than an anesthesiologist. This model is common at orthopedic ASCs, GI endoscopy centers, and plastic surgery offices. CRNA rates in these settings are sometimes 1099 positions paying $190–$220 per hour.

Locum CRNA Rates in Georgia

Georgia has significant locum CRNA demand driven by rural hospital shortages and Atlanta-area seasonal staffing swings. The state has a meaningful number of rural Critical Access Hospitals and small community hospitals that cannot sustain a full CRNA staff, creating steady locum demand.

Rural Georgia locum positions often come with weekly housing allowances of $1,200–$1,800 and round-trip travel reimbursement, which adds meaningfully to effective hourly compensation. A rural CAH locum at $240/hr for 40 hours per week plus $1,500 housing allowance calculates to $11,100 weekly gross — equivalent to $577,000 annualized if you worked every week, which you would not, but illustrates the earning potential of aggressive locum scheduling.

NP vs. CRNA in Georgia: The Salary Gap

Georgia NPs earn a mean of $125,490 per year. Georgia CRNAs earn $198,229. The annual delta is $72,739 — a meaningful premium for nurse anesthesia. However, the path to CRNA in Georgia requires at least one year of ICU experience (most programs want two), CCRN certification, a strong CCRN exam record, and then 36–51 months of an accredited DNP or DNAP nurse anesthesia program.

Georgia’s own nurse anesthesia programs include Emory University’s program (one of the most competitive in the Southeast), Augusta University, and Mercer University. CRNA programs in Georgia are highly selective — expect ICU admission GPA competition and strong CCRN scores. If you are an NP in Georgia considering a CRNA transition, the honest calculus: you would give up $125,490/yr in NP income for 3–4 years, pay $80,000–$120,000 in CRNA tuition, and emerge at $198,229 statewide mean (or $215,000–$245,000 at Emory). The break-even on that transition is roughly 5–7 years for most Georgia NPs, which works for careers with 15+ years remaining.

Georgia CRNA Market by Metro and Region

Atlanta dominates Georgia’s CRNA market. The city’s rapid population growth (Atlanta metro is one of the fastest-growing in the US), expansion of ambulatory surgery centers, and concentration of academic medical systems create sustained CRNA demand.

Savannah is worth a separate note: Savannah has experienced rapid tourist and population growth, Memorial Health is expanding, and CRNA salaries there have moved up closer to Atlanta levels over the past two years. If you value coastal living with a lower cost of living than Atlanta, Savannah is underrated for CRNA compensation relative to cost-of-living adjustments.

Is Georgia a Compact State for Nurses?

Yes. Georgia is an active member of the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) as of its implementation date. Georgia-licensed RNs with a multistate privilege can practice in all 40 active NLC member states without obtaining a separate license. However — this is important — the NLC covers RN and LPN licensure only. It does not extend to APRN or CRNA authorization. A CRNA relocating to Georgia from another compact state must apply for a Georgia APRN authorization separately through the Georgia Board of Nursing.

Jayson’s Take: Georgia CRNA Market in 2026

Georgia is a market I’d describe as “better than the headline number suggests if you play it right.” The $198,229 mean looks punishing against the $248,320 national average, but that gap is partly misleading — Atlanta’s cost of living (especially housing outside the Buckhead/Midtown core) is meaningfully lower than the West Coast or Northeast markets where the highest CRNA salaries concentrate. A $215,000 CRNA salary in suburban Marietta or Alpharetta goes considerably further than $250,000 in San Francisco.

The physician supervision constraint is real, and it’s not going away soon in Georgia. The AANA has been pushing opt-out legislation at the state level, but Georgia’s legislature has historically aligned with physician groups on scope-of-practice issues. If independent CRNA practice is your priority, Georgia is not your state in 2026. But if your priority is competitive pay at a world-class academic medical center with lower housing costs than the Northeast, Emory is a genuinely excellent CRNA employer with cardiac and transplant programs that match any academic center in the country for case complexity.

The locum opportunity in rural Georgia is real and underutilized by CRNAs who default to Atlanta systems. Rural Georgia Critical Access Hospitals have a chronic CRNA shortage that produces crisis-level locum rates and sometimes signing bonuses that are not advertised broadly. If you are willing to work rural rotations, the effective Georgia CRNA income ceiling is considerably higher than $198,229.

Frequently Asked Questions About Georgia CRNA Salaries