Starting Salary and Experience

• Certified registered nurse anesthetists with less than one year of experience earn salaries between $97,746 and $140,801 as of January 2011, according to PayScale. For the first four years of their career, this salary range holds, though CRNAs with five to nine years under their belts earn salaries that range from $111,312 to $154,467 annually. Veteran CRNAs who have 10 or more years of experience may expect to earn annual salaries between $120,135 and $161,600.
  
  

Average Salary

• The average CRNA earns an annual salary of $154,756 as of January 2011, according to Salary.com. Of all CRNAs practicing, 50 percent earn annual salaries that range from $144,810 to $165,516, and the 10 percent with the highest salaries earn more than $175,312 each year. Nurses who earn these salaries have at least two years of experience in the operating room as well as the master's degree and anesthetist certification required to be a CRNA.
  
  

Hourly Earnings

• Because many professionals in the healthcare industry, particularly nurses, receive an hourly wage rather than working on salary, many CRNAs' earning power is best measured by their hourly rates. CRNAs earn average hourly wages between $57.33 and $87.21 as of January 2011, according to PayScale. Those who possess a pediatric advanced life support certification in addition to their CRNA credentials earn between $60.60 and $101.74 hourly.
  
  

Comparison to Registered Nurse Earnings

• The time and investment needed to earn a master's degree and qualify to become a CRNA are immediately visible on a nurse's paycheck. The average annual salary for a registered nurse is $63,750 as of May 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average annual salary of $154,756 reported by Salary.com is almost two and a half times -- 243 percent -- higher than these earnings.