In 2021, Switzerland paid the highest salary for midwives at CHF122,356 or $125,657 USD. Norway comes in second place with a salary of NOK901,858 or $107,921 USD. The US comes in third place at $67,997 USD followed by Canada at $66,152 CAD or $50,264 USD. Currently topping the list as the highest-paid country in the world for nurses, Luxembourg pays its nurses very well. Nurse midwives earn more than standard midwives as they can offer medical services that a general midwife cannot. Midwives can deliver babies at home or in birthing centers and typically deal with low-risk pregnancies.
Nurse midwives are expected to see job growth in the coming years. Entry-level nurses and midwives currently start on a base wage of $63,000 per year. More senior staff can move into executive levels and earn over $160,000 per year.
Based on a comparison of 23 countries in 2014, Australia ranked the highest in midwives per 10,000 inhabitants followed by Iceland and Sweden. On the other end was South Korea, Slovenia and Austria.