Medical Assistant vs. Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) / Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN)

We compare Medical Assistant and Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) / Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) by adding each year’s earnings and subtracting required education and licensing costs over 20 years. The winner is the path with the higher cumulative net at year 20.

Income starts when each training path first shows paid work. That means bridge earnings such as residency pay are counted before the full attending salary kicks in, while tuition and credentialing costs are spread across the years they are actually paid.

These estimates use the cited training-pathway and salary sources attached to each career. Taxes, living expenses, loan interest, and local cost-of-living differences are excluded because they vary more by person and geography than by role. Read our full methodology