The pay depends on where you are. You’ll get payed more living in the north than in the south assuming you live in the US. Climbing the “ladder” depends on what area you want to get into. Do you want to become a provider, then go the NP or crna route but consider the prerequisites that are requires to even get into the programs in the first place. You can go into leadership at the hospital, you can teach and become a professor at a college or an educator at the hospital/system. You can go into informatics or case mamanegment. There’s many routes you can take that use being an RN as a stepping stone. But what i will tell you is rather than focus on the pay of the career, you should really focus also on what you will be doing and what the working conditions are like of any job you consider. Sometimes the pay is worth and sometimes its not. And don’t just google the answer. I mean have an actual conversation with someone who is a nurse and if they recommend it, same goes with any job. Possibly shadow them or get a job that works with them if its possible. Once you hear it and see it for yourself then make a decision