Nurse Workforce by State, 2026: Analysis of 950,050 Nursing Records
How is the U.S. nursing workforce distributed across the country? We analyzed the 950,050 nursing records in the HealthTal database — registered nurses, nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, and LPN/LVNs, compiled from NPI records, state licensing boards, and public sources — to map where nurses actually work, state by state.
Key findings
- California leads the nation with 79,177 nursing records — 10.6% of all state-attributed records in the dataset.
- The top 5 states (California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania) account for 37% of the state-attributed nursing workforce.
- The top 10 states hold 54% of records, while the bottom 10 states combined hold under 2.6%.
- The smallest nursing workforces are in Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont, North Dakota, South Dakota — each under 1,732 records.
Nursing workforce by state (2026)
| Rank | State | Nursing records | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 79,177 | 10.61% |
| 2 | Texas | 55,781 | 7.47% |
| 3 | Florida | 53,845 | 7.21% |
| 4 | New York | 47,587 | 6.38% |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 37,230 | 4.99% |
| 6 | Ohio | 32,069 | 4.30% |
| 7 | Illinois | 26,296 | 3.52% |
| 8 | North Carolina | 25,481 | 3.41% |
| 9 | Michigan | 23,309 | 3.12% |
| 10 | Massachusetts | 22,511 | 3.02% |
| 11 | Georgia | 22,486 | 3.01% |
| 12 | New Jersey | 20,363 | 2.73% |
| 13 | Virginia | 18,072 | 2.42% |
| 14 | Indiana | 16,874 | 2.26% |
| 15 | Minnesota | 16,850 | 2.26% |
| 16 | Wisconsin | 16,051 | 2.15% |
| 17 | Tennessee | 15,907 | 2.13% |
| 18 | Maryland | 15,728 | 2.11% |
| 19 | Washington | 15,483 | 2.07% |
| 20 | Missouri | 15,228 | 2.04% |
| 21 | Arizona | 14,316 | 1.92% |
| 22 | Colorado | 14,295 | 1.92% |
| 23 | South Carolina | 10,681 | 1.43% |
| 24 | Connecticut | 10,207 | 1.37% |
| 25 | Alabama | 9,944 | 1.33% |
| 26 | Louisiana | 9,833 | 1.32% |
| 27 | Kentucky | 8,871 | 1.19% |
| 28 | Oregon | 8,291 | 1.11% |
| 29 | Kansas | 7,941 | 1.06% |
| 30 | Oklahoma | 6,750 | 0.90% |
| 31 | Iowa | 6,504 | 0.87% |
| 32 | Arkansas | 5,747 | 0.77% |
| 33 | Mississippi | 5,721 | 0.77% |
| 34 | Utah | 5,191 | 0.70% |
| 35 | Nevada | 4,689 | 0.63% |
| 36 | Nebraska | 4,569 | 0.61% |
| 37 | New Hampshire | 3,712 | 0.50% |
| 38 | Maine | 3,386 | 0.45% |
| 39 | New Mexico | 3,360 | 0.45% |
| 40 | Idaho | 3,358 | 0.45% |
| 41 | Rhode Island | 3,333 | 0.45% |
| 42 | West Virginia | 3,271 | 0.44% |
| 43 | Delaware | 3,053 | 0.41% |
| 44 | Hawaii | 2,207 | 0.30% |
| 45 | Montana | 1,997 | 0.27% |
| 46 | District of Columbia | 1,745 | 0.23% |
| 47 | South Dakota | 1,732 | 0.23% |
| 48 | North Dakota | 1,559 | 0.21% |
| 49 | Vermont | 1,440 | 0.19% |
| 50 | Alaska | 1,283 | 0.17% |
| 51 | Wyoming | 1,075 | 0.14% |
Methodology
This analysis covers the 950,050 nursing-classified records in the HealthTal database as of July 2026: registered nurses, nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, and LPN/LVN/CNS roles. 746,389 records (78.6%) carry a two-letter U.S. state attribution and are included in the state table above; the remainder lack a state field or list a non-U.S. region. Records are compiled from NPI registry data, state licensing boards, and public professional profiles, and validated monthly. See our data methodology for sourcing and verification details.
Counts reflect records in the HealthTal database, not official licensure totals; states with high travel-nurse volume may be relatively over-represented.
Use this data
Journalists and researchers are welcome to cite this analysis with a link to this page. Recruiters who need to reach nurses directly can browse the nurse directory by state or access the full nurse email list with verified contact data.
The HealthTal team covers healthcare recruitment trends, healthcare workforce insights, and data-driven hiring strategies.