The United States has 874 registered nurses per 100,000 people, but the RNs are not distributed evenly throughout the nation.
Hospitals in states with low concentrations of RNs may have difficulties filling empty nursing positions, contributing to the high rate of nurse vacancies in hospitals.
Here are the number of registered nurses per 100,000 people per state, including the District of Columbia.
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation State Health Facts, based on population estimates provided by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2011.
1. District of Columbia — 1,728
2. South Dakota — 1,349
3. Massachusetts — 1,321
4. North Dakota — 1,310
5. Rhode Island — 1,174
6. Delaware — 1,159
7. Missouri — 1,125
8. Maine — 1,115
9. Iowa — 1,085
10. Ohio — 1,081
11. Minnesota — 1,060
12. New Hampshire — 1,051
13. Nebraska — 1,040
14. Pennsylvania — 1,026
14. Kentucky — 1,026
16. Vermont — 1,017
17. Connecticut — 1,014
18. Mississippi — 995
19. Wisconsin — 988
20. West Virginia — 985
21. Kansas — 981
22. Illinois — 962
23. Tennessee — 946
24. North Carolina — 945
24. Alabama — 945
26. Indiana — 938
27. South Carolina — 911
28. Michigan — 908
29. New York — 905
30. Louisiana — 893
31. New Jersey — 886
32. Montana — 872
33. Florida — 865
34. Maryland — 851
35. Wyoming — 845
36. Colorado — 831
37. Arkansas — 802
38. Oregon — 800
39. Washington — 798
40. Virginia — 768
41. Alaska — 755
42. Oklahoma — 746
43. Hawaii — 743
44. New Mexico — 740
45. Idaho — 736
46. Texas — 720
47. Arizona — 690
48. Utah — 678
49. Georgia — 665
50. California — 664
51. Nevada — 605
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