Discrepancy exists between hourly mean wage for nurse practitioners, adjusted for cost of living, and U.S. News & World Report rankings for best and worst states for healthcare, according to Becker's analysis.
The analysis calculated the cost of living-adjusted hourly mean wage for nurse practitioners using May 2023 salary data from BLS and 2024 cost of living index data from the World Population Review.
Hawaii and Massachusetts were named the top two best states for healthcare in 2024, but they have the lowest cost of living-adjusted hourly mean wage for nurse practitioners among states. At the same time, Mississippi was ranked the worst state for healthcare but the 8th highest for nurse practitioner pay.
|
10 best states for healthcare |
NP hourly mean wage, adjusted by cost of living |
State pay rank out of 50 |
|
1. Hawaii |
$35.62 |
50 |
|
2. Massachusetts |
$46.66 |
49 |
|
3. Connecticut |
$58.23 |
33 |
|
4. New Jersey |
$61.11 |
23 |
|
5. Rhode Island |
$58.06 |
34 |
|
6. California |
$57.74 |
36 |
|
7. Maryland |
$51.50 |
47 |
|
8. New York |
$54.89 |
43 |
|
9. Delaware |
$61.43 |
22 |
|
10. Washington |
$60.73 |
25 |
|
10 worst states for healthcare |
NP hourly mean wage, adjusted by cost of living |
State pay rank out of 50 |
|
50. Mississippi |
$66.23 |
8 |
|
49. Oklahoma |
$69.50 |
4 |
|
48. West Virginia |
$60.40 |
28 |
|
47. Arkansas |
$60.39 |
29 |
|
46. Louisiana |
$62.02 |
19 |
|
45. Missouri |
$63.46 |
16 |
|
44. Alabama |
$59.56 |
30 |
|
43. South Dakota |
$62.01 |
20 |
|
42. Tennessee |
$55.15 |
42 |
|
41. Indiana |
$64.80 |
13 |