For the second year in a row, Washington topped WalletHub's annual list of best states for nurses, while Illinois shot up to the No. 2 spot on the "best" list after failing to even crack into the top 10 in 2014 and 2015.
WalletHub, a personal finance social network, ranks states on 14 key metrics for nurses, including monthly median starting salary, number of healthcare facilities per capita and nursing job openings per capita. The resulting list ranks all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
The following are the 10 best and 10 worst states for nurses in 2016, as ranked by WalletHub.
Best states
1. Washington
2. Illinois
3. Texas
4. Oregon
5. Iowa
6. California
7. Minnesota
8. Connecticut
9. New Hampshire
10. Pennsylvania
Worst states
42. New Jersey
43. North Carolina
44. Georgia
45. Kentucky
46. New York
47. South Carolina
48. Alabama
49. Hawaii
50. Louisiana
51. Washington, D.C.