Women continue to outnumber men in nursing nationwide. Approximately nine percent of the professionally active nurse workforce in the U.S. is male, according to March 2015 data from The Kaiser Family Foundation.
Broken down by state, however, the ratio of male to female nurses looks much different. For example, in Hawaii there are five female nurses for every male nurse, while in Kentucky female nurses outnumber male nurses 12 to 1. The ratio of female to male nurses is greatest in Iowa, North Dakota and South Carolina, where there are more than 15 female nurses for each male nurse. No states have an equal distribution of gender in nursing.
Here is the gender ratio of nurses across all 50 states and Washington D.C., ranked in descending order by ratio of female to male nurses, based on data from The Kaiser Family Foundation.
|
Location |
Ratio of females to one male |
Female |
Male |
Unspecified |
Total |
|
United States |
9.5 to 1 |
3,176,295 |
335,611 |
405,061 |
3,916,967 |
|
Iowa |
16.5 to 1 |
42,712 |
2,590 |
5,419 |
50,721 |
|
North Dakota |
15.9 to 1 |
10,193 |
641 |
1,275 |
12,109 |
|
South Carolina |
15.1 to 1 |
37,809 |
2,503 |
4,433 |
44,745 |
|
North Carolina |
14.7 to 1 |
73,002 |
4,977 |
7,407 |
85,386 |
|
Indiana |
14.2 to 1 |
97,412 |
6,868 |
12,940 |
117,220 |
|
Minnesota |
14.1 to 1 |
86,489 |
6,131 |
609 |
93,229 |
|
Virginia |
13.6 to 1 |
95,119 |
6,996 |
15,035 |
117,150 |
|
Delaware |
13.4 to 1 |
8,430 |
630 |
931 |
9,991 |
|
Massachusetts |
13.3 to 1 |
92,342 |
6,953 |
10,034 |
109,329 |
|
Wisconsin |
13.2 to 1 |
28,610 |
2,174 |
509 |
31,293 |
|
Illinois |
12.8 to 1 |
133,790 |
10,413 |
20,032 |
164,235 |
|
Pennsylvania |
12.7 to 1 |
186,866 |
14,729 |
20,586 |
222,181 |
|
New York |
12.7 to 1 |
161,492 |
12,673 |
20,008 |
194,173 |
|
Connecticut |
12.7 to 1 |
45,682 |
3,591 |
5,816 |
55,089 |
|
Rhode Island |
12.1 to 1 |
10,916 |
899 |
1,047 |
128,62 |
|
Kentucky |
12 to 1 |
54,659 |
4,573 |
7,316 |
66,548 |
|
Vermont |
11.9 to 1 |
7,122 |
598 |
709 |
8,429 |
|
Kansas |
11.7 to 1 |
29,043 |
2,490 |
3,272 |
34,805 |
|
Maine |
11.7 to 1 |
18,051 |
1,540 |
1,720 |
21,311 |
|
Georgia |
11.5 to 1 |
96,503 |
8,379 |
17,385 |
122,267 |
|
Missouri |
11.4 to 1 |
75,724 |
6,625 |
10,495 |
92,844 |
|
Ohio |
11.3 to 1 |
166,163 |
14,742 |
21,701 |
202,606 |
|
Tennessee |
11.3 to 1 |
95,278 |
8,430 |
776 |
104,484 |
|
New Hampshire |
11.3 to 1 |
8,353 |
736 |
783 |
9,872 |
|
South Dakota |
11.2 to 1 |
12,408 |
1,111 |
1,565 |
15,084 |
|
Oklahoma |
11 to 1 |
36,967 |
3,369 |
5,780 |
46,116 |
|
New Jersey |
10.8 to 1 |
91,302 |
8,421 |
15,372 |
115,095 |
|
Michigan |
10.6 to 1 |
117,326 |
11,039 |
15,173 |
143,538 |
|
Maryland |
10.4 to 1 |
56,024 |
5,406 |
11,210 |
72,640 |
|
West Virginia |
10.3 to 1 |
22,956 |
2,234 |
2,894 |
28,084 |
|
Alabama |
10.2 to 1 |
59,567 |
5,844 |
9,368 |
74779 |
|
Washington |
10.2 to 1 |
47,376 |
4,660 |
5,661 |
57,697 |
|
Mississippi |
10.2 to 1 |
33,245 |
3,248 |
5,426 |
41,919 |
|
Colorado |
9.7 to 1 |
50,001 |
5129 |
7,030 |
62,160 |
|
Arkansas |
9.1 to 1 |
35,303 |
3882 |
5,990 |
45,175 |
|
Texas |
8.9 to 1 |
268,922 |
30,131 |
2,753 |
301,806 |
|
Louisiana |
8.8 to 1 |
39,838 |
4,551 |
5,219 |
49,608 |
|
Utah |
8.7 to 1 |
13,671 |
1,576 |
1,840 |
17,087 |
|
Montana |
8.7 to 1 |
2,019 |
232 |
264 |
2,515 |
|
District of Columbia |
8.6 to 1 |
3,517 |
410 |
837 |
4,764 |
|
Arizona |
8.4 to 1 |
50,411 |
5,987 |
6,529 |
62,927 |
|
Wyoming |
8.4 to 1 |
2,694 |
320 |
372 |
3,386 |
|
Florida |
8.2 to 1 |
211,661 |
25,716 |
37,360 |
274,737 |
|
Alaska |
7.5 to 1 |
6,288 |
841 |
942 |
8,071 |
|
New Mexico |
7.3 to 1 |
16,565 |
2,261 |
2,223 |
21,049 |
|
Idaho |
7.3 to 1 |
13,935 |
1,911 |
2,236 |
18,082 |
|
Oregon |
7 to 1 |
29,359 |
4,204 |
4,419 |
37,982 |
|
Nevada |
6.7 to 1 |
18,737 |
2,791 |
3,593 |
25,121 |
|
California |
5.8 to 1 |
266,634 |
45,971 |
59,387 |
371,992 |
|
Hawaii |
5 to 1 |
1,858 |
374 |
375 |
2,607 |
|
Nebraska |
3.9 to 1 |
23,111 |
5,951 |
1,005 |
30,067 |
Note: Female to male ratios are presented as X:1 to provide the clearest and most comparable values that illustrate the scale of the gender difference across various states. The ratio of female to male nurses was obtained by dividing both female and male numbers by the number of males, and rounding to the nearest tenth.
Data is based on March 2015 numbers of professionally active nurses. Professionally active nurses include currently working, state-licensed registered nurses and licensed practical nurses. Ratios are based on the gender information provided, and do not take unspecified gender numbers into account. The national percentage of male nurses mentioned above may be a slight underestimate and may not reflect the ratios in this table because it is a percentage of the total number of nurses, which includes those who did not specify gender.
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