California ranked among the top five states for nurses in three out of four categories, according to Forbes Advisor.
With data from Projections Central and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Forbes assessed each state by four factors: employment level, concentration of nurses, job outlook and salary.
The top five states for each metric:
Employment level:
California: 325,620
Texas: 231,060
Florida: 197,630
New York: 190,470
Pennsylvania: 137,970
Concentration of nurses, or number of nurses per 1,000 jobs:
South Dakota: 32.99
West Virginia: 31.13
North Dakota: 27.88
Massachusetts: 26.39
Mississippi: 25.96
Job outlook, or projected increase in demand between 2020 and 2030:
California: 21,200 projected positions
Texas: 16,210
New York: 14,430
Florida: 13,250
Pennsylvania: 9,280
Average salary:
California: $133,340
Hawaii: $113,220
Oregon: $106,610
Massachusetts: $104,150
Alaska: $103,310