The District of Columbia has the highest number of nurses per capita while Utah has the lowest, according to a NurseJournal analysis.
NurseJournal, an educational website, used Bureau of Labor Statistics data to compare the population of each state with its number of employed nurses to examine the nurse shortage on a state-by-state basis. States with a low number of nurses per capita are likely to have a greater nurse shortage.
Here are the states, and the District of Columbia, with the highest and lowest rates of employed nurses per 1,000 people:
Lowest rates
Utah: 6.75
Idaho: 7.06
New Mexico: 7.53
Oklahoma: 7.54
Nevada: 7.54
Georgia: 7.6
Arizona: 7.61
Texas: 7.69
Virginia: 8
Maryland: 8.08
Highest rates
District of Columbia: 17.59
South Dakota: 15.78
North Dakota: 14.5
Massachusetts: 13.48
West Virginia: 11.89
Missouri: 11.4
Delaware: 11.28
Minnesota: 11.16
Ohio: 11.09
Vermont: 10.71