On average, approximately 195,400 openings for registered nurses are projected from 2021-2031, according to the United States National Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Burnout, lack of educators, and an aging workforce are all contributing factors to the country's nursing shortage – which only continues to grow, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. To provide a better understanding of the shortage on a nationwide scale, Nurse Journal compiled a ranking of each state's nurse-to-population ratio.
Data has been gathered from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as of August 2022. Rankings are listed from lowest to highest number of employed registered nurses per 1,000 population.
- Utah: 7.26
- Georgia: 7.31
- Texas: 7.47
- Hawaii: 7.63
- Virginia: 7.76
- Idaho: 7.83
- Nevada: 7.92
- Oklahoma: 7.96
- Arizona: 8.01
- New Mexico: 8.04
- Washington: 8.11
- California: 8.20
- Alaska: 8.26
- Maryland: 8.35
- New Jersey: 8.39
- Wyoming: 8.48
- Florida: 8.72
- Arkansas: 8.74
- Montana: 8.89
- Oregon: 8.92
- Colorado: 8.95
- Tennessee: 9.01
- South Carolina: 9.02
- Louisiana: 9.20
- New York: 9.42
- New Hampshire: 9.36
- Connecticut: 9.52
- Kentucky: 9.66
- Mississippi: 9.84
- Indiana: 9.84
- Kansas: 9.86
- Rhode Island: 9.90
- Alabama: 9.91
- North Carolina: 10.04
- Illinois: 10.09
- Michigan: 10.17
- Iowa: 10.23
- Nebraska: 10.53
- Maine: 10.56
- Wisconsin: 10.67
- Ohio: 10.96
- West Virginia: 11.04
- Vermont: 11.21
- Missouri: 11.25
- Pennsylvania: 11.48
- Delaware: 11.88
- Minnesota: 12.09
- Massachusetts: 12.56
- North Dakota: 15.16
- South Dakota: 15.95
- District of Columbia: 16.74