States with the most, fewest licensed nurses
08/26/25 at 03:00 AM
States with the most, fewest licensed nurses
Becker's Clinical Leadership; by Mariah Taylor; 8/13/25
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing found Washington, D.C., has the most licensed nurses per capita, while Utah is the state with the fewest... The data found Wyoming and Vermont had the fewest licensed nurses in their states overall, at 9,440 and 12,957, respectively. Meanwhile, California and Texas had the most licensed nurses at 578,043 and 526,812, respectively. Becker’s used 2024 Census data to calculate how many nurses are in each state per 100,000 population. Here are [states] with the most and fewest nurses:
Most [licensed RNs per 100,000 population]
- District of Columbia — 7,056.03
- New York — 2,975.79
- Alaska — 2,955.82
Fewest [licensed RNs per 100,000 population]
- Utah — 1,377.44
- California — 1,465.95
- Louisiana — 1,480.92