The U.S. Nursing Shortage: A State-by-State Breakdown

The nursing shortage in the U.S. is still a concern. A lack of nurse educators keeps nursing schools from being able to admit enough students to address the shortfall. A shortage of nurses means more burnout and more nurses choosing to leave the profession, contributing to the shortage.

In addition, the aging of Baby Boomers means that more nurses are retiring at a time when an aging population has a greater need for healthcare providers. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the nursing shortage. Learn more about the nursing shortage by state and what legislators are doing to address it.

To best understand the shortage on a national scale, we gathered the most recent available data on the number of registered nurses employed in each state from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). We then compared these figures to state population estimates to illustrate the nursing shortage on a state-by-state basis. The table below provides a ranking of states, starting with those with the lowest nurse-to-state population ratios.

Major cities with higher populations tend to always need more nurses, with most city hospitals offering many open positions. According to data from the BLS, the following five states have the lowest local concentrations of nurse employment vs. national nurse employment:

Metropolitan areas tend to maintain the highest location quotients of local nurse employment to national nurse employment:

From the BLS data: The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.

Larger cities tend to suffer more from nursing shortages due to higher population densities. Simply put, there needs to be more new nurses entering the field to properly manage the volume of people who need healthcare within most large cities.

According to StatPearls there are many factors contributing to the national nursing shortage, including:

State legislators are addressing the nursing shortage. Hospitals and schools are also taking action to combat the nursing shortage and prevent a future deficit.