U.S. Registered Nursing Pipeline and Demand
Registered-nursing awards declined from 2021–22 to 2023–24, while BLS reported 3.38 million jobs and 189,100 projected annual openings.
Compare the U.S. registered-nursing education pipeline with workforce demand. Use IPEDS degree trends and award levels, CIP–SOC career links, May 2025 BLS employment and wages, 2024–34 national projections, current state projections, CareerOneStop nursing licenses, and observed AI use where covered. Show which states combine high degree production with high projected openings, and which appear most imbalanced. Keep licenses, career links, and graduate destinations separate. Create one useful chart, disclose unmatched coverage, and cite every release. Use a normal chat answer and chart only.
Demand remains large as nursing awards decline
U.S. registered-nursing awards fell from 266,574 in 2021–22 to 253,743 in 2023–24.
The comparable four-year series was 259,400, 266,574, 262,902, and 253,743 awards.
The 2023–24 collection covers awards reported from July 2022 through June 2023.
Bachelor’s degrees led with 146,679 awards. Associate degrees contributed 81,665, master’s degrees 20,308, and other levels 5,091.
BLS counted 3,379,720 registered-nurse jobs in May 2025. The median annual wage was $97,550.
BLS projects 4.9% employment growth from 2024 through 2034. It projects 189,100 annual openings nationally.
Eight states are high on both measures
California, Florida, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas rank in the top quarter on both measures.
California reported 16,556 awards and projects 22,890 annual openings.
Texas reported the most awards, at 18,849, with 17,710 projected annual openings.
The chart’s bubble size measures distance from the 51-jurisdiction openings-per-award benchmark.
Utah appears most awards-heavy, with 11,920 awards and 2,240 annual openings.
Minnesota is also awards-heavy, with 14,580 awards and 3,840 annual openings.
Oregon appears most openings-heavy, with 1,684 awards and 2,830 annual openings.
These ratios do not establish shortages or surpluses. They exclude migration, licensing, retirements, and graduate employment choices.
Career links, licenses, and destinations remain separate
The federal crosswalk strongly connects Registered Nursing education with the Registered Nurses occupation.
This CIP 2020–SOC 2018 connection describes preparation. It does not show where graduates work.
CareerOneStop’s October 14, 2024 release contained 14 exact-title Registered Nurse licenses across 14 jurisdictions, including Guam.
That exact-title subset is not nationwide license coverage. Differently titled nursing licenses may exist in unmatched jurisdictions.
These records cannot establish whether a college program meets board requirements. They also do not establish individual eligibility.
Observed AI use is very limited in this source
Anthropic reported Registered Nurses in its June 26, 2026 release, covering May 1 through June 1, 2026.
Registered Nurses represented 0.01% of observed Claude.ai use and 0% of observed first-party API use.
These product-use observations cannot predict job displacement or future nursing employment.
Release and coverage notes
- IPEDS uses revised releases dated November 9, 2022; December 7, 2023; November 22, 2024; and December 30, 2025.
- Employment and wages use the May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release.
- National demand uses BLS Employment Projections for 2024–34.
- State projections use current 2024–34 records captured August 25, 2026.
- All 50 states and Washington, D.C., matched for the chart. Territories were excluded from that comparison.
- IPEDS counts awards, not unique graduates, licenses, workforce entrants, or graduate destinations.
Eight states combine high nursing awards in 2023–24 with high RN openings for 2024–34
Scatter plot of 51 jurisdictions. The horizontal axis shows 2023–24 first-major awards in Registered Nursing. The vertical axis shows projected average annual Registered Nurse openings for 2024–34. California, Florida, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas fall in the top quarter on both measures. Utah has the largest relative awards-heavy imbalance. Oregon has the largest relative openings-heavy imbalance.
| State Name | Registered nursing awards, 2023–24 | Average annual RN openings, 2024–34 | Absolute relative imbalance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utah | 11,920 | 2,240 | 1.5 |
| Minnesota | 14,580 | 3,840 | 1.16 |
| Oregon | 1,684 | 2,830 | 0.69 |
| Hawaii | 510 | 830 | 0.66 |
| Alaska | 254 | 410 | 0.65 |
| Washington | 3,680 | 5,800 | 0.63 |
| California | 16,556 | 22,890 | 0.49 |
| Arizona | 9,553 | 4,990 | 0.48 |
| Alabama | 6,180 | 3,270 | 0.47 |
| Colorado | 3,114 | 4,140 | 0.46 |
| Kentucky | 5,547 | 3,010 | 0.44 |
| South Dakota | 826 | 950 | 0.31 |
| Missouri | 4,114 | 4,700 | 0.3 |
| New Jersey | 5,461 | 6,210 | 0.3 |
| North Carolina | 6,117 | 6,930 | 0.3 |
| Nebraska | 1,454 | 1,620 | 0.28 |
| Michigan | 5,862 | 6,510 | 0.28 |
| Ohio | 11,161 | 7,190 | 0.27 |
| Nevada | 1,971 | 2,170 | 0.27 |
| South Carolina | 2,783 | 3,060 | 0.27 |
| Maine | 915 | 980 | 0.24 |
| Delaware | 871 | 930 | 0.24 |
| Vermont | 378 | 400 | 0.23 |
| Illinois | 14,122 | 9,490 | 0.23 |
| Rhode Island | 917 | 620 | 0.22 |
| West Virginia | 1,641 | 1,720 | 0.22 |
| Georgia | 5,890 | 6,140 | 0.21 |
| North Dakota | 1,023 | 710 | 0.19 |
| Massachusetts | 4,873 | 4,930 | 0.18 |
| New Hampshire | 1,391 | 1,030 | 0.13 |
| New York | 12,680 | 12,080 | 0.12 |
| Iowa | 2,377 | 2,260 | 0.12 |
| Texas | 18,849 | 17,710 | 0.11 |
| Montana | 737 | 690 | 0.1 |
| Pennsylvania | 9,209 | 8,580 | 0.1 |
| Arkansas | 2,477 | 1,890 | 0.1 |
| District of Columbia | 773 | 590 | 0.1 |
| Tennessee | 4,671 | 3,590 | 0.09 |
| New Mexico | 1,509 | 1,160 | 0.09 |
| Wyoming | 441 | 340 | 0.09 |
| Indiana | 4,899 | 3,890 | 0.06 |
| Florida | 18,106 | 14,390 | 0.06 |
| Virginia | 5,782 | 4,600 | 0.06 |
| Mississippi | 2,384 | 1,900 | 0.06 |
| Maryland | 3,653 | 2,940 | 0.05 |
| Connecticut | 2,715 | 2,380 | 0.04 |
| Louisiana | 3,137 | 2,580 | 0.02 |
| Kansas | 2,180 | 1,880 | 0.02 |
| Oklahoma | 2,605 | 2,170 | 0.01 |
| Wisconsin | 4,605 | 3,840 | 0.01 |
| Idaho | 1,439 | 1,220 | 0.01 |