At a glance
Registered nurse statistics show a profession that is large, licensed, highly distributed across settings, and still expanding. The numbers point to a field where pay, education, mobility, and workload vary a lot by employer, state, and role, which is why RN data is useful whether you are researching nursing school, career planning, staffing, or regional labor markets.
Fast facts:
- 3.4 million jobs were held by registered nurses in 2024 (BLS OOH 2025).
- The median annual wage was $93,600 in May 2024 (BLS OOH 2025).
- Employment is projected to grow 5% from 2024 to 2034 (BLS OOH 2025).
- About 189,100 openings per year are projected on average over the decade (BLS OOH 2025).
- RNs usually enter through a BSN, ADN/ASN, or diploma program, and all must be licensed (BLS OOH 2025).
Table of contents
- Registered nurse statistics at a glance
- Employment and growth trends
- Education and licensing
- Pay by industry
- State and metro differences
- Workforce makeup and retention signals
- Job demands and working conditions
Employment and growth trends
The broad employment story is straightforward: registered nursing is a very large occupation with steady demand and a significant replacement pipeline. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook data says registered nurses held about 3.4 million jobs in 2024 and employment is projected to grow 5% from 2024 to 2034 (BLS OOH 2025).
That projected pace is not explosive, but it is meaningful at this scale. A 5% growth rate on a base this large still translates into a lot of hiring activity, and the 189,100 average annual openings projected over the decade (BLS OOH 2025) reinforces that the profession is driven by both expansion and replacement demand.
What the growth numbers suggest
- The occupation is large enough that even moderate percentage growth produces a high number of openings.
- Replacement needs matter as much as expansion because registered nursing is already a mature workforce.
- Regional and industry differences can matter more than the national headline when you are choosing where to work.
Big number: 189,100 annual openings is a reminder that RN hiring is about more than new jobs. It also reflects turnover, retirement, and workforce movement (BLS OOH 2025).
Education and licensing
Registered nurse statistics are unusually useful for comparing education paths because the occupation has multiple common entry routes. The BLS says registered nurses usually take one of three education paths: a bachelor’s degree in nursing, an associate’s degree in nursing, or a diploma from an approved nursing program; all registered nurses must be licensed (BLS OOH 2025).
Typical pathways
| Pathway | Typical time to complete | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| BSN | 4 years | Common four-year route into practice (BLS OOH 2025) |
| ADN/ASN | 4 years | Another common route, also typically taking 4 years (BLS OOH 2025) |
| Diploma | 2 to 3 years | Shorter program option from an approved nursing program (BLS OOH 2025) |
The education pattern matters because RN supply depends on more than interest in the profession. The structure of these pathways affects how quickly new nurses can enter the labor market, how much debt they may take on, and how employers evaluate qualifications.
Why licensing is central
Licensing is not a side detail in nursing statistics. It is a baseline requirement that shapes entry, mobility, and labor supply. Because every RN must be licensed (BLS OOH 2025), the workforce is filtered through state and exam systems before it reaches employers.
That makes RN statistics different from many occupations where entry is looser and credentials are less standardized. For workforce planning, licensing is one reason registered nursing can be both broad and regulated at the same time.
Pay by industry
Registered nurse pay varies meaningfully by industry, and the BLS industry table makes that variation easy to see. The broad median wage was $93,600 in May 2024 (BLS OOH 2025), but industry-specific wages range much higher in some settings.
Top industry comparisons
| Industry | Employment | Mean annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| General medical and surgical hospitals | 1,749,320 | $96,830 |
| Offices of physicians | 220,070 | $83,110 |
| Home health care services | 179,530 | $87,430 |
| Outpatient care centers | 163,630 | $102,640 |
| Employment services | 130,890 | $110,230 |
| Federal, state, and local government | 97,940 | $114,860 |
A few patterns stand out. Hospital work employs by far the most registered nurses, with 1,749,320 RNs in general medical and surgical hospitals (BLS OEWS May 2023). That concentration means hospitals remain the main anchor of RN employment even as wages climb in other settings.
What stands out in pay differences
- Government roles paid the highest mean annual wage in this set at $114,860 (BLS OEWS May 2023).
- Employment services also paid strongly at $110,230 (BLS OEWS May 2023), which is notable because this category often overlaps with travel and staffing patterns.
- Outpatient care centers paid $102,640 on average (BLS OEWS May 2023), above the national median.
- Offices of physicians paid less at $83,110 (BLS OEWS May 2023), which shows how different care settings can produce very different compensation outcomes.
Employment share by largest-employer table
The occupational profile also shows how concentrated the workforce is across broad employer categories:
- 59% of RNs worked in hospitals (BLS OOH 2025).
- 19% worked in ambulatory healthcare services (BLS OOH 2025).
- 6% worked in nursing and residential care facilities (BLS OOH 2025).
- 5% worked in government, excluding state and local education and hospitals (BLS OOH 2025).
- 3% worked in educational services (BLS OOH 2025).
That split reinforces a simple interpretation: hospitals dominate RN employment, but the rest of the profession is spread across a wide set of care and service environments.
State and metro differences
State-level RN statistics show how uneven the profession is across the U.S. Some states combine high employment with very strong wages, while others have large head counts but more moderate pay.
Selected state comparison
| State | Registered nurses employed | Mean annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| California | 332,560 | $137,690 |
| Texas | 251,840 | $90,210 |
| Florida | 207,910 | $84,760 |
| New York | 188,060 | $106,620 |
| Illinois | 139,910 | $87,650 |
| Ohio | 133,300 | $84,430 |
| North Carolina | 104,380 | $82,530 |
| Georgia | 93,730 | $90,000 |
| Massachusetts | 87,320 | $108,850 |
| New Jersey | 82,950 | $101,960 |
| Washington | 65,030 | $111,030 |
California stands out in two ways. It employed 332,560 registered nurses and paid a mean annual wage of $137,690 (BLS California OEWS May 2023), both of which are major national signals. That combination suggests both scale and premium compensation in a single market.
State takeaways
- California is the biggest state employer in this dataset and the highest-paying large state listed (BLS California OEWS May 2023).
- Texas has a very large RN workforce at 251,840, but pay is lower at $90,210 (BLS Texas OEWS May 2023).
- Florida also employs a large number of RNs, 207,910, with mean annual wage of $84,760 (BLS Florida OEWS May 2023).
- Massachusetts and Washington both combine relatively high employment with mean wages above $108,000 (BLS Massachusetts OEWS May 2023; BLS Washington OEWS May 2023).
Metro comparisons
Metropolitan data adds another layer because pay and job concentration can differ even inside the same state or region.
| Metro area | Employed registered nurses | Mean annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City | 184,360 | $111,210 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington | 72,060 | $94,850 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria | 43,360 | $99,000 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford | 26,020 | $84,460 |
| Raleigh | 11,630 | $86,110 |
The New York metro area is especially notable because it employs 184,360 registered nurses and pays $111,210 on average (BLS New York-Newark-Jersey City OEWS May 2023). That makes it one of the clearest examples of a dense, high-value RN labor market.
Workforce makeup and retention signals
The 2022 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses snapshot and the NCSBN workforce study add context that pure employment tables cannot provide. These sources describe how RNs work, how they finance education, and how many may be approaching retirement or leaving the field.
Full-time work and patient care
According to the 2022 NSSRN snapshot, 82% of the 3.5 million employed RNs worked full-time (HRSA NSSRN Snapshot 2024). That means the profession is not just large in head count; it is also heavily full-time in structure.
The same snapshot says 85% of employed RNs had patient care responsibilities, equal to 2.9 million nurses (HRSA NSSRN Snapshot 2024). So the bulk of the workforce is directly tied to bedside or hands-on care rather than nonclinical roles.
Travel, age, and retirement pressure
Several retention-related numbers stand out:
- More than 5% of the RN workforce were travel nurses (HRSA NSSRN Snapshot 2024).
- Only 13% of travel RNs were over age 55 (HRSA NSSRN Snapshot 2024).
- 17% of employed RNs had already retired by survey completion or planned to retire within 5 years (HRSA NSSRN Snapshot 2024).
Those figures point in different directions at once. The workforce includes a meaningful travel segment, yet a notable share is also nearing retirement or already in transition. That tension helps explain why RN demand can remain elevated even when workforce counts are large.
Education, borrowing, and debt
The 2022 NSSRN snapshot also shows how nurses financed their education:
- Nearly 2 million individuals, or 45% of the RN workforce, entered nursing with a bachelor’s degree (HRSA NSSRN Snapshot 2024).
- 11% of licensed RNs had completed an additional degree qualifying them as APRNs (HRSA NSSRN Snapshot 2024).
- 2.2 million RNs, or 51% of the workforce, borrowed money to finance a degree (HRSA NSSRN Snapshot 2024).
- RNs had about $48 billion of student loan debt outstanding (HRSA NSSRN Snapshot 2024).
- Nearly 2 million RNs, or 45% of the workforce, used federally assisted student loans to finance at least part of their initial nursing degree (HRSA NSSRN Snapshot 2024).
These numbers are important because they show how education costs shape the profession. RN statistics are not just about hiring and wages; they also reflect the financial burden of entering and advancing in the field.
NCSBN workforce signals
The 2024 NCSBN workforce study adds another signal set:
- The study surveyed 800,000 nurses (NCSBN 2024 Workforce Study).
- 88% of RN licensees were actively involved in nursing (NCSBN 2024 Workforce Study).
- 138,000 nurses left the workforce since 2022 (NCSBN 2024 Workforce Study).
- 40% of nurses said they intended to leave the workforce by 2029 (NCSBN 2024 Workforce Study).
- That intent implies potentially 1.6 million total nurses by 2029 (NCSBN 2024 Workforce Study).
- 73% of nurses had a baccalaureate degree or higher (NCSBN 2024 Workforce Study).
- 7.2% of nurses were Latino/Hispanic (NCSBN 2024 Workforce Study).
- Median pre-tax annual earnings for nurses increased by 10% to 16% in the study (NCSBN 2024 Workforce Study).
Taken together, those figures suggest a workforce that is credentialed, economically important, and still facing meaningful retention risk.
Job demands and working conditions
The 2025 BLS Occupational Requirements Survey profile is useful because it shows what registered nurses actually do at work, not just where they work or what they earn. The most striking result is how verbally intensive the job is.
Communication and supervision
- External verbal interactions were required constantly for 79.4% of RNs in 2025 (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- External verbal interactions were required more than once per hour but not constantly for 19.1% (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- Speaking was required for greater than 99.5% of RNs in 2025 (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- Speaking was frequently required for 61.8% and occasionally required for 37.8% (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- Supervising others was required for 49.6% of RNs in 2025 (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
That combination suggests the job is both interactive and coordinating-heavy. RNs are not only delivering care; many are also managing communication, instruction, and oversight throughout the shift.
Physical and environmental demands
The ORS profile also shows a physically constrained workplace:
- Low postures were required for 93.0% of RNs in 2025 (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- An ability to pause work and take brief unscheduled breaks was present for 15.0% (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- Driving was required for 7.9% (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- Climbing ramps or stairs was required for 9.0% (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- Working around crowds applied to fewer than 0.5% (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
The noise and equipment data reinforces that point:
- Moderate noise exposure was present for 90.8% of RNs (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- Quiet noise exposure was present for 9.1% (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- Loud noise exposure and very loud noise exposure were both present for fewer than 0.5% (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- Personal protective equipment was used to mitigate noise exposure for fewer than 0.5% (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
Education and training at the job level
The ORS data also shows how employers structure entry and training:
- On-the-job training was required for 54.3% of RNs in 2025 (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- Prior work experience was required for 17.6% (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- An associate’s degree was required for 61.7% of RNs in 2025 (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- A bachelor’s degree was required for 38.2% (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
- Telework was routinely allowed for 1.1% of RNs in 2025 (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).
These figures help explain why RN work is still difficult to standardize across settings. The occupation is credentialed, but employers still layer on practical training and experience requirements depending on environment and role.
Registered nurse statistics that matter most
A few of the supplied figures deserve special attention because they define the profession more than any single headline can.
- 3.4 million jobs show the scale of the workforce (BLS OOH 2025).
- $93,600 median annual wage shows the occupation’s earnings floor and middle point (BLS OOH 2025).
- 5% projected growth plus 189,100 annual openings show persistent demand (BLS OOH 2025).
- 59% hospital employment shows how concentrated RN labor still is in inpatient care (BLS OOH 2025).
- $48 billion in student loan debt shows the financial weight of entry and advancement (HRSA NSSRN Snapshot 2024).
- 40% intending to leave by 2029 shows why future supply remains a live issue (NCSBN 2024 Workforce Study).
- 79.4% constantly required external verbal interactions shows how communication-heavy the profession is on the job (BLS ORS Registered Nurses 2025).