Source Article – States by nurse practitioners per capita: 2025

Using U.S. active state-licensed nurse practitioners counts by state and population data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Becker’s published a state ranking of the NPs per capita.

The total number of NPs across the nation for the past 3 years; January 2023 – 278,577 | February 2024 – 284,717 | September 2025 – 463,456 (what a jump!)

States with the smallest number of NPs per 100,000 people:

• Hawaii = 58.43
• Washington = 74.7
• Utah = 76.12
• Oklahoma = 84.66
• Wyoming = 85.09

States with the largest number of NPs per 100,000 people:

• District of Columbia = 298.75
• Rhode Island = 246.96
• Massachusetts = 221.87
• Tennessee = 221.85
• Mississippi = 203.77

These data have me thinking… It would be interesting to compare average salaries by state alongside the density of NPs to determine if that is a driver.  Or is scope of practice playing a role in attractiveness to practice in the denser states? How would the physician associates per capita by state compare?

Take a look at the complete ranking and let me know what your takeaways are…

Be sure and subscribe on The Check In page to receive a weekly recap of postings.