Nursing Job Growth: The Best States for Nursing Careers in 2022

Whether you’re wanting to establish a career in one city, across the nation, or even online, having a plan fresh out of nursing school location-wise is a great first step. There is a high demand for nurses in all states, but some are more persuasive than others.

The need for nurses has been growing and doesn’t look like it will slow down any time soon. As such, different facilities in various locations are beginning to offer more benefits to incentivize those in the nursing field to work at their facilities. Here are the best states for nurse practitioners that are currently offering some of the best perks and benefits.

California

California offers some of the best salaries that a nurse practitioner can find, coming in at an average of over $140,000. In addition to high salaries, California is a state that offers a high level of employment to nurse practitioners and is growing at a rate much faster than average. Also, California has been shown to be the highest paying state for traveling nurse practitioners.

New York

Like California, New York offers higher than average salaries — an average of over $125,000 — and a faster than average growth rate for nurse practitioners. Nurse practitioners heading to New York have a better chance of easily finding open positions with a high salary than in many other states.

Florida

Believe it or not, the role of the nurse practitioner has been found to be the fastest growing profession in the state of Florida, growing at a rate of over 50%. This is due, in large part, to the fact that a large portion of Florida’s healthcare worker population is nearing retirement age. As such, nurse practitioners looking for new opportunities have a great chance of finding them in the state of Florida.

Texas

They say that everything is bigger in Texas, and this maxim also applies to the rate at which the role of a nurse practitioner is growing in the state. The role is estimated to grow at a rate of 32% in the coming years, adding thousands of new jobs to the state. Nurse practitioners can expect a lower cost of living in Texas compared to some other states such as California and New York, which can be an important factor to keep in mind when moving for a job.

New Jersey

New Jersey is a haven for nurse practitioners as it offers the second highest average salaries to nurse practitioners. The role of a nurse practitioner is also set to grow at a rate of 28% by 2028, meaning that over 500 new nurse practitioner jobs become available each year. Nurse practitioners looking for a change should keep New Jersey in mind when deciding on a new location.

Factors to Keep in Mind When Searching for a New Position

As a nurse practitioner, there are a few factors one should keep in mind when moving to a new location for work. Some of these factors include:

• Salary
• Location
• Cost of living in a specific city and state
• Demand of work
• Work culture in a specific facility
• Rural vs urban environments
• Traveling Requirements

Take Your Nurse Practitioner Career to the Next Level

As a nurse practitioner, it’s easy to become comfortable in your current position and not feel the need to look for something better. In addition, new nurse practitioners may be tempted to stay in their local city rather than search for something in a new place.

Both new and veteran nurse practitioners can benefit from doing research and finding states whose healthcare environments align with their personal needs. Rather than settle, nurse practitioners should be purposeful about where they choose to work and advance their careers.

Featured image: stefanamer, iStock.