The after-hours reference desk
U.S. nursing workforce statistics
Current numbers on nurse employment, workforce pressure, education, and the reality of working after dark. Built for writers, students, advocates, and anyone who wants the actual receipts.
At a glance
The numbers behind the shift.
These are U.S. figures from public workforce and occupational-health sources. We refresh this page as major source data changes, because yesterday’s staffing story is already old news.
3.39M
registered nursing jobs in the U.S. in 2024
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 3,391,000 registered nurse jobs in 2024.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024 employment data ↗5%
projected growth in RN jobs from 2024 to 2034
BLS projects registered nurse employment will rise from 3,391,000 to 3,557,100 jobs over the decade.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024–2034 projections ↗189,100
average RN openings expected each year through 2034
That annual average includes openings created by growth as well as nurses changing occupations or leaving the workforce.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024–2034 projections ↗138,000+
nurses left the workforce between 2022 and 2024
The 2024 National Nursing Workforce Study identified stress, burnout, and retirement among the key reasons reported.
NCSBN, 2024 National Nursing Workforce Study, released 2025 ↗Nearly 40%
of surveyed nurses said they intended to leave by 2029
This is a stated intention in the study, not a forecast that every one of those nurses will leave.
NCSBN, 2024 National Nursing Workforce Study, released 2025 ↗73%
of RNs reported a baccalaureate degree or higher
The figure comes from the national 2024 workforce survey and reflects nurses’ highest reported educational level.
NCSBN, 2024 National Nursing Workforce Survey findings ↗61.8%
of night-shift workers reported short sleep
In a nationally representative U.S. worker sample, short sleep meant fewer than seven hours. This finding covers workers broadly, not nurses alone.
CDC/NIOSH, nationally representative worker study, 2016 ↗Read the room
A note on what these figures can, and cannot, say.
Job counts, active licenses, and nurses in the workforce are not interchangeable measures. Projections describe an expected employment path, while survey answers describe what respondents reported at one point in time. We label each number with its source and year so it can be quoted with the right context.
Shop nurse-coded skins →Methodology and sources
Want to cite this page?
This roundup uses primary public sources wherever possible: federal occupational data, a national nursing-workforce study, and federal occupational-health research. Each statistic above links directly to the source used. The page was last reviewed on October 20, 2026.
Suggested citation
Crafted Between Shifts. “U.S. Nursing Workforce Statistics.” Updated October 20, 2026. https://crafted-between-shifts.com/nursing-workforce-statistics
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Registered Nurses Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment and projected openings, 2024–2034.
- National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2024 National Nursing Workforce Study, released April 2025.
- National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2024 Nursing Workforce Survey Findings, Spring 2025.
- CDC/NIOSH, Shift Work and Sleep, nationally representative U.S. worker study, 2016.