NurseJournal, an educational website, used Bureau of Labor Statistics data to compare the population of each state with its number of employed nurses to examine the nurse shortage on a state-by-state basis. States with a low number of nurses per capita are likely to have a greater nurse shortage.
Here are the states, and the District of Columbia, with the highest and lowest rates of employed nurses per 1,000 people:
Lowest rates
Utah: 6.75
Idaho: 7.06
New Mexico: 7.53
Oklahoma: 7.54
Nevada: 7.54
Georgia: 7.6
Arizona: 7.61
Texas: 7.69
Virginia: 8
Maryland: 8.08
Highest rates
District of Columbia: 17.59
South Dakota: 15.78
North Dakota: 14.5
Massachusetts: 13.48
West Virginia: 11.89
Missouri: 11.4
Delaware: 11.28
Minnesota: 11.16
Ohio: 11.09
Vermont: 10.71
