Florida home to the most nurse practitioners

With 26,735 nurse practitioners (NP), Florida ranks as the state with the highest number of actively licensed NPs. California and Texas round out the top three, with 23,752 and 20,307, respectively. Those three states are also the most populated ones in the U.S.

The data was published by the Kaiser Family Foundation and is based off of information from Redi-Data.

Wyoming (590) and Hawaii (359) are the states with the fewest NPs, followed by the District of Columbia (509). Wyoming also has the smallest population of any U.S. state. Interestingly, these places with the lowest number of NPs allow NPs to practice independently, while the three states with the most NPs all require supervision/delegation agreements.

As of April 2020, there were nearly 260,000 actively licensed NPs in the U.S. According to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 24 states allow full practice authority; 16 allow reduced practice; and 11 have restricted practice for NPs. The COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding public health emergency has led some states to temporarily lift restrictions on NPs’ ability to practice independently. It has also led to some states deciding to keep these changes in place permanently. Earlier this year, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed legislation to grant full practice authority to NPs outside of and beyond the COVID-19 public health emergency.