Healthcare · 29 U.S. metros
Registered nurse pools run from a location quotient of 1.23 in Tampa to 0.67 in Austin, and San Francisco's RN median is nearly twice the U.S. figure, so the same search plays out very differently from one metro to the next. Careerscape's healthcare recruiters work as one national, remote team organized by specialty and recruit for employers in all 29 of these markets.
Market depth
Registered nurses are the largest licensed occupation in health care, so they are the best single read on a market. The location quotient compares a metro's share of RN jobs with the U.S. share: above 1.0 means a deeper pool than average, below 1.0 a thinner one.
| Market | Jobs | Median pay · vs. U.S. | Concentration |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York City | 197,740 | $119,720+23% | 0.96 |
| Los Angeles | 109,360 | $135,560+39% | 0.80 |
| Chicago | 100,240 | $100,490+3% | 1.02 |
| Dallas | 76,680 | $101,420+4% | 0.87 |
| Philadelphia | 73,790 | $101,180+4% | 1.17 |
| Houston | 65,910 | $99,830+2% | 0.92 |
| Boston | 64,240 | $106,180+9% | 1.09 |
| Miami | 61,670 | $91,380−6% | 1.01 |
| Atlanta | 56,460 | $100,490+3% | 0.90 |
| Phoenix | 53,700 | $100,830+3% | 1.04 |
| Washington, DC | 46,830 | $102,710+5% | 0.69 |
| Detroit | 44,310 | $97,280±0% | 1.07 |
| Minneapolis | 43,600 | $103,040+6% | 1.03 |
| San Francisco | 41,750 | $186,610+91% | 0.81 |
| Seattle | 39,900 | $128,260+31% | 0.88 |
| Tampa | 38,720 | $85,470−12% | 1.23 |
| Baltimore | 30,930 | $99,550+2% | 1.05 |
| Denver | 30,380 | $101,130+4% | 0.87 |
| Pittsburgh | 29,360 | $82,370−16% | 1.21 |
| San Diego | 28,680 | $139,520+43% | 0.86 |
| Charlotte | 27,010 | $90,620−7% | 0.91 |
| Nashville | 25,100 | $84,040−14% | 1.05 |
| Portland | 24,220 | $130,310+34% | 0.92 |
| Austin | 18,920 | $97,890±0% | 0.67 |
| Providence | 15,180 | $99,880+2% | 0.98 |
| Hartford | 13,850 | $101,470+4% | 1.06 |
| Buffalo | 13,830 | $99,060+2% | 1.19 |
| Raleigh-Durham | 12,780 | $84,830−13% | 0.79 |
| Albany | 10,230 | $99,970+2% | 1.05 |
Tampa (1.23), Pittsburgh (1.21), Buffalo (1.19) and Philadelphia (1.17) have the deepest RN pools relative to their size. Austin (0.67), Washington, DC (0.69), Raleigh (0.79) and Los Angeles (0.80) are the thinnest. Pay runs the other way more often than not: San Francisco's median of $186,610 is nearly twice the U.S. median of $97,550, while Pittsburgh ($82,370), Nashville ($84,040) and Raleigh ($84,830) sit below it. BLS OEWS, May 2025, metro estimates for all industries. Registered Nurses, by metro area, sorted by jobs. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; U.S. median $97,550. Concentration is the BLS location quotient (1.0 = the U.S. share). Each market links to its page.
Role by role
A market that is thin for nurses can be deep for physician assistants. Location quotients (LQ) and medians below are BLS May 2025 metro estimates; the U.S. median is in brackets.
| Role | Deepest pools (LQ) | Thinnest pools (LQ) | Highest metro median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse practitioners [$132,300] | Nashville 1.99, Tampa 1.39, Baltimore 1.35 | Portland 0.56, Washington, DC 0.62, San Francisco 0.63 | San Francisco $219,080 |
| Physician assistants [$135,880] | Hartford 2.34, Pittsburgh 2.21, Buffalo 1.87, New York 1.70 | Austin 0.50, Los Angeles 0.60, Chicago and Nashville 0.65 | San Francisco $184,380 |
| Licensed practical nurses [$64,400] | Buffalo 1.45, Philadelphia 1.32, Los Angeles 1.28 | Seattle and Denver 0.40, Phoenix and Portland 0.45 | San Francisco $94,310 |
| Nursing assistants [$42,260] | Providence 1.96, Hartford 1.43, Pittsburgh 1.17 | Austin 0.46, San Francisco 0.53, Phoenix 0.61 | San Francisco $56,080 |
| Physical therapists [$102,760] | Buffalo 1.53, Hartford 1.33, New York 1.30 | Charlotte 0.72, Nashville 0.74, San Francisco 0.77 | San Francisco $141,980 |
| Respiratory therapists [$82,280] | Los Angeles 1.24, Houston 1.23, Phoenix and Pittsburgh 1.22 | Minneapolis 0.47, Seattle 0.60, Boston and Raleigh 0.64 | San Francisco $130,220 |
| Medical and health services managers [$123,860] | Baltimore 1.55, Providence 1.51, Pittsburgh 1.40 | Atlanta and Seattle 0.57, Buffalo 0.67 | New York $167,580 |
| Dental hygienists [$98,100] | Detroit 1.39, Portland 1.38, Hartford 1.36 | Washington, DC 0.49, Houston 0.65, Austin 0.69 | San Francisco $146,760 |
Seattle's nurse practitioner employment was not published by BLS, so it is left out of that row. Every number here also appears in the city page for that market. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
2025 to 2035
BLS projects employment for nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical and respiratory therapists, health services managers, medical assistants, medical records specialists and dental hygienists to grow much faster than average (7% or more) from 2025 to 2035. The largest volume of openings is in entry roles: about 196,200 a year for nursing assistants and 109,700 for medical assistants, against 180,800 for registered nurses. These are national projections, not local ones.
| Occupation | U.S. jobs, 2025 | U.S. median | Projected growth, 2025–35 | Openings a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurses | 3,465,400 | $97,550 | Faster than average (5% to 6%) | 180,800 |
| Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses | 666,900 | $64,400 | Average (3% to 4%) | 51,800 |
| Nursing Assistants | 1,505,900 | $42,260 | Average (3% to 4%) | 196,200 |
| Nurse Practitioners | 336,300 | $132,300 | Much faster than average (7% or higher) | 29,400 |
| Physician Assistants | 168,900 | $135,880 | Much faster than average (7% or higher) | 11,500 |
| Physical Therapists | 283,700 | $102,760 | Much faster than average (7% or higher) | 13,400 |
| Radiologic Technologists and Technicians | 234,200 | $80,110 | Faster than average (5% to 6%) | 13,000 |
| Medical and Health Services Managers | 640,400 | $123,860 | Much faster than average (7% or higher) | 62,300 |
| Medical Assistants | 833,900 | $45,690 | Much faster than average (7% or higher) | 109,700 |
| Medical Records Specialists | 200,700 | $51,140 | Much faster than average (7% or higher) | 14,000 |
| Respiratory Therapists | 142,000 | $82,280 | Much faster than average (7% or higher) | 8,600 |
| Dental Hygienists | 225,300 | $98,100 | Much faster than average (7% or higher) | 15,000 |
BLS Employment Projections and Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), as published on O*NET OnLine. Openings include replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
State rules
Nursing licenses are issued by states, and the biggest difference between our markets is whether a state belongs to the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), which lets a nurse with a multistate license from one member state practice in the others.
As of August 2026, every state except the nine named below has enacted the NLC. Our markets in member states with the compact in effect include those in Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Rhode Island and Washington. Pennsylvania fully implemented it on July 7, 2025, and Connecticut on October 1, 2025.
Nine states and the District of Columbia are not members, including New York, California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Oregon. A nurse moving to these markets needs that state's license first.
Massachusetts adopted the compact in a law signed on November 20, 2024. Its Board of Registration in Nursing is targeting May 2027 to implement it. Until then, out-of-state multistate licenses do not apply in Massachusetts and nurses still need a Massachusetts license.
Several of our metros cross state lines. New Jersey is a compact member and New York is not; the same split runs between Indiana and Illinois around Chicago, Washington and Oregon around Portland, Wisconsin and Minnesota around the Twin Cities, and Maryland and Virginia around DC. Where a candidate will practice decides which license matters.
California has required minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in acute care hospitals since 2004. Its health care worker minimum wage reached $25 an hour on July 1, 2026 for large systems with 10,000 or more full-time employees and for dialysis clinics, and $23 for most other covered facilities.
What we recruit
Searches cover hospitals and health systems, physician groups, outpatient and urgent care, post-acute and home health, dental groups and health plans. Pay benchmarks for many of these roles are in the Salary Guide.
How it works
Careerscape's healthcare recruiters are organized by specialty, not by city. A search for a nurse practitioner in Nashville and one in Boston go to the same people, who know that Nashville's NP pool is about twice as deep as the U.S. average while Boston pays NPs far more. We work remotely, by phone and video, and we have no local offices.
Employers can hire through direct hire, contract staffing, contract-to-hire, temporary staffing, executive search for nurse and operations leaders, or recruitment process outsourcing for high-volume programs. You get a pre-screened shortlist, not a stack of resumes, and you review candidates, request interviews and leave feedback in a private Employer Portal. Our healthcare staffing services page covers each model in detail.
Before you set pay, compare your offer with the market. The registered nurse, physical therapist and healthcare administrator pages in our Salary Guide give national ranges; the city pages linked from the table above show what each metro pays.
Request talent
Tell us the role, the location and how you want to hire, and a healthcare recruiter will follow up.
Looking for a job instead? Submit your resume or browse open jobs.
FAQ
A healthcare recruiter finds, screens and presents licensed and non-clinical candidates for a specific opening, then manages interviews and the offer. Good recruiters verify licensure and certifications early, because a missing state license is the most common reason a clinical hire stalls. Careerscape recruits nurses, advanced practice providers, therapists, technologists and healthcare operations staff for direct hire, contract, temporary and executive roles.
As of August 2026, nine states and the District of Columbia are not members: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York and Oregon. Massachusetts has enacted the compact but is not expected to implement it until about May 2027. In those places, a nurse needs a license from that state, typically by endorsement, before starting work.
Among the 29 metros we cover, the highest RN medians in May 2025 were San Francisco ($186,610), San Diego ($139,520), Los Angeles ($135,560), Portland ($130,310) and Seattle ($128,260), all on the West Coast. The U.S. median was $97,550. The lowest in our markets were Pittsburgh ($82,370), Nashville ($84,040) and Raleigh ($84,830).
BLS projects much faster than average growth (7% or more) from 2025 to 2035 for nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical and respiratory therapists, medical and health services managers, medical assistants, medical records specialists and dental hygienists. Registered nurses are projected to grow faster than average (5% to 6%), with about 180,800 openings a year nationally.
Careerscape does not have local offices. Our healthcare recruiters work as one national, remote team and specialize by role, so a search in Tampa or Hartford gets the same specialists as one in Chicago. Each city page linked from the markets table explains that market's talent depth, pay and licensing rules.
We can recruit across compact and non-compact markets at the same time and flag licensing steps before they slow an offer.
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