Healthcare Licenses by State: 2026 Report

Name: Active Healthcare Licenses by State, October 1, 2026
Creator: Care Contacts
Published: 2026-10-14

We counted every active license in the state boards' own files, and the ARRT registry for radiologic technologists, across six professions: 8,128,200 in all. Registered nurses hold 69% of them, and New York holds the most per resident.

By Care Contacts · Published October 14, 2026

8,128,200active licenses across six professions on October 1, 2026

Registered nurses5,612,400 · 69.0%Physicians1,083,200 · 13.3%Nurse practitioners431,900 · 5.3%Radiologic technologists349,700 · 4.3%Pharmacists332,600 · 4.1%Physical therapists318,400 · 3.9%

Key Findings

Registered nurses hold 69% of the 8,128,200 active licenses we counted.
That is 5,612,400 registered nurse licenses, more than five times the 1,083,200 physician licenses.
Ten states hold 52% of all active registered nurse licenses.
California leads with 498,300, ahead of Texas with 432,100 and Florida with 401,700.
New York holds the most licenses per resident, and Texas the fewest.
New York counts 28.8 active licenses per 1,000 residents across the six professions, against 19.7 in Texas and 23.8 nationally.
There are 13 active registered nurse licenses for every nurse practitioner license.
We counted 5,612,400 registered nurse licenses and 431,900 nurse practitioner licenses.
California holds the most physician licenses of any state.
It counts 152,700 active physician licenses, ahead of New York with 101,300 and Florida with 87,900.
Florida holds more nurse practitioner licenses than any other state.
It counts 41,800, ahead of California with 38,900 and New York with 34,700.

Figure 1New York holds the most licenses per resident; Texas the fewestActive licenses in six professions per 1,000 residents, October 1, 2026

Under 22
22 to 24
24 to 26
26 to 28
28 or more

AL25.8
AK20.6
AZ23.0
AR21.7
CA20.6
CO26.3
CT24.4
DE22.8
DC26.1
FL25.9
GA21.8
HI22.3
ID22.2
IL25.3
IN21.0
IA23.4
KS23.8
KY26.1
LA23.6
ME23.5
MD24.1
MA22.5
MI25.3
MN25.1
MS26.0
MO21.6
MT22.5
NE24.7
NV22.6
NH23.4
NJ23.4
NM26.3
NY28.8
NC23.7
ND24.9
OH27.8
OK21.1
OR24.5
PA28.5
RI22.9
SC25.3
SD26.5
TN20.9
TX19.7
UT25.6
VT21.9
VA25.7
WA21.4
WV24.4
WI25.4
WY22.6

Note: Residents are the Census Bureau's July 1, 2025 estimates.

Source: Care Contacts count of each state's licensing board files and the ARRT registry, October 1, 2026.

Figure 2Registered nurses hold 7 in 10 active licensesActive licenses on October 1, 2026, by profession

Registered nurses5,612,400
Physicians1,083,200
Nurse practitioners431,900
Radiologic technologists349,700
Pharmacists332,600
Physical therapists318,400

Note: Counts are licenses, not people: a person licensed in two states counts in each.

Source: Care Contacts count of each state's licensing board files and the ARRT registry, October 1, 2026.

Nurse Practitioners by State

Florida holds the most active nurse practitioner licenses, 41,800, ahead of California and New York. The ten states below hold 55% of the 431,900 we counted.

Figure 3Florida leads the states in nurse practitioner licensesActive nurse practitioner licenses on October 1, 2026, the ten states with the most

1Florida41,800
2California38,900
3New York34,700
4Texas31,600
5Pennsylvania17,900
6Ohio16,800
7Illinois15,400
8Georgia14,600
9North Carolina13,200
10New Jersey12,400

Note: Nurse practitioners hold an advanced practice license from the state's board of nursing. Every state's count is in the table below.

Source: Care Contacts count of each state's board of nursing files, October 1, 2026.

How much a nurse practitioner may do without a physician also varies by state: the American Association of Nurse Practitioners rates each state's laws as full, reduced or restricted practice. See AANP's state practice environment map

Active Licenses in Every State

All 50 states and DC, with the national total first. Select a column's heading to sort the states by it, or download the table.


United States	8,128,200	5,612,400	1,083,200	431,900	332,600	318,400	349,700	23.8
California	812,000	498,300	152,700	38,900	41,200	38,200	42,700	20.6
Texas	624,712	432,100	68,412	31,600	33,800	29,700	29,100	19.7
Florida	607,300	401,700	87,900	41,800	30,100	24,300	21,500	25.9
New York	575,500	368,900	101,300	34,700	27,400	18,200	25,000	28.8
Pennsylvania	372,100	247,800	59,800	17,900	18,600	13,700	14,300	28.5
Ohio	331,400	228,400	49,100	16,800	16,300	10,400	10,400	27.8
Illinois	322,400	214,600	52,700	15,400	15,900	12,100	11,700	25.3
North Carolina	265,500	176,200	41,300	13,200	14,100	10,300	10,400	23.7
Michigan	256,400	168,900	44,600	11,700	13,200	8,800	9,200	25.3
Georgia	246,500	159,300	37,800	14,600	13,900	10,900	10,000	21.8
Virginia	228,300	171,400	19,800	12,300	6,400	9,300	9,100	25.7
New Jersey	223,288	157,800	26,688	12,400	6,100	8,500	11,800	23.4
Arizona	175,000	127,400	18,000	8,900	5,200	6,300	9,200	23.0
Washington	171,100	123,100	16,900	9,100	5,900	8,300	7,800	21.4
Massachusetts	160,700	114,900	18,800	9,000	4,400	6,600	7,000	22.5
Colorado	158,000	118,000	15,900	7,800	3,500	5,600	7,200	26.3
Tennessee	153,200	107,800	18,100	7,800	5,500	7,400	6,600	20.9
Wisconsin	151,600	115,600	13,700	6,800	4,000	5,300	6,200	25.4
Maryland	151,100	110,200	16,100	8,500	4,400	5,000	6,900	24.1
Indiana	146,400	103,800	15,700	9,600	5,200	5,800	6,300	21.0
Minnesota	146,200	110,200	13,800	7,700	3,400	5,500	5,600	25.1
South Carolina	141,000	106,000	14,000	6,600	3,900	5,100	5,400	25.3
Missouri	135,400	96,700	16,100	7,100	4,200	5,200	6,100	21.6
Alabama	133,800	97,700	14,800	6,000	4,300	4,800	6,200	25.8
Kentucky	120,200	90,100	10,900	6,300	3,100	4,100	5,700	26.1
Louisiana	108,800	81,500	9,600	5,200	3,800	3,800	4,900	23.6
Oregon	104,700	75,700	12,000	5,100	2,700	4,400	4,800	24.5
Utah	90,500	66,100	9,700	5,200	2,800	3,200	3,500	25.6
Connecticut	90,000	69,300	7,400	4,200	2,200	3,400	3,500	24.4
Oklahoma	87,000	60,700	10,300	5,100	2,900	3,500	4,500	21.1
Mississippi	76,700	57,300	8,000	3,700	1,900	2,700	3,100	26.0
Iowa	75,800	54,900	8,400	3,600	1,900	3,100	3,900	23.4
Nevada	74,100	52,500	9,000	4,500	2,300	2,500	3,300	22.6
Kansas	71,000	50,800	8,300	4,000	1,900	2,900	3,100	23.8
Arkansas	67,500	48,600	6,900	3,900	2,300	2,900	2,900	21.7
New Mexico	55,800	40,900	6,000	3,100	1,600	1,600	2,600	26.3
Nebraska	49,900	37,300	4,800	2,500	1,500	1,800	2,000	24.7
Idaho	45,100	32,900	4,700	2,700	1,200	1,500	2,100	22.2
West Virginia	43,100	31,900	4,600	1,800	1,300	1,500	2,000	24.4
Maine	33,200	24,100	3,200	2,000	1,000	1,400	1,500	23.5
New Hampshire	33,100	24,500	3,200	1,500	1,000	1,400	1,500	23.4
Hawaii	31,900	22,900	3,700	1,800	1,000	1,100	1,400	22.3
Montana	25,800	19,300	2,400	1,300	700	900	1,200	22.5
Rhode Island	25,500	18,600	2,700	1,500	800	800	1,100	22.9
South Dakota	24,800	18,800	2,300	1,300	700	700	1,000	26.5
Delaware	24,200	17,200	3,000	1,200	700	900	1,200	22.8
North Dakota	19,900	15,000	2,000	900	600	600	800	24.9
District of Columbia	18,100	13,900	1,600	1,000	400	600	600	26.1
Alaska	15,200	10,500	1,800	900	600	700	700	20.6
Vermont	14,100	10,400	1,400	700	500	500	600	21.9
Wyoming	13,300	9,900	1,300	700	300	600	500	22.6

Counts are licenses, not people: a person licensed in two states counts in each, and a multistate nursing license counts once, in the state that issued it. Residents are the Census Bureau's July 1, 2025 estimates.

Every license the table counts can be checked on the lookup of the board that issued it. How to verify a Texas physician's license

How We Counted

We counted the licenses each state board lists as active in its own file on October 1, 2026.

Sources: Each state's licensing boards for nurses, physicians, pharmacists and physical therapists, and the ARRT registry for radiologic technologists.
What counts as active: A license counts when the board's file lists it as active on the count date. Expired, delinquent, suspended, cancelled and retired licenses do not count.
Licenses, not people: A person licensed in two states counts in each. A multistate nursing license counts once, in the state that issued it.
Per resident: Licenses per 1,000 residents divide each state's count by the Census Bureau's July 1, 2025 population estimate.
Jobs, for comparison: The national questions set our counts beside the jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook counts for 2025, which count people at work, not licenses.
Refresh: We load every board's file each week. This report uses the files as of October 1, 2026.
Status words: Boards word their statuses differently, so we map each board's own words to active or not active.

Cite this report

Care Contacts. "Healthcare Licenses by State: 2026 Report." October 14, 2026. https://www.carecontacts.health/blog/reports/healthcare-licenses-by-state

Questions About Healthcare Licenses by State

How many nurses are in the US?: The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 3,465,400 registered nurse jobs in 2025, and 666,900 more for licensed practical and vocational nurses. We counted 5,612,400 active registered nurse licenses on October 1, 2026. The counts differ because the Bureau counts jobs and we count licenses, and one nurse can hold licenses in several states.Sources, checked October 2026: BLS: Registered Nurses · BLS: Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
How many physicians are in the US?: The Federation of State Medical Boards' DocInfo counts 1,044,734 licensed doctors, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics 862,800 physician and surgeon jobs in 2025. We counted 1,083,200 active physician licenses on October 1, 2026; a physician licensed in several states holds a license in each.Sources, checked October 2026: FSMB: DocInfo · BLS: Physicians and Surgeons
How many nurse practitioners are in the US?: The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 336,300 nurse practitioner jobs in 2025. We counted 431,900 active nurse practitioner licenses on October 1, 2026, the most of them in Florida.Sources, checked October 2026: BLS: Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners
How many physical therapists are in the US?: The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 283,700 physical therapist jobs in 2025. We counted 318,400 active physical therapist licenses on October 1, 2026.Sources, checked October 2026: BLS: Physical Therapists
How many pharmacists are in the US?: The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 325,200 pharmacist jobs in 2025. We counted 332,600 active pharmacist licenses on October 1, 2026.Sources, checked October 2026: BLS: Pharmacists
How many active registered nurse licenses are there in the US?: We counted 5,612,400 active registered nurse licenses on October 1, 2026, from every state board's own file.
Which state has the most nurse practitioners?: Florida, with 41,800 active nurse practitioner licenses, followed by California with 38,900 and New York with 34,700.
Which state has the most nurse licenses?: California, with 498,300 active registered nurse licenses, followed by Texas with 432,100 and Florida with 401,700.
Which state has the most healthcare licenses per resident?: New York, with 28.8 active licenses per 1,000 residents across the six professions. Texas has the fewest, with 19.7.Sources, checked October 2026: Census Bureau: State Population Totals, 2020–2025
Which state has the most physician licenses?: California, with 152,700 active physician licenses, followed by New York with 101,300.
Does a person licensed in two states count twice?: Yes. The report counts licenses, not people, so a person licensed in two states counts in each. A multistate nursing license counts once.