Nurse Practitioners Growth Outlook

The Bureau of Labor Statistics ranks nurse practitioners the third fastest-growing occupation in the entire economy for 2024 to 2034, and the fastest-growing job in healthcare. Employment of NPs, nurse anesthetists, and nurse midwives is projected to grow about 40% over the decade, far above the average for all occupations. Expect roughly 32,700 openings a year across the three roles.

The projected growth rate slipped slightly this cycle, from 45% to 40%, mostly because national employment projections came down across the board. Even so, NPs climbed three spots in the rankings and carry the highest median salary of any job in the top 10.

BLS builds these projections each year from employer-reported data, the current labor force, and openings by occupation.

Why NPs Are in Such High Demand

As the baby boomer generation ages, hospitals and care centers need far more clinicians across the board. That demand is why healthcare is expected to grow faster than any other industry, adding about 1.9 million jobs over the decade.

NPs are in especially high demand for a few specific reasons. The first is the physician shortage. A 2021 report from the Association of American Medical Colleges projected a deficit of 37,800 to 124,000 physicians by 2034.

In many states, advanced practice registered nurses like NPs deliver the same core services as physicians, including prescribing. In states that still restrict prescriptive authority, NPs are actively pushing to expand it, so the demand picture keeps tilting their way.

Healthcare is also leaning into team-based care, which puts NPs in roles physicians traditionally held. BLS expects APRNs to increasingly work as primary care providers in hospitals, physician offices, clinics, and other ambulatory settings. Research from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners shows NPs deliver primary care with no statistically significant difference in patient outcomes, and in some cases better ones, with fewer hospitalizations and higher satisfaction.

NPs earn about $129,210 a year on average. The top-employing states are California, New York, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Washington.