The nursing shortage

America doesn't have enough nurses. You can be one of them.

By 2034 the U.S. needs to fill roughly 1.9 million registered-nurse openings.About 189,100 of those roles open every year as experienced nurses retire or leave — which means the door is wide open for the next generation. Here's the data, straight from the source.

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The nursing shortage, by the numbers

~1.9M

RN job openings to fill by 2034

About 189,100 registered-nurse openings every year this decade — replacing nurses who retire or leave.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, 2024)

40%

of RNs plan to leave within 5 years

The median registered nurse is now 50 years old, and a wave of experienced nurses is heading for the exit.

Source: National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN, 2024)

$93,600

median RN salary

Half of registered nurses earned more than this in May 2024 — the reward at the top of the ladder you can start today.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, 2024)

Why the gap keeps growing

Four forces, one shortage.

An aging population needs more care

The 65-and-older population keeps growing, and older adults need far more nursing care. Demand climbs every year while the people who deliver that care are getting older too.

The workforce is heading for the exit

The median registered nurse is now 50. About 4 in 10 RNs say they plan to leave the profession within five years — and burnout, staffing, and retirements keep pulling experienced nurses out.

Schools can't graduate enough nurses

Faculty shortages and limited clinical placements force nursing schools to turn away tens of thousands of qualified applicants every year. The pipeline is constrained at the top, not just the bottom.

People who want in get lost on the way

Even before licensure, would-be nurses stall out — wrong first credential, application friction, prerequisites discovered too late. That's the leak PathwayRN exists to close.

Sources

Every number here is sourced.

We lead with primary federal and licensure data — the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, HRSA, and AACN — so you can check the claims yourself.

  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, 2024)

    Median RN pay of $93,600 (May 2024) and ~189,100 RN job openings projected each year, 2024–34.

    View source

  • National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN, 2024)

    Median RN age of 50 in 2024 and ~40% of RNs reporting plans to leave the profession within five years.

    View source

  • Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA, 2022)

    Federal workforce projections: a shortage of ~78,610 full-time RNs in 2025 and ~63,720 in 2030, concentrated in specific states.

    View source

  • American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)

    Nursing Shortage Fact Sheet: faculty shortages, ~193,100 annual openings, and the aging-workforce drivers behind the shortage.

    View source
You'll often see the headline that the U.S. needs "1.2 million new nurses by 2030." That figure is an aggregate of growth plus replacement demand popularized by industry reporting (tracing back to Institute of Medicine and BLS-era estimates), not a single federal shortfall projection. The cleaner, primary-source numbers above tell the same story: a large, aging workforce and far more open roles than new nurses to fill them.

The shortage is the opening. Here's your first step.

Pick the first credential that leads to RN, build one reusable application packet, and see your path from CNA to RN — free, no account needed.

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