Somewhere in North Dakota, a nurse practitioner is being offered an average of $223,600 to $268,320 to relocate. Somewhere in Oklahoma, another is being offered $115,000 to $140,000 to do broadly similar work. Same credential. Same country. Different zip code, different universe. PhysEmp’s latest scan of the national market surfaced 1,776 active nurse practitioner listings spanning 51 jurisdictions, from Alaska to Hawaii to every corner in between. The thesis is uncomplicated: nurse practitioner compensation in 2026 is less a national wage and more a geographic lottery ticket, with the biggest payouts hiding in the states with the fewest listings.
👉 Explore Nurse Practitioner job market insights and trends

The Nurse Practitioner Job Market at a Glance

Total listings: 1,776
Listings with salary data: 764
Full national salary range: $90,000 – $275,000
National average salary range: $144,761 – $186,129

The spread tells the story before the paragraphs do. A tripling of pay from floor to ceiling across a single credential is not a rounding error — it is a market that has decided location, specialty, and scope matter more than the letters after your name. The average range lands in a tight, almost boring band ($144,761 to $186,129), which is exactly what makes the outliers interesting.

States represented in the dataset: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY.

Fifty-one markets. One credential. Wildly different price tags.
👉 Browse Nurse Practitioner physician job opportunities

How States Stack Up

Overperformers (well above the national average):

• North Dakota ($223,600–$268,320): tiny listing count, enormous check — a classic scarcity premium.
• Nebraska ($218,400–$287,040): the highest ceiling in the country, quietly.
• Indiana ($185,120–$260,832): pays like a coastal metro without pretending to be one.
• Tennessee ($190,667–$248,213): small sample, but the offers on the table are serious.
• Alabama ($191,500–$255,000): rural demand doing its usual work.
• Kansas ($187,200–$247,520) and Wyoming ($187,200–$247,520): mirror-image ranges, mirror-image scarcity.
• Delaware ($174,200–$231,400): the surprise Mid-Atlantic entrant.
• Michigan ($170,560–$221,728), North Carolina ($169,330–$218,694), South Carolina ($169,267–$231,200), Louisiana ($169,867–$236,427), Iowa ($167,267–$223,600), Utah ($166,400–$218,400), Virginia ($166,741–$220,268): a solid tier of markets punching above the mean.

Near-average (within the benchmark band):

• Florida ($140,518–$185,209), Arizona ($140,569–$185,369), Ohio ($144,407–$174,567), Texas ($154,664–$210,831), Washington ($151,144–$178,042), California ($151,898–$189,104), Georgia ($150,570–$193,464), Oregon ($149,676–$194,693), New Mexico ($148,350–$215,330), Maine ($147,133–$182,311), DC ($147,000–$217,840), Maryland ($146,350–$205,415), Mississippi ($143,200–$184,200), Alaska ($137,800–$181,100), Nevada ($137,429–$178,029), Illinois ($136,469–$177,256), West Virginia ($132,200–$165,367), Colorado ($129,091–$172,326), Connecticut ($127,121–$161,753), Massachusetts ($126,741–$157,107), New Jersey ($123,731–$161,491).

Underperformers:

• Oklahoma ($115,000–$140,000): the dataset’s basement.
• Vermont ($121,287–$149,664): high cost of living, low compensation — an unforgiving combination.
• Rhode Island ($122,000–$153,000): New England discount pricing.
• Arkansas ($124,450–$171,700): decent ceiling, weak floor.
• New York ($126,603–$160,347): the loudest volume-pay mismatch in the country.
• Hawaii ($130,143–$155,371): paradise, priced like a warning label.

Volume leaders: California (199), New York (143), North Carolina (120), Washington (89), Florida (88). North Carolina is the only volume leader that also cracks the overperformer tier. New York offers 143 listings and pays like a mid-tier state. California offers 199 and pays like the average.
👉 Compare Nurse Practitioner compensation and opportunities by region

What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: fly to Nebraska. The state’s average high of $287,040 leads the country, and North Dakota, Indiana, Alabama, and Louisiana are all within reasonable striking distance. The single highest-profile ceiling in the dataset is a Dermatology Nurse Practitioner role in Phoenix, Arizona (myDermRecruiter) at $125,000–$200,000 — full-time, specialty-driven, and paying like a coastal offer in a lower-cost metro.

If your priority is maximum optionality: California (199), New York (143), and North Carolina (120) are the only places with real listing depth. North Carolina is the outlier that gives you both volume and above-average pay.

If your priority is balance: North Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Oregon offer competitive pay alongside meaningful volume. Hawaii and Vermont deserve scrutiny — the compensation does not appear to price in the cost of living (which is to say: the paycheck arrives, the rent leaves faster).
👉 Search Nurse Practitioner jobs by location and compensation

What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

Salary transparency rate: 764 ÷ 1,776 = 43%.

Fewer than half of nurse practitioner listings disclose compensation. That is a pipeline problem before it is a compensation problem — candidates who filter by salary simply never see 57% of the market. In a credential where a $150,000 floor is table stakes, opacity reads as suspicion.

The volume-pay misalignments are the real recruiting headache. New York posts 143 roles and pays below the national average. California posts 199 and pays at the average. Recruiters in these markets cannot lead with the number. They will need to lead with employer brand, patient population, schedule flexibility, and — increasingly — anything that looks like career runway. Meanwhile, North Dakota and Nebraska recruiters can, and should, lead with the number.
👉 Post Nurse Practitioner positions on PhysEmp

What’s Driving the Numbers

Scarcity is the highest-paid credential. Every state in the overperformer tier — North Dakota, Nebraska, Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Kansas, Wyoming — shares one trait: a listing count in the single or low double digits. The market is paying a premium not for the work, but for the willingness to move somewhere with fewer coffee shops. Rural and small-state health systems have effectively priced in the friction of relocation, and the numbers make it hard to argue with them.

Specialty and scope command a real premium. The Dermatology NP role in Phoenix ($125,000–$200,000) and the Medical Director Nurse Practitioner position in Sacramento through CompHealth ($143,520–$186,576) both sit meaningfully above general practice ranges in their respective states. Leadership titles and specialty scope are doing exactly what they do in physician markets — they reprice the credential.

Part-time listings distort the floor, but not by much. The dataset’s low ($90,000) is well above the previously observed part-time outlier of $45,000, suggesting the qualifying-listing filter is doing its job. The floor is real. Oklahoma’s $115,000 low is not a part-time artifact — it is what full-time offers actually look like there.

The volume-pay relationship is broken, and the break is the signal. High-volume markets (CA, NY) pay average or below. Low-volume markets (ND, NE, IN, TN) pay top-of-market. This is a labor market where supply density suppresses wages more reliably than demand density inflates them.

The Bottom Line

The nurse practitioner market in 2026 is deep, active, and geographically incoherent in the most rational way possible. The states with the loudest job boards pay the quietest salaries, and the states no one thinks about are cutting the biggest checks. Candidates who chase volume will find work. Candidates who chase compensation will find a plane ticket to the Great Plains. Recruiters in high-volume, low-pay markets have a transparency problem before they have a wage problem — and the 43% disclosure rate is not helping.

Same credential, same country, same year — the paycheck just depends on how far you are willing to drive.
👉 Browse all Nurse Practitioner physician jobs
👉 Upload your CV to get matched with opportunities
👉 Set alerts for new Nurse Practitioner roles

Salary data based on 764 listings with disclosed compensation. Figures may reflect part-time or specialized roles. This report is informational and should not replace professional judgment or financial planning.