10 metros where Nurse Practitioners are hardest to fill

A national NP search copied the Bay Area wage into every metro that scored in the eights.

San Francisco and San Jose both score 8.5.

San Francisco's median is $219,080, 1.66 times the country, with a share of 0.63.

San Jose's median is $231,560, 1.75 times the country, with a share of 0.67.

Pay is extreme and the local share is thinner than a typical metro.

Portland also scores 8.5, at $158,890, 1.20 times the country, with a thinner share of 0.56.

New York scores 7.9 at $163,340 with a share of 1.10, about as common as a typical metro.

One score does not mean one wage.

For December 2025, California's all-industry openings rate stood at 3.6, under a U.S. rate of 4.0.

Each metro

Ranked table

Swipe the table sideways. The same figures are in the blocks above.

Takeaways

• Sacramento scores 8.4 at $172,010. Riverside scores 8.4 at $169,920 with a share of 0.48.
• Fresno scores 8.3 at $166,570. San Diego scores 8.2 at $163,860. Los Angeles scores 8.1 at $161,470.
• Las Vegas closes the ten at 7.8, median $144,060, 1.09 times the country, share 0.59.
• Metros under 500 nurse practitioners are not scored. A city missing from the list is not a zero.

For recruiters

• Keep the Bay Area medians in the Bay Area. Portland's 8.5 is a different offer.
• Where the share is under 1, say the bench is thinner than a typical metro before you only talk pay.

FAQ

Are these posted wages or open jobs?

No. The table is a government survey or a designation file.

What should a recruiter do first?

Follow the recruiter note on this page.

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

Related hiring pages

Methodology

Rows are the scored metro pages for Nurse Practitioners (29-1171) with the highest public market difficulty score, up to 10. Metros under 500 workers are not scored. A metro page is scored only when OEWS employment for that occupation is at least 500. Below that, the page stays up and is left off this ranking. Postsecondary teaching occupations and medical scientists are left off even when they are scored. Nominal weights, before a missing shortage match is rescaled, are projected openings divided by 2025 employment 18%, projected growth 22%, the metro median divided by the U.S. median 40%, how common the occupation is locally compared with the country 8% (the location-quotient column; a lower figure means a thinner local bench), a matching HRSA shortage designation 8%, and statewide all-industry JOLTS for December 2025 4%. Bands are Standard under 4, Elevated from 4 up to 7, and Hard at 7 and above. The California total-nonfarm job openings rate for December 2025 is 3.6. The U.S. rate is 4.0. Both are all-industry JOLTS rates. The article is tagged to California because that state holds the leading metro, so the publishing calendar does not stack it with another California article the same day. Rounded figures in the prose: $219,080 is stated as about $219.1K. a comparison of 1.66 is stated as 66 percent. $132,300 is stated as about $132.3K. Rounded figures in the prose: $231,560 is stated as about $231.6K. a comparison of 1.20 is stated as 20 percent. $158,890 is stated as about $158.9K. $144,060 is stated as about $144.1K.

Sources

• BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics · May 2025
• BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, total nonfarm · December 2025