Nursing is the single largest health profession in California. These quick reference guides use the most recent data available to look at nursing supply, demographics, education, and distribution, as well as pay for registered nurses (RNs) and licensed vocational nurses (LVNs).

Key findings include:

• The number of advanced practice nurses doubled between 2012 and 2022.
• Non-White RNs accounted for more than half (54%) of employed nurses in 2024.
• California’s prelicensure programs for RNs produced 13,372 graduates in 2022.
• Sixty percent of employed RNs worked in a hospital in 2022, and 20% worked in ambulatory health care services.
• The median income for RNs was $132,660 in 2022.
• In 2022, 81% of LVNs graduated from a for-profit program.

Two quick reference guides, one on RNs and the other on LVNs, are available for download below. These materials are part of CHCF’s California Health Care Almanac, an online clearinghouse for key data and analyses describing the state’s health care landscape. See our entire collection of current and past editions of California’s Health Care Workforce reports.