Compact Nursing States: The 2026 List and How the Nurse Licensure Compact Works

40 jurisdictions hold membership in the Nurse Licensure Compact. Each row gives the state, its effective date if it joined recently, the official license lookup used there, and a link to our state page. Effective dates are the ones each board reports; the original members show January 19, 2018.

Ten jurisdictions are not compact members: Alaska, California, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, and Oregon. Massachusetts is listed as pending: the legislation passed, but no implementation date is set. Until one arrives, Massachusetts issues single-state licenses like any non-member.

A nurse whose home state is on that list can hold only single-state licenses. Working in another state means applying by endorsement to that state's board, one application at a time. Many boards issue a temporary permit during the review. 40 boards offer one, six do not, and five publish no answer.

Primary state of residence means where you hold a driver's license, vote, and file taxes. If that state is a member, its board issues your multistate license. Every member state applies the same requirements: a board-approved program, NCLEX, state and federal fingerprint checks, no active discipline, no felony convictions, and a valid Social Security number. You practice under the practice act of the state where the patient is, telehealth included.

Moving to another member state means applying for a new multistate license there, within the window that state allows; the old one converts to single-state. Moving to a non-member state leaves the license in force as a single-state license in the state that issued it. Either way, the current status shows on the board lookup or on Nursys, where employers verify it.

Washington joined on July 24, 2023, and its residents became eligible for multistate licenses. Rhode Island followed on January 1, 2024. Pennsylvania came in on July 7, 2025, which ended the need for separate licenses in neighboring member states. The newest member is Connecticut, effective October 1, 2025.

Apply to your home state board for a multistate license. New graduates request it on the initial application; nurses already licensed in a member state ask the board to upgrade a single-state license. Both routes require the state and federal fingerprint check. The cost is the state's normal initial application fee, $75 in Texas and $110 in Florida, which does not cover NCLEX registration or fingerprinting.

Check three things before you apply. Your home state must be a member on the day you file, since the license can come from nowhere else. You must have no active discipline on any license. And employers in other member states can still require state-specific continuing education; 21 states set mandatory CE topics.

Typical pay for registered nurses is $97,550 a year, or $46.90 an hour, according to the latest government wage data (May 2025). Entry-level work starts near $68,940, and the top of the range reaches $137,470. Employment is projected to grow 5.6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 180,800 openings a year. Pay varies widely by state, which our salary guide by state breaks down.

40 of 51 nursing jurisdictions are compact members. The ten outside are Alaska, California, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, and Oregon, with Massachusetts pending. Your multistate license comes from your primary state of residence and nowhere else. Before you rely on it for a job in another member state, confirm the multistate status on the board lookup or Nursys.