This page is built from the job board's live index of open postings on hospital and health-system career sites in North Carolina: 8,638 open positions from 58 employers as of September 26, 2026, 4.2% of all open postings in the index, which ranks North Carolina #7 of 51 states. Registered nurses are 54.7% of the state's postings (2,314). Every figure below is a count or a posted pay range, never a job description; the method is at the end.
Where the jobs are in North Carolina
| # | City | Open postings | of which RN | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charlotte, NC | 835 | 221 | 13 |
| 2 | Durham, NC | 700 | 152 | 6 |
| 3 | Greensboro, NC | 695 | 191 | 13 |
| 4 | Raleigh, NC | 585 | 160 | 16 |
| 5 | Wilmington, NC | 475 | 109 | 7 |
| 6 | Winston-Salem, NC | 395 | 145 | 7 |
| 7 | Pinehurst, NC | 388 | 110 | 6 |
| 8 | Gastonia, NC | 322 | 85 | 5 |
Every city links to its live listings; the state's registered-nurse listings are at RN jobs in North Carolina.
Health systems hiring the most in North Carolina
Counted by open postings on the system's own career site, so a system that lists every unit and shift separately ranks higher than one that posts one evergreen requisition per role.
| # | Employer | Open postings in NC |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Novant Health | 1,592 |
| 2 | Advocate Health | 1,174 |
| 3 | Duke Regional Hospital | 950 |
| 4 | Cone Health | 946 |
| 5 | FirstHealth of the Carolinas | 575 |
| 6 | WakeMed Health and Hospitals | 549 |
| 7 | Trinity Health | 527 |
| 8 | ECU Health | 473 |
Which roles North Carolina employers are hiring
| Role | Open postings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| registered nurses | 2,314 | 54.7% |
| medical assistants | 415 | 9.8% |
| physicians | 329 | 7.8% |
| certified nursing assistants | 273 | 6.5% |
| licensed practical nurses | 249 | 5.9% |
| nurse practitioners | 244 | 5.8% |
| radiologic technologists | 232 | 5.5% |
| respiratory therapists | 172 | 4.1% |
What nursing jobs pay in North Carolina
For reference, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 111,120 registered nurses employed in North Carolina with a mean wage of $43.50 an hour ($90,470 a year), OEWS May 2025.
Only 3.5% of North Carolina postings state a pay range with both ends, and registered nurses postings with a range number 74: too few to publish a posted median (the rule is at least 100 postings and a median within a third of the BLS mean). The BLS figure above is the reliable reference for this state.
Licensing: working as a nurse in North Carolina
North Carolina is a member of the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) according to NCSBN's compact map (read September 26, 2026, which lists 40 member states). A nurse whose primary state of residence is North Carolina can hold a multistate license and practice in every other compact state without a new application, and a nurse with a multistate license issued elsewhere can accept a job in North Carolina without waiting for an endorsement. The state's board of nursing contact page is on NCSBN.
Licensing is issued by the state board of nursing: an approved nursing program, the NCLEX-RN (or NCLEX-PN), a background check and the board's application. The board's own pages are the source of truth for fees and timelines; this page does not restate them.
How this is built
- Scope: open, published postings ingested from public hospital and health-system career sites (source = api); customer-bridged and manual postings excluded. Only postings whose location is in North Carolina count here; a posting listing several sites counts once, at its first site.
- Pay point: midpoint of the posted range, hourly (annual ÷ 2080), only where both ends and the unit are posted. The top of a posted range is never used as "the pay". A posted median is published only with at least 100 postings and within a third of the BLS mean.
- Freshness: the index is crawled daily; this page is regenerated monthly and shows its generation date.
- References: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, state estimates; NCSBN Nurse Licensure Compact map data, read September 26, 2026.
Data as of September 26, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How many open nursing jobs are there in North Carolina right now?
8,638 open postings from 58 hospital and health-system employers in North Carolina as of September 26, 2026, 2,314 of them for registered nurses. Charlotte has the most (835), then Durham (700).
What do registered nurses earn in North Carolina?
The BLS OEWS May 2025 mean for registered nurses in North Carolina is $43.50 an hour, $90,470 a year, across 111,120 employed RNs. Too few open postings state a pay range for a posted median to be published for this state.
Is North Carolina a Nurse Licensure Compact state?
Yes. North Carolina is an NLC member per NCSBN's compact map (read September 26, 2026), so a multistate license issued by another compact state is valid there.
Which hospitals are hiring nurses in North Carolina?
By open postings on their own career sites: Novant Health (1,592), Advocate Health (1,174), Duke Regional Hospital (950) and 5 more listed above, as of September 26, 2026.