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Nurse jobs and pay in Washington: what 2,616 open postings say (October 2026)


This page is built from the open postings on hospital and health-system career sites in Washington listed on Betterleap's job board: 2,616 open positions from 47 employers as of October 26, 2026, 1.2% of all open postings on the board, which ranks Washington #25 of 51 states. Registered nurses are 36.1% of the state's postings (394). 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 Washington

#CityOpen postingsof which RNEmployers
1Seattle, WA6628113
2Spokane, WA189575
3Vancouver, WA12537
4Everett, WA115227
5Tacoma, WA9217
6Coupeville, WA91141
7Olympia, WA84203
8Leavenworth, WA78161

Every city links to its live listings; the state's registered-nurse listings are at RN jobs in Washington.

Health systems hiring the most in Washington

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.

Which roles Washington employers are hiring

What nursing jobs pay in Washington

For reference, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 69,260 registered nurses employed in Washington with a mean wage of $58.43 an hour ($121,540 a year), OEWS May 2025.

Only 21.9% of Washington postings state a pay range with both ends, and registered nurses postings with a range number 90: 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 Washington

Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington 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 postings on public hospital and health-system career sites, counted as of the date shown; job descriptions are never republished. Only postings whose location is in Washington 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: counts are refreshed monthly and the page shows its date; a posting that leaves an employer's site drops out.
  • 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 October 26, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

How many open nursing jobs are there in Washington right now?

2,616 open postings from 47 hospital and health-system employers in Washington as of October 26, 2026, 394 of them for registered nurses. Seattle has the most (662), then Spokane (189).

What do registered nurses earn in Washington?

The BLS OEWS May 2025 mean for registered nurses in Washington is $58.43 an hour, $121,540 a year, across 69,260 employed RNs. Too few open postings state a pay range for a posted median to be published for this state.

Is Washington a Nurse Licensure Compact state?

Yes. Washington 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 Washington?

By open postings on their own career sites: Providence (866), Sea Mar Community Health Centers (568), Seattle Children (242) and 5 more listed above, as of October 26, 2026.

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