About 8.6% of registered nurses in the United States identify as Black or African American, based on the 2024 National Nursing Workforce Survey. That’s up from 6.2% in 2017, representing meaningful growth but still well below the 13.7% of the U.S. population that is Black.
RN Representation Over Time
The percentage of Black registered nurses has climbed steadily over the past several years, though not always in a straight line. In 2017, Black RNs made up 6.2% of the workforce. That figure rose to 6.7% in 2020, dipped slightly to 6.3% in 2022, then jumped to 8.6% in 2024. During the same period, the share of White RNs dropped from roughly 80% to 76.6%, reflecting a broader diversification of the profession.
That 8.6% still leaves a gap of about 5 percentage points compared to the Black share of the general population. Nursing remains a predominantly White profession, with more than three quarters of RNs identifying as White or Caucasian. Asian nurses make up about 7.4% of the workforce, while Hispanic nurses, Native American nurses, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander nurses each represent smaller shares.
The Gap Widens in Advanced Practice Roles
Black nurses are better represented among general RNs than in the higher-paying, more specialized corners of the profession. Among nurse practitioners, the workforce is over 80% White and roughly 8% Black. That 8% figure is close to the RN average, but representation drops sharply in other advanced roles.
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesiologists, who are among the highest-paid nurses in the country, are only about 3% Black. The numbers become even starker at the doctoral level: fewer than 15 Black CRNAs in the entire country hold a Ph.D. These gaps reflect longstanding barriers in graduate admissions, mentorship pipelines, and program accessibility that compound at each step up the career ladder.
LPNs Tell a Different Story
Licensed Practical Nurses and Licensed Vocational Nurses show a very different demographic pattern than RNs. About 34% of the LPN workforce identifies as Black, Indigenous, or another person of color, a share far higher than in the RN population. LPN programs are shorter, less expensive, and more accessible than bachelor’s-level RN programs, which partly explains why the diversity gap reverses at this level. LPNs also tend to work in long-term care facilities and home health settings, roles that are essential but typically offer lower pay and fewer advancement opportunities than hospital-based RN positions.
This pattern highlights something important about nursing diversity statistics: where Black nurses are concentrated in the profession matters as much as the overall percentage. Greater representation in entry-level roles paired with underrepresentation in advanced practice and leadership positions points to structural bottlenecks rather than a lack of interest in the field.
Representation in Nursing Education
The faculty who train the next generation of nurses are somewhat more diverse than the RN workforce overall. About 10.8% of full-time nursing educators identify as African American, according to the National League for Nursing’s most recent faculty census. That’s higher than the 8.6% figure for practicing RNs and represents a 1.8 percentage point increase from earlier survey periods.
Faculty diversity matters because nursing students who see instructors who look like them are more likely to persist through their programs. Black nursing faculty also tend to bring clinical experience from underserved communities into the classroom, shaping how students think about health equity from the start of their careers. Still, roughly 80% of full-time nurse educators are White, so nursing schools largely mirror the same demographic imbalance found in clinical practice.
Why the Gap Persists
Several factors keep Black representation in nursing below population parity. The cost of nursing education is a significant barrier. A bachelor’s degree in nursing can cost $40,000 to over $100,000, and Black students carry disproportionately high student loan debt. Admissions requirements like standardized test scores have also been shown to disproportionately screen out qualified Black applicants, which is why some programs, particularly in nurse anesthesia, have begun adopting holistic admissions processes that weigh clinical experience and community involvement alongside test performance.
Workplace retention is another piece of the puzzle. Black nurses report higher rates of burnout, discrimination, and being assigned heavier patient loads compared to their White colleagues. Black nurse practitioners working in underserved communities often face resource constraints and emotional toll that White NPs in better-funded settings do not. These conditions push some Black nurses out of the profession entirely and discourage others from pursuing advanced degrees.
The 2.3 percentage point jump between 2022 and 2024 is encouraging, and if that pace continues, the RN workforce could approach demographic parity within the next decade. But reaching parity in advanced practice roles, faculty positions, and nursing leadership will require addressing the financial, institutional, and workplace barriers that currently thin the pipeline at every stage beyond the entry level.