The Nurse Licensure Compact lets you practice across member states on a single license — no extra applications, no extra fees. Real US Census state boundaries. Click any state for board contact, endorsement timeline, and what to do if you need a separate license.
Click any state to see details
The NLC, administered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), allows a registered nurse licensed in a compact state to practice in any other compact state without obtaining an additional license. As of April 2026, 40 U.S. states are full members of the eNLC (the most recent additions are Washington, Jan 2024; Rhode Island, Jan 2024; Pennsylvania, July 2025; and Connecticut, Oct 2025). Four more — Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and New York — have enacted NLC legislation but are still working through implementation. The remaining holdouts (California, Oregon, Hawaii, Nevada, Illinois, Alaska, and DC) require a separate endorsement application. For travel nurses, this is the single most important licensing fact — it determines whether your next contract can start on week one or week five.
To hold a compact license, you must be licensed in your state of primary residence, and that state must be an NLC member. If you live in California, New York, or another non-compact state, you cannot hold a compact license regardless of how many compact states you've worked in. Nurses who relocate to a compact state and update their primary residence can then apply for a compact license through their new home state's board.
Nurses taking assignments in non-compact states must obtain an individual state license through endorsement. Timelines range from two to twelve weeks depending on the state board's backlog; some states (California historically being the worst) have processed endorsement applications for months. Budget $100–$300 in application fees plus fingerprinting for each non-compact state license. Compact nurses can dramatically reduce this overhead across their travel careers.
For nurses building a multi-state practice, holding licenses in California and New York — the two highest-volume non-compact markets — alongside a compact license covers the vast majority of U.S. hospital assignments. Pair this map with the Cost of Living Calculator to evaluate each market on real earnings, not just license accessibility, and the Travel Nurse Stipend Calculator to see what a contract actually pays after IRS rules.
This map renders real US Census Bureau state boundaries using D3.js with the us-atlas TopoJSON dataset (1:10,000,000 scale) — the same data used by the New York Times, Washington Post, and government dashboards. The Albers USA projection handles Alaska and Hawaii as insets automatically. State color reflects current NLC membership status as of April 2026. Verify any final assignment decision against the NCSBN registry directly, as new states join the compact regularly.
Educational tool. NLC membership and state board policies change. Always verify current status directly with the NCSBN registry and the relevant state board before accepting a travel assignment. Last data refresh April 2026.