Digging into the application numbers from travel nurse jobs posted to the StaffDNA job board in February, we saw things that we expected to see as well as a couple of surprises.

First, let’s look at what was expected. The overall number of applications was down by roughly 30 percent over January. However, most travel nurses start looking for new placements in January, so the volume to start the year is always high.

Look for another spike in March when nurses will be coming off of their first-of-the-year contracts.

Now, for a few of the surprises from the February list:

Movement inside the Top 10

The top states on the list remained mostly unchanged. Florida, California, Texas, Tennessee, and North Carolina remained the top five states for travel nurse applications.

In fact, the only new entry into the Top 10 was Illinois, jumping up four spots to No. 8 for February. That means one state had to bounce out of the Top 10, and this month that was Michigan, falling all the way to 17.

The eNLC Effect

Two of the new eNLC states – Wyoming and West Virginia – made significant jumps in February. West Virginia moved all the way up to the 13th most-applied-to state for February. In January, West Virginia was solidly in the middle of our list at No. 24.

Wyoming moved up eight places, from 45 to 37.  

Top 3 Movers

While the top spots on our list are often some order of the same 10 states, there is often significant movement a bit lower. Here are the three locations that made big jumps in February. Not coincidentally, all three of these locations should be beautiful once the weather starts warming up for spring.

• Maine bounced up nine spots to land at No. 30 on the list for February.
• Vermont also jumped nine spots, moving from nearly the bottom of our list in January, all the way up to 39 in February.
• Not a state, but Washington D.C climbed 10 spots to No. 36.

February’s Top Markets

This list is created by analyzing the number of travel nurses applying for jobs in these individual states and Washington D.C. Is not necessarily an indicator of traveler interest in these states and is not necessarily and indicator of job volume. Application data comes from the StaffDNA jobs database.

1. Florida
2. California
3. Texas
4. Tennessee
5. North Carolina
6. Georgia
7. South Carolina
8. Illinois
9. Virginia
10. New York
11. Alabama
12. Ohio
13. West Virginia
14. Arizona
15. Indiana
16. Nevada
17. Michigan
18. New Jersey
19. Pennsylvania
20. Louisiana
21. Missouri
22. Oklahoma
23. Oregon
24. Arkansas
25. Colorado
26. Iowa
27. Kentucky
28. Washington
29. Maryland
30. Maine
31. Minnesota
32. Mississippi
33. Wisconsin
34. Hawaii
35. Massachusetts
36. Washington D.C.
37. Wyoming
38. South Dakota
39. Vermont
40. Connecticut
41. Idaho
42. Utah
43. Montana
44. Nebraska
45. New Hampshire
46. New Mexico
47. Alaska
48. North Dakota
49. Kansas
50. Delaware
51. Rhode Island

Looking for your next adventure? Explore opportunities at the StaffDNA Jobs Board.