What the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) is, which states are in it, and how a single multistate license lets you practice across state lines.
What are the compact nursing states?
Compact nursing states are jurisdictions that have joined and implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC). As of 2026, the compact includes 43 jurisdictions, of which 40 have fully implemented it. If your primary state of residence is a fully implemented compact state, you can hold one multistate license and practice in every other compact state. The compact states are the same for RNs and LPNs/LVNs. The full 2026 list is below, and every entry links to a state page with its current status. For the deeper analysis — adopted-versus-live coverage, the borders where a multistate license stops, and the regional pattern — see our Nursing Compact States Report 2026.
Each state is coloured by its compact status. Select one for its multistate-license availability and a link to the full profile — or use the checker to test your exact home and work states.
U.S. territories
Not shown on the map above. Compact status still applies.
All 56 U.S. jurisdictions and their current Nurse Licensure Compact status. 40 have fully implemented the compact — residents can apply for a multistate license, and nurses with an active multistate license from another compact state can practise there under privilege. Search or filter, and open any jurisdiction for its board link and full breakdown.
Showing 56 of 56 jurisdictions
Every U.S. jurisdiction and its Nurse Licensure Compact status, with implementation date where known.
The compact is still growing, slowly. These are the most recent jurisdictions to switch it on — if you read guidance written before these dates, it described them as non-compact:
Connecticut — compact privilege recognised from October 1, 2025.
Pennsylvania — compact privilege recognised from July 7, 2025.
Rhode Island — compact privilege recognised from January 1, 2024.
Washington — compact privilege recognised from July 24, 2023, though Washington residents could not obtain a multistate license until January 31, 2024.
Going the other way, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands and Massachusetts have enacted the compact but not finished implementing it, so they are counted as adopted above without being usable. See the full NLC adoption timeline for every jurisdiction’s dates, sources, and the gap between enactment and implementation.
What the four statuses mean
Most lists show a single yes/no. That hides the two failure modes that actually catch nurses out, so we track four distinct states:
What each Nurse Licensure Compact status means for a nurse
Status
Residents can get a multistate license
Compact nurse from elsewhere can practice
What it means for you
Full compact state(40)
Yes
Yes
Hold or apply for a multistate license through your home state — it works across every compact state.
Partial implementation(1)
Not yet
Yes
A visiting compact nurse may practice, but residents cannot yet obtain a locally-issued multistate license: Guam.
No multistate license for residents, and privilege from other states does not reach it — apply by endorsement. See non-compact states.
How the compact works
The NLC lets a nurse hold one multistate license, issued by their primary state of residence, with authority to practice in every other compact state — in person or by telehealth. It removes the need to apply for a separate license in each compact state you work in. The terms “compact license” and “multistate license” are used interchangeably.
The compact applies to RNs and LPNs/LVNs. It does not, by itself, cover APRNs, who generally need separate authorization in each practice state. See our APRN compact guide for details.
What if my state isn’t a compact state?
If you live in a non-compact state, you cannot get a multistate license through that state. To work in another state, you typically apply for a single-state license or a license by endorsement. Use the compact state checker to see exactly what applies to your home and work states.
What this page is: an independent, plain-English reference maintained by an Illinois limited liability company. We are not the NCSBN, not the NLC, and not a board of nursing — and we never make licensure decisions. Boards do.
Source hierarchy. Compact status comes from the NLC’s published member-state status and each jurisdiction’s own board of nursing, which is the controlling authority where the two ever disagree. Every jurisdiction record stores its source URLs, a last-reviewed date, and a confidence level; the ones we are less certain about (some territories) say so on their page rather than quietly presenting a guess.
What we deliberately do not publish. Fees, continuing-education hours, renewal cycles, and processing times are board-set and change without notice. Publishing a stale figure is worse than publishing none, so we link you to the official source instead. The same rule governs the four-status model above: where a jurisdiction only partly participates, we say so rather than rounding it to yes or no.
Corrections and updates. Status changes are logged in data updates with the date and source. If you spot something wrong — especially a board link that has moved — tell us and we will verify it against the official source and correct it. The list above, the downloadable CSV, the checker, and every state page are generated from one shared data set, so they cannot silently disagree with each other.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. This page is a current, source-backed list of every fully implemented compact nursing state for 2026, plus the jurisdictions with partial or pending implementation. Each state links to its own page with the latest status, because compact membership changes as new states join.
How we source compact-state information
We base every status on official and public sources — the Nurse Licensure Compact member listing and the state boards of nursing — and link them on each page.
Each record stores the source, a last-reviewed date, and a confidence level so you can see how settled it is.
Answers are generated from that published data, not from an AI model, so they’re consistent and auditable.
Compact law changes. See our data updates for review history, and always confirm your situation with your board of nursing.