−2%
Nurse staffing
2026 revenue outlook
EQ.app market intelligence · Healthcare Pulse 2026
Supply is broad. Recruitable talent is local.
A data-led view of healthcare staffing conditions, showing how national talent supply changes when specialty and geography are applied to real hiring scenarios.
2026 market
A softer headline does not make recruiting easy.
US healthcare staffing revenue is forecast at approximately $38.7B in 2026. Underneath that headline, nurse staffing remains under pressure, travel nursing is broadly flat, allied health is modestly positive, and locum tenens continues to grow.
0%
Travel nursing
2026 revenue outlook
+1%
Allied health
2026 revenue outlook
What this means for staffing teams
A softer staffing market does not automatically translate into easier recruiting. Candidate availability still changes sharply by specialty, geography, licensing, experience and willingness to move. Requirement-level market visibility is more useful than broad workforce totals.
Travel-nurse operating benchmark
73%
Revenue through MSPs
$89.78
Average bill rate / hour
19.3%
Aggregate gross margin
Market context: EQ.app Healthcare Staffing Market Report 2026. The travel-nurse figures reflect the latest available industry benchmark used in that report; the talent-market searches on this page were captured 21 August 2026.
Market map 01
Registered Nurses: national scale, local reality.
A broad RN requirement shows how quickly the searchable market narrows once a hiring location is applied.
1,360,087
US Registered Nurse matches
4,734
Rhode Island RN matches
National searchable universe → example local starting market
Local share: 0.35%
Live-market scenario
Travel nursing in Rhode Island
A national RN universe above 1.36 million becomes a much smaller local market once Rhode Island is applied. From there, a recruiter can narrow again by clinical specialty, recent experience, certifications, shift pattern and travel-readiness.
Recruiting implication
For a live requirement, the useful number is not the size of the nursing profession. It is the size of the relevant audience that can realistically be approached for that job.
Market map 02
Med/Surg RNs: specialty changes the picture.
The market contracts before geography is even applied.
140,249
US Med/Surg RN matches
746
New Hampshire matches
National searchable universe → example local starting market
Local share: 0.53%
Live-market scenario
Travel Med/Surg RN — New Hampshire
For a typical travel Med/Surg requirement, the 746 New Hampshire profiles are only the starting universe. Additional filters such as current Med/Surg experience, previous travel experience, EPIC, ACLS/BLS and compact-state eligibility would create a smaller, more operationally relevant pool.
Why external market data matters
It gives recruiting teams an outside-in view of who exists beyond the ATS, with profiles carrying at least one available route such as LinkedIn, personal email and/or mobile.
Market map 03
Physical Therapists: allied health is its own market.
A smaller national universe can still produce a meaningful local pool.
202,215
US Physical Therapist matches
5,488
Michigan PT matches
National searchable universe → example local starting market
Local share: 2.71%
Live-market scenario
Physical Therapist — Michigan
The search identifies 5,488 Michigan-based Physical Therapist matches against 202,215 nationally. That local pool can then be refined by licence status, clinical setting, experience and distance from the facility.
Why allied health deserves its own map
Allied-health staffing is forecast to edge upward in 2026 while candidate supply remains uneven by market. A role-level view helps teams decide whether to source locally or widen the search radius immediately.
What the data shows
From national supply to a recruitable market.
The same pattern repeats across nursing and allied health: specialty and geography materially reshape the audience.
Talent marketUS matchesExample marketLocal matches
Talent market · Registered Nurse
US matches · 1,360,087
Example market · Rhode Island
Local matches · 4,734
Talent market · Med/Surg RN
US matches · 140,249
Example market · New Hampshire
Local matches · 746
Talent market · Physical Therapist
US matches · 202,215
Example market · Michigan
Local matches · 5,488
A practical market-map funnel
Five filters turn broad supply into an audience a recruiter can act on.
01National market
How large is the searchable professional population?
02Specialty
Who matches the actual job family or clinical specialty?
03Geography
Who is already in the hiring state or realistic sourcing radius?
04Requirement fit
Experience, credentials, travel history, shift and facility criteria.
05Reachable audience
Profiles with LinkedIn and/or personal email and/or mobile where available.
Dataset figures are searchable EQ contact matches, not estimates of the total licensed US workforce.
From insight to action
Turn market intelligence into a sourcing test.
The public insight stays broad; the recruiting execution can become highly specific. Start with one live role, apply the requirement criteria, and compare the direct conversations created with the response available from the existing database and job boards.
1,000
candidate profiles
A targeted sample can be built around a live role or priority market, rather than a generic healthcare list.
Registered Nursing · Rhode Island
Med/Surg RN · New Hampshire
Physical Therapist · Michigan
Can requirement-specific external talent intelligence create more direct candidate conversations than starting from the existing database and job-board response alone?
Methodology
How to interpret the figures.
Market insight should be useful without overstating what the data represents.
Searchable market, not licensed workforce
The figures shown are contact matches returned by EQ talent searches, not official counts of licensed clinicians. They should not be read as estimates of the total professional population.
A match is not confirmed availability
A search match does not establish that an individual is available, interested, fully qualified or actively looking for work. Those questions require requirement-level review and outreach.
Contact routes vary by profile
A profile may include LinkedIn and/or personal email and/or mobile contact information, depending on available data.
The local count is a starting universe
Live-job criteria such as experience, certifications, licence, shift, travel history, proximity and availability can narrow the market further.
Search definitions matter
Each count reflects the stated title, specialty and geography criteria at the time of capture. Different criteria or later searches may return different results.
Real-world scenarios, reusable insight
The examples are based on live-style hiring scenarios, but client-specific names have been removed so the insight can be reused across the healthcare staffing market.
Healthcare Pulse principle
Publish the insight broadly. Use the underlying talent data specifically. That creates a scalable content engine while preserving the ability to tailor sourcing to each client's live requirements.
Prepared by EQ.app. Talent dataset counts supplied by EQ search on 21 August 2026.
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