RenewRN Research

Keeping an RN license costs 5.7× more in Washington than in New York

Name: Cost to Keep Your Nursing License (RN renewal fees, all 50 U.S. states + D.C.)
Creator: RenewRN
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This study ranks every U.S. nursing board by what an RN pays the board to stay licensed: the renewal fee, annualized over each board's cycle so 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year cycles compare fairly. Computed from rules we verify against official state Board of Nursing sources. Data verified through June 2026. Free to cite or embed with attribution.

Scope:board renewal fees only. CE course costs, fingerprint and background-check fees, and certification renewals are real costs of staying licensed, but boards don't publish them uniformly, so we rank what every board does publish rather than estimate the rest.

Key findings

The most expensive board is Washington at $138.00/year ($138 every 1 year); the cheapest is New York at $24.33/year.
The national median is $50.00 per year; the average is $57.92.
Over a 10-year career, board fees alone span $243–$1380 depending on the state, before a single CE course is paid for.
Letting the deadline slip costs extra almost everywhere: most boards publish a late-renewal fee on top of the standard fee (listed per state below).

All 51 jurisdictions, ranked by annualized fee

Rank 1 = most expensive board for an RN. Click any state for its full, source-linked requirements.

#	State	Renewal fee	Cycle	Fee / yr	Late fee
1	Washington	$138	1 yr	$138.00	$50
2	Connecticut	$110	1 yr	$110.00	None published
3	Vermont	$220	2 yr	$110.00	None published
4	Alaska	$200	2 yr	$100.00	$100
5	District of Columbia	$195	2 yr	$97.50	$85
6	Maryland	$191	2 yr	$95.50	None published. MBON lists no late-renewal penalty; an expired license must be reactivated through the Board
7	California	$190	2 yr	$95.00	$280 (delinquent renewal; $90 over the $190 timely fee)
8	Hawaii	$186	2 yr	$93.00	None published
9	Delaware	$170	2 yr	$85.00	50% of renewal fee
10	Oregon	$159	2 yr	$79.50	$100
11	North Dakota	$140	2 yr	$70.00	$140
12	Virginia	$140	2 yr	$70.00	$50
13	Rhode Island	$135	2 yr	$67.50	None published
14	Michigan	$131	2 yr	$65.50	$20
15	Kentucky	$65	1 yr	$65.00	None published
16	Tennessee	$130 (+ $10 biennial state regulatory fee)	2 yr	$65.00	None published
17	Nebraska	$123	2 yr	$61.50	$25
18	Pennsylvania	$122	2 yr	$61.00	None published
19	Massachusetts	$120	2 yr	$60.00	$57
20	New Jersey	$120	2 yr	$60.00	$50
21	South Dakota	$115	2 yr	$57.50	$25
22	New Mexico	$110	2 yr	$55.00	None published
23	Colorado	$108	2 yr	$54.00	None published
24	New Hampshire	$108	2 yr	$54.00	None published
25	Alabama	$100	2 yr	$50.00	$100
26	Arkansas	$100	2 yr	$50.00	None published
27	Louisiana	$100	2 yr	$50.00	$50
28	Mississippi	$100	2 yr	$50.00	$50 (Jan 1-30) / $225 (Feb 1-June 30, includes $75 background check)
29	Montana	$100	2 yr	$50.00	$100
30	Nevada	$100	2 yr	$50.00	$100
31	North Carolina	$100	2 yr	$50.00	None published
32	West Virginia	$90	2 yr	$45.00	None published
33	Wyoming	$90	2 yr	$45.00	$25
34	Kansas	$85	2 yr	$42.50	None published
35	Minnesota	$85	2 yr	$42.50	None published
36	Missouri	$85	2 yr	$42.50	None published
37	Arizona	$160	4 yr	$40.00	$50/month (max $200)
38	Illinois	$80	2 yr	$40.00	None published
39	Florida	$75	2 yr	$37.50	$50
40	Maine	$75	2 yr	$37.50	None published
41	Oklahoma	$75	2 yr	$37.50	None published
42	South Carolina	$75	2 yr	$37.50	None published
43	Wisconsin	$73	2 yr	$36.50	None published
44	Idaho	$70	2 yr	$35.00	$35
45	Texas	$68	2 yr	$34.00	$60 (under 90 days late) / $120 (over 90 days), plus the renewal fee
46	Utah	$68	2 yr	$34.00	$25
47	Iowa	$99	3 yr	$33.00	$50
48	Georgia	$65	2 yr	$32.50	$75
49	Ohio	$65	2 yr	$32.50	$50
50	Indiana	$50	2 yr	$25.00	None published
51	New York	$73	3 yr	$24.33	$10 per month late

Methodology

The ranking covers the standard RN license in all 50 states plus D.C. Each board's published RN renewal fee is divided by its renewal-cycle length to get a fee per year, and jurisdictions are ranked on that annualized figure. Late-renewal fees are displayed as published but not ranked: they're a penalty, not a cost of compliant renewal.

Source data is the same board-verified ruleset that powers our state requirement pages, each of which links its official Board of Nursing source and verification date. Data verified through June 2026.

Fees are one of three dimensions in our broader Nursing CE Burden Index, which also weighs CE hours and mandatory topics. This page isolates the dollars.

Cite or republish this data

These figures are free to cite, quote, or republish with attribution and a link (CC BY 4.0). Suggested citation:

RenewRN, “Cost to Keep Your Nursing License” (June 2026), renewrn.net/research/cost-to-keep-your-license, compiled from official state Board of Nursing sources.

Journalists: for state-level detail, custom cuts of this data, or comment from a practicing travel RN, contact support@renewrn.net.

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Check your own state's deadline Browse all state requirements

Keeping an RN license costs 5.7× more in Washington than in New York

Key findings

The most expensive board is Washington at $138.00/year ($138 every 1 year); the cheapest is New York at $24.33/year.

The national median is $50.00 per year; the average is $57.92.

Over a 10-year career, board fees alone span $243–$1380 depending on the state, before a single CE course is paid for.

Letting the deadline slip costs extra almost everywhere: most boards publish a late-renewal fee on top of the standard fee (listed per state below).

All 51 jurisdictions, ranked by annualized fee

Rank 1 = most expensive board for an RN. Click any state for its full, source-linked requirements.

#	State	Renewal fee	Cycle	Fee / yr	Late fee
1	Washington	$138	1 yr	$138.00	$50
2	Connecticut	$110	1 yr	$110.00	None published
3	Vermont	$220	2 yr	$110.00	None published
4	Alaska	$200	2 yr	$100.00	$100
5	District of Columbia	$195	2 yr	$97.50	$85
6	Maryland	$191	2 yr	$95.50	None published. MBON lists no late-renewal penalty; an expired license must be reactivated through the Board
7	California	$190	2 yr	$95.00	$280 (delinquent renewal; $90 over the $190 timely fee)
8	Hawaii	$186	2 yr	$93.00	None published
9	Delaware	$170	2 yr	$85.00	50% of renewal fee
10	Oregon	$159	2 yr	$79.50	$100
11	North Dakota	$140	2 yr	$70.00	$140
12	Virginia	$140	2 yr	$70.00	$50
13	Rhode Island	$135	2 yr	$67.50	None published
14	Michigan	$131	2 yr	$65.50	$20
15	Kentucky	$65	1 yr	$65.00	None published
16	Tennessee	$130 (+ $10 biennial state regulatory fee)	2 yr	$65.00	None published
17	Nebraska	$123	2 yr	$61.50	$25
18	Pennsylvania	$122	2 yr	$61.00	None published
19	Massachusetts	$120	2 yr	$60.00	$57
20	New Jersey	$120	2 yr	$60.00	$50
21	South Dakota	$115	2 yr	$57.50	$25
22	New Mexico	$110	2 yr	$55.00	None published
23	Colorado	$108	2 yr	$54.00	None published
24	New Hampshire	$108	2 yr	$54.00	None published
25	Alabama	$100	2 yr	$50.00	$100
26	Arkansas	$100	2 yr	$50.00	None published
27	Louisiana	$100	2 yr	$50.00	$50
28	Mississippi	$100	2 yr	$50.00	$50 (Jan 1-30) / $225 (Feb 1-June 30, includes $75 background check)
29	Montana	$100	2 yr	$50.00	$100
30	Nevada	$100	2 yr	$50.00	$100
31	North Carolina	$100	2 yr	$50.00	None published
32	West Virginia	$90	2 yr	$45.00	None published
33	Wyoming	$90	2 yr	$45.00	$25
34	Kansas	$85	2 yr	$42.50	None published
35	Minnesota	$85	2 yr	$42.50	None published
36	Missouri	$85	2 yr	$42.50	None published
37	Arizona	$160	4 yr	$40.00	$50/month (max $200)
38	Illinois	$80	2 yr	$40.00	None published
39	Florida	$75	2 yr	$37.50	$50
40	Maine	$75	2 yr	$37.50	None published
41	Oklahoma	$75	2 yr	$37.50	None published
42	South Carolina	$75	2 yr	$37.50	None published
43	Wisconsin	$73	2 yr	$36.50	None published
44	Idaho	$70	2 yr	$35.00	$35
45	Texas	$68	2 yr	$34.00	$60 (under 90 days late) / $120 (over 90 days), plus the renewal fee
46	Utah	$68	2 yr	$34.00	$25
47	Iowa	$99	3 yr	$33.00	$50
48	Georgia	$65	2 yr	$32.50	$75
49	Ohio	$65	2 yr	$32.50	$50
50	Indiana	$50	2 yr	$25.00	None published
51	New York	$73	3 yr	$24.33	$10 per month late