Answered
Nlc Nursing States
Written and reviewed by Dana Whitfield, RN, MSN · 3 min read · Updated September 2026
Short answer
NLC nursing states are the states that have enacted and implemented the Nurse Licensure Compact, currently more than 40 of the 50 states, letting a nurse licensed in one member state practise in any other member state under a single multistate licence. Membership is not fixed; states join, and a few have enacted the law but not yet implemented it, so the exact list shifts year to year.
The short answer
More than 40 US states currently participate in the Nurse Licensure Compact, meaning a nurse who holds a multistate licence from one member state can legally practise, in person or via telehealth, in every other member state without applying for an additional licence. A smaller group of states, including California, New York, and Massachusetts, has never joined, so a licence issued there only covers that one state.
The compact is administered state by state, not by a single federal body, so a state can enact the legislation and then take months or years to actually implement it. If you need the answer for a specific state, check its current status rather than a fixed count, because the number moves in one direction as more legislatures pass compact bills.
The detail behind it
The compact only applies to RN and LPN/VN licences; it does not cover APRNs, whose multistate recognition is handled by a separate, far less widely adopted APRN Compact, or other disciplines with their own interstate agreements. Confirming NLC states for your licence type matters, because a state can be an NLC member for RNs while having no equivalent arrangement for an APRN role you are moving into.
Multistate privileges rest on your state of legal residence, not on where you happen to be working. If you live in a member state, your home licence functions as a multistate licence once your board applies the designation; if you live in a non-member state, working in a compact state still requires a separate single-state licence from that state.
What this means for your study plan
If you are studying for the NCLEX with a move or travel nursing in mind, the compact does not change what is tested. Content and passing standard are set nationally by NCSBN regardless of which state licenses you. It changes what happens after you pass: where you should establish legal residence before applying for your first licence, if multistate mobility matters to your plans.
It is worth deciding your state of application before you sit the exam rather than after, since transferring a first licence between states by endorsement adds weeks and a second background check that a compact licence would have avoided. If you are choosing between two states to call home during nursing school and mobility matters to your career plan, that alone is a reasonable tie-breaker.
Related questions people ask
Two mix-ups come up often. Nurses confuse NLC states with states where NCLEX is accepted; NCLEX is a single national exam accepted by every US jurisdiction, so passing it is unrelated to compact membership. They also assume a compact state list is permanent, when several states have introduced or amended compact legislation within the last few years, so a list saved from an old article can be wrong by the time you read it.
The most reliable source is NCSBN's own Nursys map, which the compact's administering body updates as states enact or implement the law. A nursing program's advising page or a state board's own FAQ page are reasonable secondary sources.
The next step on this is the same as on everything else here: answer questions and read the rationales. Our fundamentals practice questions are the closest set to what this page covers.
Common questions
Is NCLEX itself different in compact states?
No. NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN are identical everywhere in the US regardless of compact membership. The compact affects licensure after you pass, not the exam content or format.
How do I find out if my state has implemented the NLC?
Check the Nurse Licensure Compact's current member map on the NCSBN or Nursys website. Enacted and implemented are different stages of the process, and only implemented states grant working multistate licences.
Does the NLC cover nurse practitioners?
No. NPs and other APRNs fall under the separate APRN Compact, which has far fewer participating states, so check that compact specifically if you are licensed or licensing as an APRN.
Can a compact state remove itself from the NLC?
In principle yes, a state legislature could repeal its compact legislation, though this has been rare in practice. If it happened, nurses whose sole licence was that state's multistate licence would need a new single-state licence to keep working there.
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