Nurse Practitioners Ranked #1 Job of 2025

Consistently ranking among the top five best occupations nationwide, nurse practitioners (NPs) enjoy greater autonomy, high salaries, and excellent job prospects. US News and World Report even ranked NPs as the number one best job of 2025.

But the recognition doesn't stop there. US News also ranked NPs as the top healthcare job and top STEM job (supporting an ongoing push to recognize nursing as a STEM profession).

What makes becoming a nurse practitioner so special? Continue reading to learn more about why this profession outranks all other jobs in healthcare and beyond.

How US News Ranks Jobs

US News collects and reviews data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in several categories to rank jobs in the United States:

• Future prospects
• Wage potential
• Employment
• Job safety and stability
• Work-life balance

In all, healthcare jobs dominated the top 10 best jobs in this year's rankings, including NPs at the very top. Physician Assistants took the #3 position, Medical and Health Services Managers ranked #8, and Speech-Language Pathologists ranked #9.

High Scores for Nurse Practitioners

Nurse practitioners had an overall scorecard of 7.4 in 2025. Here's a breakdown of each US News category:

• Future Prospects: 9.9
• Wage Potential: 7
• Employment: 6.2
• Job Safety and Stability: 5.8
• Work Life Balance: 5.3

Nurse practitioners have many opportunities for advancement, with the BLS predicting a growth of 40% (Much faster than average) over the next decade, reflected by the US News "Future Prospects" score. 

Since nurse practitioners often work in hospital settings, their work-life balance score suffers. Hospital workers often have inflexible schedules, working on-call, nights, and weekends as necessary. However, high wages, employment, and job stability help offset the demands of hospital work environments.

Let's explore key aspects of these scores in greater detail.

>> Related: How to Become a Nurse Practitioner

Salary

How much do nurse practitioners make? While NP salary is highly variable, the average nurse practitioner in the US earns $129,210 per year, according to the BLS. Your actual income as a nurse practitioner will depend on your experience, employer, location, and specialty. A few of the highest-paid nurse practitioner specialties are as follows:

• Anesthesiology NPs
• Radiology NPs 
• Psychiatric Mental Health NPs
• Emergency NPs
• Pediatric NPs

Career Outlook

Additionally, nurse practitioners are in high demand. The BLS predicts that the field will grow by 40% (Much faster than average) over the next 10 years. Also, US News reports that NPs have a tiny unemployment rate of 0.6%, pointing to excellent job security and future prospects.

Stress and Flexibility

US News reports that NPs have above-average stress levels and average flexibility. These scores are unsurprising, as NPs face several stressful challenges in their positions. Nurse practitioners must juggle their patient load in the wake of the alleged nursing shortage. While they enjoy increased autonomy, they also bear greater responsibilities than bedside registered nurses.

Additionally, certain work environments leave less room for flexibility. Even NPs can have on-call, night, and weekend shifts at hospitals, depending on their department.

Related Careers Rankings

Becoming a nurse practitioner isn't for everyone. If you're already a nurse interested in entering an advanced practice field, you may wonder how certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) and certified nurse midwives (CNMs) stack up against NPs.

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)

CRNAs also ranked among the top 100 jobs in the US, securing the #16 position in 2025. As the highest-paid nursing specialty, CRNAs also ranked #9 among the best-paying jobs in the US. CRNAs enjoy an average salary of $223,210 per year as of May 2024. 

However, the barrier to entry for the CRNA profession is much higher than that for NPs. CRNAs require a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree, while nurse practitioners can enter the field with the shorter Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program. Additionally, CRNA school requirements are strict, time-consuming, and sometimes challenging to achieve, as they include job shadowing, up to five years of critical care experience, and letters of recommendation.

>> Find a CRNA Program Near You

Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM)

Nurse midwives have similar education requirements to NPs, as you can enter the field with an MSN and board certification. They also earn comparable salaries, with CNMs making $128,790 per year as of May 2024. Like NPs, the BLS projects that the demand for CNMs will grow by 40% (Much faster than average) over the next decade.

However, CNM rankings don't hold a candle to NPs. According to US news, CNMs are the 99th best job and only the 33rd best healthcare job. Their most striking shortcomings are low employment and poor work-life balance.

Primary Care: Enter the Nurse Practitioner

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reports an ongoing physician shortage that, if not corrected, will result in a shortage of "up to 86,000 physicians by 2036." While advocates may earnestly call for the growth of the primary care physician workforce, recruiting medical students to primary care poses a challenge. Medical specialties offer much higher salaries to new doctors, who shoulder enormous educational debt and costly professional liability, enticing them away from primary care.

While some physician groups continue to push back regarding nurse practitioners’ increasing ability to practice autonomous primary care, there is growing evidence of the value of NPs in healthcare. For example, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) states that research has proven that:

• NPs provide care that is safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, equitable, and evidence-based.
• NP care is comparable to physician-provided care. 
• Patients under the care of NPs have higher patient satisfaction, fewer unnecessary hospital readmissions, fewer potentially preventable hospitalizations, and fewer unnecessary emergency room visits than patients under physician-directed care

The Future of Nurse Practitioners

Over the past several years, not only have nurse practitioners ranked among the best jobs overall, in healthcare, and now in STEM, but they've also continued to climb those ranks and achieve the top position. With continued advocacy for NPs practicing as autonomous primary care providers, they are becoming key players who offset the ongoing physician shortage. 

Nurse practitioners are a driving force for delivering high-quality care in almost every healthcare environment, from ambulatory surgical centers, physician group practices, community health centers, urgent care centers, and other clinical milieus. As more RNs go on to become NPs, everyone - insurance companies, hospitals, consumers, nurses, and patients alike - will reap the benefits.

As a nurse practitioner, you'll enjoy the benefits of this highly-ranked job, including excellent salary and growth opportunities, higher autonomy than RNs, and job security. And, with the varied options for specialization, you will be able to find a specialty that suits your interests and passions.