Visualization Details

South Carolina Nursing Workforce Characteristics Data

This interactive dashboard displays descriptive information about the demographic, education, and employment characteristics of nurses actively practicing in South Carolina from 2010 to 2024. Other licensed health professions will be added by mid-2027.

Instructions

1. Use the tabs above the visualization to navigate between dashboards.
2. Use the filters on the left side of each dashboard to customize the view:
   1. Select a health profession using the "Health Profession" dropdown menu. Professions are listed in the dropdown menu in alphabetical order, or you may type into the bar at the top of the dropdown menu to search for a profession.
   2. Select a year from the “Year” dropdown menu.
   3. To aggregate the data by geographic area, use the “Region Type” dropdown menu.
   4. Once you have selected a region type, you can filter further by that type using the “Region Type Filter” dropdown menu. This allows the information to update for the region type that you select (e.g., “Non-Metropolitan” if you select a Region Type of MSA Status, or “Allendale” if you select a Region Type of County).
3. To download data or graphics, or to share on social media, use the icons at the bottom of the dashboard.

Data are suppressed when counts are fewer than 10 or calculated values are based on fewer than 10 observations. Suppression helps protect confidentiality by reducing the risk that information about an individual could be inferred from small cell sizes or derived from related totals, percentages, or subgroup displays. This primarily applies to county-level data and to professions with small numbers (e.g., clinical nurse specialists). See the U.S. Census Bureau and the South Carolina Department of Public Health (PDF) for additional explanations of data suppression techniques.

What does this dashboard show?

This dashboard shows the number and characteristics of nurses actively practicing in South Carolina each data year from 2010 to 2024. Data are displayed by nurse type, year, and geographic area (county, rural/urban, MSA status, AHEC regions, DPH regions, perinatal regions, workforce development areas, and Rural Health Transformation Program definitions). Data include:

• Demographic characteristics
  • Total headcount and full-time-equivalent (FTE) counts
  • Percent female and male
  • Median age
  • 10-year age groups
  • Percent by race/ethnicity
• Education characteristics
  • Total headcount
  • Location of education program for degree for initial licensure: South Carolina, other US state or Canada, other foreign country
  • Median age
  • Basic degree for licensure
  • Highest degree
• Employment characteristics
  • Total headcount
  • Practice hours in 8-hour increments
  • Practice setting
  • Specialty area
  • Position type

Why is this information important, and how can it be used?

The number of currently practicing nurses is a core measure of workforce supply, but headcount alone does not fully describe workforce capacity. Understanding workforce characteristics beyond counts alone provides important context for identifying gaps, monitoring trends, and planning for South Carolina’s current and future healthcare needs. The data in this dashboard can be used in conjunction with other data sources to:

• Assess how many nurses are nearing traditional retirement age and whether there are enough younger professionals available to help maintain future workforce needs.
• Describe variation in the nursing workforce by sex, race/ethnicity, employment setting, and geography to better understand workforce composition across South Carolina.
• Identify the percentage of nurses whose initial qualifying degree was earned in South Carolina.
• Develop plans to ensure there are enough nurses to meet current and future demands by location, specialty, and work setting.
• Support grant and funding proposals with reliable, state-specific workforce data.
• Provide evidence to inform workforce policy, resource allocation, and long-term health workforce development.

About the Data

All data were collected during the license renewal process mandated by the regulatory boards within the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR). The South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, Data Integration and Analysis Division (RFA), cleans, maintains, and stores the licensure data provided by LLR. SCOHW obtained the deidentified data files from RFA used to create this visualization.

This visualization includes licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, and advanced practice registered nurses who hold an active license to practice and report they are actively practicing within the state of South Carolina.

For more detailed information and region definitions, see the South Carolina Health Professions Data Books, available at www.scahec.net/scohw/reports.

Additional data visualizations are available at www.scahec.net/scohw/visualizations.html.

Suggested Citation

Campbell C. South Carolina Nursing Workforce Characteristics Data. Charleston, SC: South Carolina Office for Healthcare Workforce, South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium. August 2026. Retrieved from www.scahec.net/scohw/viz/SC-Healthcare-Workforce-Characteristics.html.

For more information:

Contact the South Carolina Office for Healthcare Workforce at scohw@scahec.net.