Hospitals employed 6.7 million people in 2023, KFF found.
KFF used 2023 data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, which includes more than 95% of U.S. jobs, to find the number of hospital employees by state and how hospital employment ranks among industry subsectors. Some physicians and employees were not included in the total for hospital employment if they worked in other settings, such as the ambulatory healthcare services subsector.
Here are four things to know about hospital employment:
1. On average, hospitals employed about 131,000 people across every state at Washington D.C. In 23 states, hospitals employed more than 100,000 individuals, and in four states — California, Florida, New York and Texas — hospitals employed more than 400,000 people.
2. Hospitals are the sixth-largest employer in the country, and among the top eight employers in every state.
3. In West Virginia, hospitals were the second-largest employer, and the third-largest employer in North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
4. Here is the number of individuals employed by hospitals in every state:
Alabama: 99,347
Alaska: 15,881
Arizona: 120,207
Arkansas: 66,472
California: 610,101
Colorado: 110,879
Connecticut: 69,580
Delaware: 28,063
Florida: 425,499
Georgia: 192,893
Hawaii: 22,421
Idaho: 36,327
Illinois: 274,109
Indiana: 156,343
Iowa: 60,228
Kansas: 73,762
Kentucky: 95,942
Louisiana: 107,659
Maine: 33,628
Maryland: 112,147
Massachusetts: 213,778
Michigan: 223,612
Minnesota: 129,477
Mississippi: 60,484
Missouri: 169,299
Montana: 28,053
Nebraska: 42,179
Nevada: 45,290
New Hampshire: 30,296
New Jersey: 168,446
New Mexico: 43,264
New York: 465,450
North Carolina: 235,174
North Dakota: 24,498
Ohio: 297,089
Oklahoma: 77,858
Oregon: 68,270
Pennsylvania: 288,120
Rhode Island: 25,479
South Carolina: 96,156
South Dakota: 31,611
Tennessee: 152,792
Texas: 500,111
Utah: 57,282
Vermont: 15,118
Virginia: 130,634
Washington: 136,572
West Virginia: 53,375
Wisconsin: 133,440
Wyoming: 12,648
