Licensed Practical Nurse: how many are there, and how many are in private practice?

National totals

What this specialty covers

An individual with post-high school vocational training and practical experience in the provision of nursing care at a level less than that required for certification as a Registered Nurse. Requirements for education, experience, licensure, and job responsibilities vary among the states.

Reading the sole-proprietor share

For this specialty, 35,661 records, or 49.7%, are flagged as sole proprietors in NPPES, meaning the share describes a reported record status. The field is self-reported and an imperfect proxy for private practice because it does not by itself establish ownership, employment setting, independence, or whether an LPN works alone or within a group, facility, or other setting.

By state

New NPI registrations by year

Counts reflect the year each NPI was first issued, among records still active today. The final year is partial: this data covers through 2026-01-11.

Data notes

• The sole-proprietor field is self-reported by the provider in NPPES and is an imperfect proxy for private practice.
• A sole-proprietor count shown as <11 is suppressed: the true value is below 11, which could include zero.
• - NPI counts are administrative records rather than a survey-based workforce census, so they may not equal the number of people currently practicing.
• - State education, licensure, and job requirements vary, which limits direct comparison of counts across states.
• Providers are counted once, by their primary taxonomy code only.

Source: CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) Data Dissemination file, FOIA-disclosable public data under CMS-6060-N. Aggregated by Hero EMR on 2026-08-03; deactivated NPIs excluded; specialty assigned from the primary taxonomy code (NUCC 25.1). Counts below 11 are suppressed. Individual providers are never published. All provider data pages.

Common questions