A 200-person team of registered nurses loses about $1.8 million a year to employee turnover.
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This turnover cost calculator for registered nurses starts from a turnover rate of 17.6% (NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, March 2026 (527 hospitals in 40 states, 262,405 registered nurses)) and an average pay of $101,400 a year (May 2025), and it works out what a year of turnover costs at a replacement cost of 50% of pay. Change any number to match your company.
The rate is for staff registered nurses in acute care hospitals and the pay is the average for registered nurses in every industry, so put your nurse headcount in the employees box.
Don't know it? Use our turnover rate calculator first.
Gallup estimates replacing an employee costs one-half to two times their annual salary. 50% is the low end of that range and a conservative place to start for a mixed team.
Estimated departures per year
35.2
Estimated cost per departure
$50,700
Estimated annual cost of turnover
$1,784,640
Potential annual savings
$304,200
if turnover drops by 3 percentage points
Your annual turnover rate of 17.6% is 22.1 points below the US average of 39.7%.
At the US average of 39.7%, a team of 200 would lose 79.4 people a year, and at 50% of a $101,400 salary that costs about $4,025,580, against $1,784,640 at your rate.
Averages are exits per 100 jobs over 2025, from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. See every industry, year by year.
200 people at 17.6% turnover lose 35.2 people a year, at $50,700 each.
- Departures a year
- 200 employees × 17.6% turnover
- 35.2
- Cost per departure
- $101,400 salary × 50% replacement cost
- $50,700
- Annual cost
- 35.2 departures × $50,700
- $1,784,640
- Saving from a 3-point cut
- 200 employees × 3% × $50,700
- $304,200
The replacement cost percentage holds everything from the job ad to the months a new hire takes to get up to speed.
Turnover costs a 50-person team of registered nurses about $446,000 a year, a 200-person one about $1.8 million and a 1,000-person one about $8.9 million.
| Company size | People who leave a year | Cost of turnover a year |
|---|---|---|
| 50 people | 8.8 | $446,160 |
| 200 people | 35.2 | $1,784,640 |
| 1,000 people | 176 | $8,923,200 |
People who leave = employees × 17.6%. Cost of one departure = $101,400 pay × 50%. Cost of turnover = people who leave × cost of one departure, the same sum as the calculator above. The highlighted row is what the calculator opens with.
These three sizes use the same 17.6% rate and $101,400 pay. Your company is different, so put your own headcount, pay and rate in the calculator above, or start from the main employee turnover cost calculator.
The turnover rate among hospital registered nurses was 17.6% in 2025, as NSI reports it.
registered nurses, 2021 to 2025
- Everyone counted
- Full and part time nurses only
The rate went from 27.1% in 2021 to 17.6% in 2025, and it rose 1.2 points in the last year.
Every industry is in the turnover rate by industry table, year by year.
Hospitals name personal reasons, relocation and retirement most often when nurses resign, and 22.7% of new nurses leave within a year.
These are the reasons and figures the survey publishes, each with its source.
- Personal issues, relocation, retirement, career advancement and scheduling conflicts were the five reasons hospitals named most often for nurses who resigned. Retirement is the third most common and has been rising. Source: NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report
- 22.7% of newly hired nurses left within a year, and first-year exits were 29.0% of all nurse exits. Source: NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report
- Nurse turnover in 2025 ran from 13.4% in pediatrics to 22.5% in behavioral health. Source: NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report
Average pay in this page is $101,400 a year, which is 152% of the $66,500 average for all private employers (BLS series OEUN000000000000029114104 and CEU0500000011, May 2025).
A 5-point cut in turnover would save a 200-person team of registered nurses about $507,000 a year.
At $101,400 pay and a 50% replacement cost, one departure costs $50,700. A 5-point cut in turnover keeps 10 of 200 people a year, and 10 × $50,700 is $507,000. Move the "cut turnover by" slider in the calculator to try your own target.
Gallup found that 52% of employees who left voluntarily say their manager or organization could have done something to prevent it, and 51% say that in the three months before they left, nobody spoke with them about their job satisfaction or their future with the company.
- 80.8% of hospitals have a plan to protect newly hired nurses, and they rated nurse residency programs 3.9 out of 5 for how well they work. Fewer than half (46.1%) of the hospitals track what a nurse leaving costs them. Source: NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report
The rate and the pay on this page come from public sources, and both are inputs you can change.
| Number | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover rate | 17.6% | NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, March 2026 (527 hospitals in 40 states, 262,405 registered nurses). NSI counts every staff registered nurse who left a hospital in the calendar year, as a share of the average number of staff nurses. Temporary, agency and travel nurses and moves inside the hospital are left out. |
| Average pay | $101,400 a year | BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, series OEUN000000000000029114104: the average yearly pay of registered nurses in the US, for May 2025, to the nearest $100. |
| Replacement cost | 50% of pay | Gallup, March 2019: replacing an employee costs one-half to two times annual salary. 50% is the low end of that range. |
| Company sizes | 50, 200, 1,000 | Chosen for comparison. The calculator opens at 200 people, and you can enter your own headcount. |
The wider group of jobs has a page of its own: Hospitals.
Three industries with a turnover rate near 17.6% each have a calculator page of their own.
- 27.0% turnoverFinance, insurance and real estate
- 27.5% turnoverWholesale trade
- 29.3% turnoverManufacturing
The main calculator lists every industry. To see which of your own people are at risk, run the free flight risk check.
Here are four questions about the cost of turnover among hospital registered nurses, answered.
- How much does employee turnover cost among hospital registered nurses?
- At the 17.6% rate and $101,400 average pay, turnover costs a 50-person team of registered nurses about $446,160 a year, a 200-person one about $1,784,640 and a 1,000-person one about $8,923,200. That assumes each departure costs 50% of a year's pay, the low end of what Gallup found.
- What is the employee turnover rate among hospital registered nurses?
- It was 17.6% in 2025 (NSI 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, March 2026 (527 hospitals in 40 states, 262,405 registered nurses)). NSI counts every staff registered nurse who left a hospital in the calendar year, as a share of the average number of staff nurses. Temporary, agency and travel nurses and moves inside the hospital are left out.
- How does the calculator work out the cost?
- It multiplies the people who leave by the cost of replacing each one. For 200 people at 17.6%, that is 35.2 departures a year. At $101,400 pay and a 50% replacement cost, each costs $50,700, so the year costs $1,784,640.
- What pay does the calculator use for registered nurses?
- $101,400 a year, which is the average yearly pay of registered nurses in the US, for May 2025 (BLS series OEUN000000000000029114104), to the nearest $100. Put your own average pay in the calculator for a closer figure.
Turnover is cheaper to prevent than to calculate.
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