In many fields, border states may appeal to Oklahomans
Anew report shows Oklahoma isn’t a particularly hospitable state for one group of well-educated professionals, and ranks far below neighboring Texas. Teachers? Nope. Nurses.
Analysts working for WalletHub reviewed all 50 states based on numerous metrics to determine which are the most “conducive to both personal and professional success” for new nurses. Oklahoma ranked 36th. No state bordering Oklahoma ranked lower, and our state’s rank was far below several bordering states. New Mexico ranked second. Texas ranked fourth. Colorado ranked fifth.
Not all was bad for Oklahoma. In the category of nurses’ opportunity and competition, Oklahoma ranked seventh best. That category accounts for things such as average starting salary (adjusted for cost of living), average annual salary, health care facilities per capita, nursing-job openings per capita, and so on.
But Oklahoma ranked 48th in “work environment.” That category accounts for things such as mandatory overtime restrictions, the ratio of nurses to hospital beds, the presence of a nursing licensure compact law, average number of work hours and average commute time.
With teachers, one regularly hears discussion of a teacher shortage and concerns that Texas is poaching Oklahoma’s best educators. There is occasional talk of a nursing shortage, but with far less intensity.
The reality is that there are several professions where one can make more in a neighboring state than in Oklahoma. On its website, Rasmussen College offers salary comparisons by profession for all 50 states, adjusted for cost of living.
The average salary for accountants and auditors in Oklahoma ranks just outside the bottom 10 states. Counterparts in Texas have salaries that rank sixth highest.
Oklahoma has done much to attract aerospace jobs in recent years. Yet Rasmussen College shows the average salary for aerospace engineers in Oklahoma is still less than in neighboring Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Texas.
The average salary for an anesthesiologist in Oklahoma was eighth highest in the country, but lower than the average in neighboring Kansas and Arkansas. Oklahoma carpenters are paid more on average than their Texas counterparts, but less than carpenters in New Mexico, Arkansas and Kansas.
The list goes on, but you get the point. There are many professions where Oklahoma practitioners earn less than some counterparts in the region, at times much less. Yet there is little talk of a state crisis regarding most of those jobs. A broader policy focus may be justified.
In the case of nurses, one way to benefit the profession would be to grant nurse practitioners and advanced practice registered nurses full practice authority, as is allowed in 21 other states. A bill granting that authority stalled in the Legislature this year.
Similar deregulatory measures might benefit other industries. Most of all, lawmakers need to focus on policies that unleash broader prosperity. Nothing raises wages, across the board, like a growing economy.
The focus on teachers’ wages is understandable and worthwhile. But lawmakers should understand that several other professions could be doing better in Oklahoma.