New grad RN jobs and nurse residency programs in Idaho

A quarter of Idaho RNs earn less than $38.90 an hour ($80,900 a year) and half earn more than $44.45. First-year offers tend to sit near the lower figure, since hospital pay scales usually rise with experience.

That puts Idaho 28th of the 50 states and DC for median RN pay.

$5.55 an hour separates the 25th percentile from the median here, close to the typical gap across the states.

Boise City employs 8,550 RNs, 51% of the state's total, so most RN jobs in Idaho are there.

The Idaho Board of Nursing licenses RNs in Idaho.

Idaho is in the Nurse Licensure Compact. If Idaho is your primary state of residence, the license you earn after the NCLEX can be multistate, valid in every compact state. Nurses who live in another compact state can work in Idaho on their home state's multistate license.

Of its neighboring states, Montana, Utah, Washington and Wyoming are in the compact; Nevada and Oregon are not, so working there means a separate license.

Yes, with conditions. A temporary license by examination can be issued from 30 days before graduation until your exam result and background check are complete, for up to 90 days unless the board extends it. You work with an RN physically present, never as charge nurse, and if you fail you cannot get another temporary license.

Source: Rules of the Idaho Board of Nursing, IDAPA 24.34.01.100, read October 2026. The permit makes it legal; whether you can use it depends on the employer, since not every hospital starts graduate nurses before they are licensed. Ask the recruiter.

29 of the 50 states and DC allow something like this, each with its own limits. See every state's rule.

Idaho had one of the highest first-time NCLEX-RN pass rates in the country in 2025: 90.7% of the 1,276 U.S.-educated candidates who tested for an Idaho license passed, 4.0 points above the national rate of 86.7%.

Against the 2 new-grad programs we track here, that is about 638 new test takers per program, well above the national figure of about 114. Part of that is how few programs we track here, so look at new-grad RN jobs outside residencies as well.

The exam is the same everywhere; the rate tells you about the graduates who tested here, not about your own chances. See pass rates in every state.

Among its neighboring states, Oregon pays RNs the most, a median of $129,010. Washington has the most new-grad programs on our list (42).