Albuquerque, NM (population: 535,923) has four nursing schools within its city limits. Pima Medical Institute, the highest ranked school in the city with a nursing program, has a total student population of 1,003. It is the 2978th highest ranked school in the USA and the 11th highest in the state of New Mexico (#1 is New Mexico State University-Main Campus).
Nursing students from Albuquerque schools who go on to become nurses, registered nurses, practical nurses, pediatric nurses, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 2,583,770 people working as registered nurses alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $66,530. Also, Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses make on average $40,900 per year and there are about 728,670 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Albuquerque area alone, there are 2,820 employed licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses earning an average salary of $56,080. Registered nurses in this area earn $66,410/yr and there are 5,990 employed.
Albuquerque lies in Bernalillo county, which is one of the 23 counties in New Mexico. Overall, the Albuquerque area has 381,870 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.6% unemployment rate, $19.31/hr average worker wage, and a $40,170 average annual salary. Thus, about 15.694 out of every 1000 jobs in Albuquerque are held by registered nurses, and 7.385/1000 are held by licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses.
Of the 4 nursing schools in Albuquerque, only 1 has a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, ITT Technical Institute-Albuquerque comes out as the most expensive ($22,907/yr) for nursing students, with Central New Mexico Community College as the lowest, reported at only $10,387/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Albuquerque |
| Albuequerque | NM | - | 1 | 4.18669 | 13 | 3.0 miles |
| Rio Rancho | NM | 85,837 | 1 | 10.6625 | 12 | 10.6 miles |
| Santa Fe | NM | 74,019 | 6 | 20.0822 | 127 | 54.1 miles |
| Grants | NM | - | 1 | 9.85236 | 40 | 69.7 miles |