NCLEX Pass Rates 2019-2025: What NCSBN's Data Shows Since the Next Generation NCLEX
By NurseCompensation Research Team · 2026-10-05 · 8 min read
In 2025, 86.7% of first-time U.S.-educated candidates passed the NCLEX-RN, down from 91% in 2024. Repeat takers passed at 52.7%. Year-by-year NCSBN figures, BSN vs ADN results, and what a failed attempt costs in lost wages.
Nobody earns an RN salary without passing the NCLEX. That makes pass rates one of the more important numbers in a nurse's financial life, even though they rarely get discussed that way.
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) publishes exam statistics every year. Its 2025 report came out in June 2026. Here is what it shows.
2025 NCLEX-RN results
| Candidate group | Tested | Passed | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-time, U.S.-educated | 192,916 | 167,272 | 86.7% |
| Baccalaureate (BSN) | 100,258 | 87,814 | 87.6% |
| Associate degree (ADN) | 89,549 | 77,061 | 86.1% |
| Diploma | 2,671 | 2,226 | 83.3% |
| Repeat, U.S.-educated | 42,513 | 22,404 | 52.7% |
| First-time, internationally educated | 52,827 | 24,999 | 47.3% |
| Repeat, internationally educated | 40,187 | 12,271 | 30.5% |
| All candidates | 328,443 | 226,946 | 69.1% |
Roughly 25,600 U.S.-educated graduates failed on their first attempt in 2025.
The seven-year trend
NCSBN's charts give these first-time, U.S.-educated pass rates (rounded to whole percentages in the report, except 2025):
| Year | NCLEX-RN first-time U.S. | NCLEX-RN all candidates | NCLEX-PN first-time U.S. | NCLEX-PN all candidates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 88% | 73% | 86% | 74% |
| 2020 | 87% | 72% | 83% | 71% |
| 2021 | 83% | 69% | 80% | 67% |
| 2022 | 80% | 63% | 80% | 68% |
| 2023 | 89% | 70% | 87% | 75% |
| 2024 | 91% | 73% | 88% | 79% |
| 2025 | 86.7% | 69.1% | 86.6% | 77.3% |
Two phases are visible.
2020 to 2022: RN first-time pass rates fell eight points, from 88% to 80%. These were the cohorts whose clinical rotations and in-person teaching were disrupted during the pandemic.
2023 onward: NCSBN launched the Next Generation NCLEX on April 1, 2023. Pass rates jumped to 89% that year and 91% in 2024.
It is tempting to conclude that the new exam is easier. The data does not support that conclusion on its own. The RN passing standard has been 0.00 logits since April 2013. NCSBN left it unchanged when the Next Generation NCLEX launched in April 2023, and kept it again in April 2026. The exam format changed, but the bar for passing did not.
2025 slipped, and it got worse as the year went on
The 2025 first-time U.S. rate of 86.7% is more than four points below 2024. The quarterly breakdown shows the decline was concentrated late in the year:
| 2025 quarter | First-time U.S.-educated RN pass rate |
|---|---|
| Q1 | 88.4% |
| Q2 | 89.1% |
| Q3 | 84.0% |
| Q4 | 81.2% |
The fourth-quarter rate was almost eight points lower than the second quarter. The report documents the drop but does not explain it. Watch the 2026 quarterly figures to see whether this was a one-off or the start of a trend.
BSN vs ADN: a 1.5-point gap
Associate degree graduates made up about 46% of first-time U.S. test-takers in 2025. They passed at 86.1%, compared with 87.6% for BSN graduates.
That gap is small. Whatever case there is for a BSN, and there are real salary and hiring arguments, first-attempt licensure is not a strong one based on 2025 results.
Repeat attempts are much harder
| Group | First attempt | Repeat attempt |
|---|---|---|
| U.S.-educated RN | 86.7% | 52.7% |
| Internationally educated RN | 47.3% | 30.5% |
| U.S.-educated PN | 86.6% | 41.7% |
Nearly half of U.S.-educated RN candidates who retake the exam fail again. For practical nurses the repeat pass rate is 41.7%. The first attempt is by far the best chance a candidate has.
Internationally educated candidates
Internationally educated nurses accounted for 93,014 of 328,443 NCLEX-RN attempts in 2025, or 28.3%. Their first-time pass rate was 47.3%, compared with 86.7% for first-time U.S.-educated candidates. Repeat takers passed at 30.5%.
For hospitals that recruit abroad, these numbers matter. Fewer than half of first-time international candidates pass, so recruitment pipelines have to account for delays and retakes.
What a failed attempt costs
The BLS May 2025 wage survey puts the 10th percentile of RN pay at $68,940 a year. That is a reasonable stand-in for entry-level RN pay in much of the country. It works out to about $5,745 a month.
Every month spent waiting to retest is a month at that wage not earned, minus whatever the candidate earns in the meantime. For practical nurses, the BLS 10th percentile is $49,740, about $4,145 a month.
| Delay before passing | Forgone RN pay at $68,940/yr | Forgone LPN pay at $49,740/yr |
|---|---|---|
| 1 month | $5,745 | $4,145 |
| 3 months | $17,235 | $12,435 |
| 6 months | $34,470 | $24,870 |
These are rough figures. Some candidates work as nursing assistants or graduate nurses while waiting, and pay varies by region. But the order of magnitude is clear. A few hundred dollars spent on a review course is small relative to the cost of a retake delay.
Practical takeaways
- Treat the first attempt as the main event. Pass rates on repeat attempts are 34 to 45 points lower.
- Do not read too much into BSN vs ADN pass rates. The 2025 gap was 1.5 points.
- If you are choosing a school, ask for its first-time NCLEX pass rate for the last three years. State boards of nursing publish program-level results, and they vary far more than the national averages.
- If you are hiring internationally educated nurses, plan around a first-time pass rate under 50%.
Sources: National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2025 NCLEX Examination Statistics (NCSBN Research Brief, published June 2026), Tables 1 and 12 and Figures 3 and 15; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (SOC 29-1141 Registered Nurses, SOC 29-2061 Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses). Shares and forgone-wage estimates calculated by NurseCompensation from these published figures.