$38.7B
US healthcare staffing revenue
2026 forecast · Source [1]
EQ.app Staffing Market Intelligence · Healthcare · July 2026
2026 Healthcare Staffing Market Realignment
The market is stabilising. The operating model is not.
US healthcare staffing revenue is forecast to reach approximately $38.7 billion in 2026, but the aggregate hides a widening split: nursing channels remain under pressure while locum tenens and advanced-practice demand continue to expand.[1][2]
7 minute read · Evidence updated 21 July 2026
73%
Travel-nurse revenue through MSPs
2024 benchmark · Source [3]
$9.9B
US locum tenens market
2026 forecast · Source [2]
Value is concentrating in segments and firms that can deploy scarce clinicians quickly, operate cleanly inside managed channels, and explain workflow economics with credible data.
Segment divergence
One market. Six different trajectories.
Leadership teams should manage capacity, technology investment and service-line economics by segment—not against one market-wide growth assumption.
Interactive outlook
Revenue change by segment
Nurse staffing
-2%
Forecast decline
Travel nursing
0%
Forecast flat
Per diem nursing
-7%
Forecast decline
International nursing
-8%
Forecast decline amid visa constraints
Locum tenens
+5%
Approximately 5% growth
Allied health
+1%
Forecast growth
Left = contractionRight = growthSource [1]
Industry shifts worth watching
Three changes shaping the next operating model.
01$38.7B
2026 US healthcare staffing revenue forecast
Stabilisation masks a capital-allocation problem
SIA expects the market to reach $39.6B in 2027, yet nurse staffing is forecast to decline 2% in 2026 while locum tenens grows about 5%. A rising total market does not guarantee growth for a firm concentrated in slower segments.[1]
Leadership question: Which segments are earning incremental capacity—and which are being protected out of habit?
0273%
Travel-nurse revenue through MSPs in 2024
Managed channels tighten the operating equation
MSP share rose from 69% in 2023 while average bill rates and aggregate gross margin fell. When rate latitude narrows, process cost, rework and exception visibility matter more to margin defence.[3]
Leadership question: Can finance see where time and exceptions consume the spread after placement?
03+35%
APP-group employment growth projected, 2024–2034
Provider supply becomes more flexible—and APP-heavy
SIA forecasts a $9.9B locum market in 2026. Definitive Healthcare estimates locum-provider volume rose more than 23% from 2022 to 2025, while physician and surgeon employment is projected to grow 3% over the coming decade.[2][5]
Leadership question: Are workflows designed for the provider mix that is growing—or the mix historically served?
Historical travel-nurse benchmark
The latest benchmark shows the spread got tighter.
SIA’s latest available operating benchmark covers 2023–2024 and was published in 2025. It provides historical evidence of falling bill rates and gross margin alongside a rising MSP share—not a measure of current 2026 performance.
In the 2024 benchmark period, revenue declined 37% and billed volume fell 25%.
Latest available operating benchmark
2024 result compared with 2023
Average bill rate
$89.78
2024 · USD / hour
-16.85 vs 2023
MSP revenue share
73%
2024 · % of revenue
+4 vs 2023
Aggregate gross margin
19.3%
2024 · %
-1.3 vs 2023
Source [3] · data period 2023–2024 · historical benchmark, not a 2026 estimate
Operating implications
What this means for staffing leaders.
01
Give each segment its own operating picture.
A company-wide dashboard can hide different demand, rate and workflow conditions across travel, allied, locum and international nursing.
02
Treat readiness as a commercial asset.
Faster deployment matters only when licences, evidence and client requirements remain traceable and human-approved.
03
Point administrative capacity at exceptions.
The strongest automation candidates are repetitive, measurable and reviewable. Material decisions remain with authorised people.
Transaction signal
Buyers are active—but selective.
The useful signal is not a universal “technology multiple.” It is a preference for differentiated, measurable and defensible operating capabilities. Individual deals are not automatic valuation benchmarks.
M&A pulse
Q1 transaction volume
117Q1 2025
133Q1 2026
38Q1 2025
51Q1 2026
Global HCMStaffing
92% strategic buyers
Strategic buyers represented approximately 92% of Q1 2026 HCM deal volume. A separate EQ/Blackwood-derived dataset classified healthcare staffing as 10% of its staffing transaction mix—not 29%.
Sources [7][8] · global HCM and staffing datasets use different taxonomies
Prioritised opportunities
Three workflows worth investigating.
These are hypotheses, not proof of a problem inside any specific agency. Technical fit, data access and capability must be confirmed.
| Priority | Opportunity | Strategic value | Ease of testing | Data required | Human control |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Credentialing readiness and exception visibility Closest to the growing need for fast, traceable deployment across locum and APP workflows. | High when readiness is a measured constraint | High · historical and read-only | Approved de-identified packages, requirement matrices, reviewer logs | Low with human clearance |
| 02 | Timecard and payroll exception handling Directly connected to the tighter travel-nurse operating equation and measurable rework. | Protects billing cadence and finance capacity | Medium · export quality matters | Timecards, VMS exports, contracts and rate tables | Low with finance approval |
| 03 | Candidate-order matching support Strategically relevant to segment divergence, with stronger data and human-control requirements. | May focus recruiter attention across scarce specialties | Medium · data quality is decisive | ATS profiles, orders, licences, availability and preferences | Medium · employment implications |
Primary opportunity
Start with credentialing readiness—if the baseline supports it.
Credentialing sits at the junction of a more flexible provider market and a more disciplined client environment. The opportunity is not to let AI approve clinicians. It is to create a reliable exception view for authorised reviewers.
A contained workflow could extract approved fields from historical packages, compare them with facility requirement matrices, flag missing or inconsistent evidence and prepare a reviewer summary. External evidence does not justify a universal savings claim.
Measure
Review time, exception count, missing-document rate, package age, reviewer agreement and false-negative risk.
Boundary
AI organises, explains and recommends. Authorised compliance staff retain every clearance decision.
Timecard and payroll exception handling
Directly connected to the tighter travel-nurse operating equation and measurable rework.
Candidate-order matching support
Strategically relevant to segment divergence, with stronger data and human-control requirements.
Practical ROI framework
Five inputs before any savings claim.
No generic automation percentage, financial saving or placement value belongs in the model until the agency measures its own baseline.
01Weekly process volume
02Hours currently spent
03Exception or rework volume
04Loaded cost of the people involved
05Financial, service or capacity impact of delay
Weekly process cost
Hours per week × Loaded hourly cost
Annual capacity value
Hours released per week × 52 × Relevant hourly value
Recommended first experiment
A 30-day credentialing readiness baseline.
Determine whether a read-only, human-reviewed workflow can reliably organise historical credential packages and surface useful exceptions.
Scope
An approved sample across relevant healthcare segments, using de-identified or securely exported data.
Digital worker role
Extract approved fields, compare to requirement matrices, organise discrepancies and draft summaries.
Human role
Validate every output, record disagreements and make every compliance judgement.
Decision gate
Continue only if permissions, document quality, reviewer agreement and false-negative risk are acceptable.
Baseline to be established during the first stage · No live record changes · No automated clearance decisions
Leadership review
Five questions for the next operating review.
- 01Which healthcare segments contribute the strongest combination of demand, spread and repeatability?
- 02Where does post-placement administration consume the most finance or recruiter time?
- 03Which exceptions delay a package, invoice or start—and can they be measured consistently?
- 04What decisions must always remain human, and what evidence should reviewers see?
- 05Which read-only historical dataset could test one workflow without changing live records?
Sources and evidence
Read the underlying record.
Every chart and material claim links to its source. Open the detailed records below for the supported claim and publication date.
[1] Staffing Industry AnalystsHealthcare staffing sees uneven growth following post-pandemic correction
7 April 2026
Healthcare staffing sees uneven growth following post-pandemic correction
$38.7B 2026 market forecast, $39.6B 2027 forecast and segment-level revenue outlook.
Open source[2] Staffing Industry AnalystsStructural forces reshape $9.6B locum tenens market
13 January 2026
Structural forces reshape $9.6B locum tenens market
$9.6B 2025 and $9.9B 2026 locum market estimates; MSP/VMS and workforce-model context.
Open source[3] Staffing Industry AnalystsSIA NATHO Travel Nurse Benchmarking Survey: Selected Findings 2025
2025 survey release
SIA NATHO Travel Nurse Benchmarking Survey: Selected Findings 2025
Travel-nurse revenue, volume, bill-rate, MSP-share and gross-margin benchmarks for 2023–2024.
Open source[4] Association of American Medical CollegesThe Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections From 2021 to 2036
March 2024
The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections From 2021 to 2036
Current physician-shortage range and correction of the superseded 124,000-by-2034 projection.
Open source[5] Definitive HealthcareBeyond the labor shortage: Four workforce shifts provider leaders need to know
June 2026
Beyond the labor shortage: Four workforce shifts provider leaders need to know
Locum-provider volume estimate, APP workforce mix and provider-delivery trends.
Open source[6] AMN HealthcareFirst Quarter 2026 Results
7 May 2026
First Quarter 2026 Results
Public-company segment context and the $722M labor-disruption revenue caveat.
Open source[7] PMCFHuman Capital Management M&A Pulse — Q1 2026
19 May 2026
Human Capital Management M&A Pulse — Q1 2026
117-to-133 HCM transactions, 38-to-51 staffing transactions and 92% strategic-buyer share.
Open source[8] Marcus Sawyerr / EQ.app48x EBITDA Outlier: The Rise of the Staffing Speedboat
1 June 2026
48x EBITDA Outlier: The Rise of the Staffing Speedboat
Blackwood-derived Q1 2026 staffing transaction mix; healthcare staffing classified as 10%.
Open sourceFrom evidence to operating decision
Take the evidence into your next leadership review.
Keep the one-page brief or inspect the staffing workflows EQ.app can support.