Understanding license numbers across states

There is no national standard for professional-license numbers. Each state — and often each board within a state — designs its own format, which is why a Delaware real-estate number like “RS-0037427” looks nothing like an Ohio nursing number like “RN.196980.”

Common patterns

• A profession prefix plus digits (for example, an “RN” or “MD” prefix).
• A board or program code plus a sequential number.
• Plain sequential numbers with no prefix, common in older systems.

Numbers are unique within a state, not across states

A license number is generally unique within the state that issued it, but the same string of digits can exist in several states for entirely different people. That is why a nationwide number search can return multiple matches — you disambiguate them by the state and profession shown on each result.

Searching without the full number

If you only have a partial number or none at all, search by name instead. Name search returns everyone matching, which you can narrow by state, profession, and city. Once you find the right person, open the record to see the full, exact license number.