How Much Do Travel Nurses Make? Pay by State and Stipends

Part 2 of 2: Specialty, shifts and overtime, tax-home rules and the contract checklist

Setting matters, even for staff nurses

BLS medians for RNs vary by the industry they work in (May 2025):

Industry	RN median annual pay	RN jobs
General medical and surgical hospitals	$100,210	1,902,960
Employment services (staffing firms)	$90,840	102,110
Skilled nursing facilities	$85,510	142,270
Offices of physicians	$85,000	232,420
Home health care services	$84,930	198,180

Hospitals, the largest employers of RNs, also have the highest median among these settings. Travel assignments are concentrated in hospitals, but contracts also exist in skilled nursing, outpatient and home health settings.

Other settings where RNs work

Beyond the five largest settings, BLS industry data show a wide spread in staff RN pay (May 2025 medians):

Industry	RN median annual pay	Median hourly	RN jobs
Federal executive branch	$121,260	$58.30	101,050
Specialty hospitals (except psychiatric)	$102,840	$49.44	73,710
Outpatient care centers	$99,350	$47.77	173,380
Psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals	$97,060	$46.67	43,560
State government (excluding schools and hospitals)	$94,100	$45.24	32,750
Local government (excluding schools and hospitals)	$85,730	$41.22	35,850
Elementary and secondary schools	$69,340	$33.34	67,120

These are staff figures, not travel rates. They’re still useful when you weigh a contract against a permanent job: a staff role in a high-paying setting can match a travel package once stipends that may be taxable are counted properly.

Travel nurse pay and experience: what the RN percentiles show

BLS doesn’t publish RN pay by years of experience. The percentile spread is the closest official guide to how pay rises from entry level to senior roles, although it also reflects location, setting and specialty.

Percentile (all RNs, May 2025)	Hourly	Annual	36-hour week at this rate
10th	$33.14	$68,940	$1,193
25th	$38.62	$80,330	$1,390
Median	$46.90	$97,550	$1,688
75th	$54.02	$112,350	$1,945
90th	$66.09	$137,470	$2,379

The weekly column is simple arithmetic (hourly rate × 36 hours), not a BLS figure. It’s included because many travel offers quote a weekly package for three 12-hour shifts. If an offer’s taxable hourly rate sits well below the local staff median, more of the package has been moved into stipends. That lowers the regular rate used to calculate your overtime, because reimbursements that reasonably approximate expenses are excluded from it under 29 CFR 778.217.

Specialty and shift

BLS wage data are published by occupation and industry, not by nursing specialty or shift, so there’s no official figure for “ICU travel pay” or “night-shift differential”. Contract offers commonly pay more for specialties that are harder to staff and for night, weekend and holiday shifts. Treat any specific premium you see as that employer’s offer, not a market average. Ask each agency to show the base rate and any differential as separate line items.

Overtime: what the law says

The Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #17N says:

registered nurses who are paid hourly should receive overtime pay under the FLSA;
RNs can be classed as exempt learned professionals only if they meet the duties test and are paid on a salary basis of at least $684 a week (the threshold stated in the fact sheet);
licensed practical nurses generally don’t qualify for the professional exemption.

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Most travel contracts pay hourly, so hours over 40 in a workweek should be paid at time and a half of the regular rate. Some states have stricter daily-overtime or rest rules. California is the best-known example, so check your state labour department.

Contract terms that change what you take home

Guaranteed hours: does the contract guarantee 36 or 48 hours a week, or can shifts be cancelled without pay?
Cancellation: what happens if the facility ends the contract early, and do stipends stop?
Overtime definition: is overtime calculated on the regular rate as the law requires, including any non-excludable payments?
Extensions: extending in the same location affects your tax position (see below).

Licensing in more than one state

To work in a state, you need a license valid there: either a multistate license under the Nurse Licensure Compact (where both states take part) or a single-state license from that state’s board of nursing. Processing times and fees vary by board, so factor them into your contract timing.

General information, not legal, financial or immigration advice. Rules vary by state/province; check the official source or a licensed professional.

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In short: hospitals pay RNs the most among major settings, hourly RNs are owed federal overtime, and contract terms like guaranteed hours often matter as much as the headline rate.

The tax home question

IRS Publication 463 sets out the rules that decide whether travel expenses (and tax-free reimbursements for them) apply:

Your tax home is generally your regular place of business, regardless of where your family home is. If you don’t have a regular or main place of work, your tax home may be the home where you regularly live.
The three-factor test: the IRS considers (1) whether you do part of your work near your main home and use it for lodging while working there, (2) whether you have living expenses at that home that you duplicate when away for work, and (3) whether you haven’t abandoned the area of your historical lodging, have family there, or often use it. Meet all three and your tax home is that home. Meet only one and you’re an itinerant, whose tax home is wherever you work, so you can’t be “away from home”.
Temporary versus indefinite: an assignment in one location that’s realistically expected to last, and does last, 1 year or less is temporary. If it’s expected to last more than 1 year, it’s indefinite, whether or not it actually does. That location becomes your tax home, and travel reimbursements become taxable income.

The IRS also notes that a series of short assignments to the same location can together be treated as indefinite.

Contract checklist

Taxable hourly rate, in writing.
Stipends broken out by type, compared with the GSA rate for that location.
Guaranteed hours and cancellation terms.
How overtime is calculated.
Licensing: who pays for and arranges it.
Extension rules and how long you’ve worked in that area.

Training cost and payback

Travel nursing requires an RN license. That means completing an approved nursing program (diploma, associate or bachelor’s) and passing the NCLEX-RN. The NCLEX registration fee is $200 in the US for registrations made before 1 February 2027, and $350 from that date, according to NCSBN. Employers and agencies set their own experience requirements. There’s no official minimum, so check each posting.

How to apply: finding travel nurse openings and getting licensed

Most travel assignments are offered through staffing agencies, while staff and per diem roles are posted directly by hospitals and health systems. A few official tools help you search and prepare:

Job listings: the US Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop job finder pulls RN openings from across the country. Federal nursing jobs, including roles at Veterans Affairs hospitals, are posted on USAJOBS and VA Careers.
Licensing first: you need a license valid in the state where you will work. If your home state is part of the Nurse Licensure Compact, a multistate license covers other compact states. Otherwise, apply for licensure by endorsement with the destination state’s board; the NCSBN keeps a directory of every board of nursing.
Before you sign: ask for the full pay breakdown in writing (taxable hourly rate, stipends, overtime rate and guaranteed hours) and compare the stipend with the GSA rate for the location using the checklist above.

Endorsement can take several weeks in some states, so start the license application before you accept a start date.

FAQs

Is there an official average travel nurse salary?

No. BLS doesn’t publish a travel-nurse series. The nearest official figure is the median for RNs employed by staffing firms: $43.67 an hour ($90,840 a year) in May 2025, before stipends, overtime and shift differentials, which OEWS excludes.

Do travel nurses get overtime?

If you’re paid hourly, yes. The Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #17N says hourly RNs should receive overtime under the FLSA for hours over 40 in a workweek. Some states add daily-overtime rules.

How long can one assignment last before stipends become taxable?

Under IRS Publication 463, work in one location realistically expected to last, and actually lasting, 1 year or less is temporary. If it’s expected to last more than a year, it’s indefinite from the start, and travel reimbursements become taxable.

Do I need a separate license for every state?

Not always. A multistate license under the Nurse Licensure Compact lets you practise in other participating states. For non-compact states, you need that state’s own license, so build board processing time into your plans.

What does it cost to become an RN in the first place?

Program costs vary by school. The fixed cost is the NCLEX-RN registration fee: $200 in the US for registrations before 1 February 2027, and $350 from that date (NCSBN).

In short: whether stipends are tax-free depends on a genuine tax home and on assignments being temporary, meaning expected to last 1 year or less. Get every pay element in writing and check it against IRS and GSA rules.