Table of Contents

How much do Travel Nurses make?

Travel RN's make higher compensation, on average, than staff nurses.

Check out how an average travel nurse salary compares to a median staff nurse salary here.

How much do Travel Nurses make an hour?

Travel nurses make $60 per hour or $2,158 per week VS Staff Nurses make $45/hr or $,1620/week, on average.

The average hourly wage for a travel RN is $15 higher than the median hourly staff nurse pay, and the average travel nurse salary per week is $538 more than staff nurses.

How much do Travel Nurses make a month?

Travel Nurses make $8,625 a month on average VS Staff Nurses make $7,800 a month median.

The calculated average monthly travel nurse salary accounts for work only 11 months per year, since travel nurses need time between assignments.

How much does a Travel Nurse make a year?

When comparing the average annual salary of a staff nurse vs travel RN pay, the difference is significant.

Travel nurses' average annual salary potential reaches upwards of $10,000 more than staff nurses.

Travel Nurses make $103,500 a year average VS Staff Nurses make $93,600 a year median.

The calculated average annual salary for travel nurses accounts for work only 48 weeks a year.

Travel nurses need time off between assignments to move, secure & onboard to new jobs or spend time at their tax homes.

Do Travel Nurses make Good Money?

You can definitely make good money as a travel nurse.

Travel nurses make higher pay, on average, than staff nurses. That was true before covid, during the pandemic, and it's still true now.

Average Travel Nurse Salary

The average travel nurse salary is higher than the median staff nurse salary.

Travel NursesStaff Nurses
Hourly Rates$60$45
Weekly Pay$2,158$1,620
Annual Salary$103,500$93,600

According to the latest median staff nurse salary outlook pulled from BLS.gov, travel nurses still make more money than staff nurses.

All StellarNurse travel nurse salary data was aggregated from Google, & tons of public job boards posting all across the web.

How much can you Make as a Travel Nurse?

Will YOU make good money as a travel nurse? Better than in a staff nurse or per diem nurse position?

That depends on you. Here's how to get a clear idea of your travel nurse salary potential.

Research Your Travel Nurse Salary Outlook

Here's numbers you should calculate when considering if your travel nursing job offers are a good deal:

  • How much can you make working as a staff nurse or PRN nurse now?
  • Are your current travel nurse job options offering higher hourly pay than your staff/PRN jobs?

For the most objective overview of your current travel nurse salary outlook start here:

Researching the job market before you start talking to agencies will help you answer these questions:

  • What are current best pay package offers for your nurse specialty?
  • Which locations are paying the highest & need you the most?
  • Which travel nurse agencies are paying the highest and have the most jobs for your nurse specialty?

Calculate your "Blended rate" to compare travel nurse jobs

Breakdown your gross travel nurse pay package to an hourly pay estimate to compare to staff nurse or per diem nurse job offers. Or to compare travel nurse jobs to each other.

Your "blended rate" combines your taxable base hourly pay as a travel nurse with your tax-free living stipends.

To calculate your "blended" rate, just break your gross travel nurse pay package down to an hourly rate.

For example:

  • Your gross pay package is $2400/week
  • You work 36 hr/ week
  • Your "blended" hourly rate would be ~$67/hr.

Compare that hourly rate to your staff nurse or PRN nurse offers.

Don't forget to plug in a few more numbers to get clear expectations on your travel nurse income potential:

Calculate Your Living Costs

  • What are your current living costs vs where you want to travel nurse?
  • Can you find affordable rentals easily?
  • Can you afford to duplicate living expenses so you can get tax-free stipends?

Consider Your Tax Situation

  • What are your current state income tax rates vs where you want to travel nurse?
  • How much would that affect your take-home pay?

What type of Travel Nurse makes the most Money?

Travel nurses who make the most money use different strategies:

Travel from Low-Paying regions in US

Nurses travel from regions with low staff nurse income potential, so their travel nurse pay is significantly higher than what they could make at their local facilities.

Work High-Paying Contracts in Low Cost-of-Living

Nurses work high-paying contracts in areas with low cost-of-living, so they take home more money.

Budget

Nurses maintain tight living budgets to save more of their travel nurse income.

Negotiate with multiple agencies

Nurses negotiate, work with multiple agencies and hold out for the higher paying contracts, so they can jump on good deals when they arise.

Work in High-Demand specialties

Nurses gain experience in a specialty with consistently high pay and high demand.

What is the Highest Paid Travel Nurse specialty?

The top 10 highest paying & most in-demand travel nurse specialties in 2025 are:

  1. Cardiovascular Operating Room - CVOR
  2. Cardiac Cath Lab
  3. Labor & Delivery - L&D
  4. Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit - CICU
  5. Case Management
  6. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit - NICU
  7. Operating Room - OR
  8. Step Down Unit - SDU
  9. Oncology - Onc
  10. Intensive Care Unit - ICU

Nurses who work in these travel nurse specialties have lots of job options to choose from & leverage to negotiate higher paying travel nurse pay packages.

Compare 130+ travel nurse specialties using my Ultimate Travel Nurse Salary Guide.

You'll find the full data for average pay and job demand for 130+ travel nurse specialties.

Thanks for Reading 🤗

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Thanks for reading my guide on how much travel nurses make in today's job market!

Hopefully you have a good overview of what travel nurse pay looks like compared to staff nurse pay.

Stick around! Make sure you check out:

Reach out to me ➡️ Veronica - I'm a travel nurse too and I love to chat about all things travel nursing. 💕