Travel Nurse Salary Calculator

Travel nurse pay typically includes a taxable hourly rate plus tax-free stipends for housing, meals and incidentals. The stipends are not subject to federal income tax or FICA as long as the nurse maintains a tax home (permanent residence) and works away from that home. This split structure is why travel nurses can take home more than staff nurses at the same gross pay level.

Travel nurse stipends for housing, meals and incidentals are tax-free if you maintain a tax home — a permanent residence where you pay rent or a mortgage and return to between assignments. If you do not have a tax home, the IRS considers you an itinerant worker, and all stipends become fully taxable as regular income.

A tax home is your permanent place of residence that you maintain while working temporary assignments elsewhere. You must show you incur duplicate living expenses: keeping a home (paying rent or mortgage, utilities) while also paying for housing at your assignment location. Without this, stipends lose their tax-free status.

Total compensation varies widely by location and specialty, but a typical travel nurse earning $30 per hour taxable plus $1,500 per week in tax-free stipends working 36 hours per week takes home significantly more than a staff nurse at $40 per hour. The tax-free stipend portion passes through untaxed, making the effective take-home rate much higher.

Travel nurses typically owe state income tax to their tax home state (permanent residence), not the state where they work on assignment. However, rules vary: some states tax all income earned within their borders regardless of residency. Working in states with no income tax (like Texas or Florida) is a common strategy to maximize take-home pay.

For most nurses, travel nursing pays significantly more than staff positions — often 20% to 50% more in total after-tax compensation. The key advantages are tax-free stipends and the ability to work in high-paying locations. The trade-offs include maintaining a tax home, travel costs, lack of employer benefits like retirement matching, and time away from home.