What is the Annual Salary for a Travel Nurse?
Estimating the expected annual salary for a travel nurse is a tricky task. There are many variables and unique scenarios to consider. Unfortunately, there is a lot of biased, vague and misleading information about this subject on the internet, much of which sits conveniently atop the search results on Goggle and Bing. In this blog post, we’ll provide some considerations for travelers so they can be better prepared to estimate their expected annual income.
The bad information on annual income for travel nurses
We conducted an internet search on Google and Bing for “annual salary of a travel nurse.” The information we discovered was horrendous to be frank. The results were riddled with biased sources and flat out erroneous information.
For example, 6 of the top 10 results returned by Google were from agencies. The list of sources included Fastaff, Cross Country, and 4 American Mobile sources: NurseZone, Medical Express, NurseChoice, and travelnursing.com. The number one result was from travelnursing.org, a lead generator that dupes unsuspecting nurses into providing their contact information so that it can be sold to third parties!
Travelnursing.org explains that travel nurses can make “about $75,000 a year, based on a 48 hour work year and average $40 an hour.” I don’t know what a “48 hour work year” is, but I can’t get those numbers to work out regardless. Meanwhile, an eHow article cites sources to claim that travelers can earn $24 to $40 per hour. That’s of no real help. And Buzzle asserts that Hawaii is among the states paying travelers the most money. HA!
Okay, all kidding aside. Estimating the annual income for a travel nurse is not an easy task. Pay varies widely from region to region and there are many variables that can affect the calculation.
I think it’s fair to say that none of the aforementioned sources really wants to dive into the complexities for fear they may lose the reader. But we at BluePipes know that nurses are a smart bunch, so below is a list of considerations to help you in your efforts to estimate annual pay. But first, here is a list of actual quotes from across the internet.
Annual Income for a travel nurse
TravelNursing.org: “about $75,000”
NurseChoice: $99,840 in 48 weeks
50 States Staffing: Up to $100,000 annually
Buzzle: $65,000-$75,000 median, $40k low, $90k high
SimplyHired: $55,000
There are many sites that provide hourly rate expectations: $21 was the lowest, $60 was the highest we found.
So why are the estimates so disparate? As we mentioned above, there are a lot of complex issues at play.
Annual income for travel nurses and duplicated expenses
Travel nurses should always consider their exposure to duplicated expenses when calculating or estimating their annual income. Duplicated expenses include rent or a mortgage payment on your permanent tax home. They can also include utilities and expenses you continue to incur as related to your tax home.
Some travelers encounter duplicated expenses and some do not. It all depends on how the traveler is attempting to maintain their permanent tax home for tax purposes.
If you are not incurring duplicated expenses, then you should include all the compensation variables provided by agencies in annual income estimates. This means that you should add the lodging stipend or the estimated value of agency provided lodging to your calculations. After all, no other employer provides free lodging and even if they did, you’d consider it part of the pay package.
However, if you are incurring duplicated expenses, then it’s best to exclude the equivalent variables from annual income estimates as they are essentially covering your costs. For example, if you take agency provided housing, then don’t add its estimated value to your income if you’re paying a mortgage or rent back at home. And if you are taking the lodging stipend, then add only money that is in excess of your assignment’s housing costs. For example, if the agency gives you $2000 a month for lodging and you only spend $1500, then the additional $500 you pocket can be added to your annual pay calculations.
Along the same lines, travelers should treat travel stipend money in the same way. For example, if an agency provides a $500 travel stipend and it costs you only $400 to travel to your assignment, then the additional $100 can be added to your income calculations. However, if it costs you $800 to travel to your assignment, then you should subtract the additional expenses you incurred out of pocket.
While we’re on this topic, it’s important to point out that all the highest salary estimates you find on the internet are calculating these variables into their quote. For example, when you see annual salary estimates of $80,000 to $100,000, then the cost of housing and all other benefits are included in that figure. Many nurses find these salary quotes to be disingenuous considering that agencies advertise “free” housing, medical benefits, travel, etc. But as we’ve discussed previously, nothing is free.
Work weeks per year and annual income for travel nurses
Estimating the number of work weeks in a year is also difficult for travelers. The problem is that travel assignments are temporary. Moreover, there is no paid time off. So the bottom line is negatively affected when travelers aren’t working.
Many calculations on the internet assume that travelers will be working 48 weeks per year. This assumes that you will only have one week off in between each assignment on average and miss no shifts while working (remember, there is no paid time off).
My experience indicates that this is quite rare. Travelers often go without work for 2 weeks or more between assignments. And missed shifts add up quickly. However, it is very easy to stay consistently employed as a travel nurse and rack up the 48 weeks in a year. You just have to be diligent.
I point this out because it’s tempting to determine your annual earning potential by simply multiplying your hourly or weekly earnings based on a 52 week year or a 12 month year. Doing so could dramatically overestimate the annual income calculation.
Different regions, different travel nursing pay
Different regions of the country have different pay rates. In fact, there are sometimes wide variations between hospitals in the same region or even the same city. This means that estimating your annual income based on the compensation for one contract is rarely an accurate option. It also makes it very difficult to estimate what your annual salary in a given region would be if you were to stay there for the entire year.
What does this all mean for the travel nurse?
As you can see, estimating the annual income for a travel nurse is contingent on a number of variables. There are a number of costs that many of the more rosy estimates do not consider. However, this doesn’t mean that travel pay is dismal. In fact, in most cases it’s quite competitive. And nurses who are diligent are able to land the highest paying travel nursing assignments more regularly than those who are not. In the end, it’s important for travelers to consider the number of weeks they stand to work in a year, their exposure to duplicated expenses, and any out of pocket costs in order to accurately determine their annual income.
