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The transition from summer to autumn often brings a slight dip in temperatures many people welcome. What travel nurses may welcome less is the slight dip in travel RN salaries that came with the end of 2024’s third quarter (Q3), representing the 3-month period including July, August and September. The nationwide average weekly travel nurse salary slipped 1.7%, or $38 per week, from $2,298 in June 2024, the end of the second quarter, to $2,260 in September, the end of Q3.
| June 2024 Avg Pay | September 2024 Avg Pay | Quarter-over-Quarter Change | |
| National Average Travel RN Wage | $2,298 | $2,260 | -1.7% |
The Q3 decrease in average pay continues the trend of recent quarters. Average weekly pay fell 2.6% in the second quarter and 1% in the first quarter. Wages have fallen fairly consistently since we started our quarterly travel nurse salary recap series in January 2024. In fact, if we look back to make a year-over-year comparison, wages have fallen 4.6%, or $108 per week, from $2,368 in September 2023 to $2,260 in September 2024.
| September 2023 Avg Pay | September 2024 Avg Pay | Year-over-Year Change | |
| National Average Travel RN Wage | $2,368 | $2,260 | -4.6% |
Source: Average Pay from Vivian Health
RNs Still Make Good Money in Travel Nursing
We mentioned last quarter that average travel nurse pay has returned to pre-pandemic levels. If you’re considering being a travel nurse today, you may want to approach the role holistically to account not just for pay but also your desire to explore new places, experience the work culture at other healthcare facilities or meet new people.
If high pay is your primary motivation, there are still many ways to make a great income as a nurse, including side hustles or career shifts that may pay more or move up to a higher nursing level like an advanced practice registered nurse. Meanwhile, within travel nursing, it’s still possible to earn a better wage by looking for the best-paying roles in the best-paying areas and keeping track of which states offer the most bang for your buck in terms of high pay and low cost of living.
To help you see how travel RN pay is shifting and where wages are currently the best, Vivian Health used our wage data for travel RN jobs posted to our platform over the previous quarter to discover salary changes. The chart below shows the percent increase or decrease in travel nurse pay for all 50 states during Q3.
The quarterly percent change in the average travel nursing pay for all 50 states is based on pay for all travel RN jobs posted on Vivian Health in June 2024 compared to all jobs posted in September 2024.
States Where Travel RN Salaries Are Still Rising
With wages falling overall in the third quarter, only six states saw wages increase by 1% or more from June 2024 to September 2024.
Arkansas was the one state to stand out in this group, with the average wage rising 6.4%, from $1,888 in June to $2,009 in September. Historically, Arkansas ranks among the lowest travel nurse wages in the nation, so this quarterly increase provides somewhat of a reprieve for travel RNs working there.
Although the state is nicknamed “the Land of Opportunity,” the average Arkansas travel nurse wage remained 11.1% less than the national average at the end of the third quarter despite the significant increase. In fact, among the six states with rising pay this quarter, all but Vermont still have wages below the national average of $2,260.
| State | June 2024 Avg Pay (Q2) | September 2024 Avg Pay (Q2) | Percent Increase |
| Arkansas | $1,888 | $2,009 | 6.4% |
| Kansas | $2,110 | $2,170 | 2.8% |
| Alabama | $1,896 | $1,944 | 2.5% |
| Missouri | $2,188 | $2,241 | 2.4% |
| Vermont | $2,308 | $2,349 | 1.8% |
| South Carolina | $2,065 | $2,094 | 1.4% |
States Where Travel Nurse Pay Decreased
Travel RN salaries saw declines of 1% or more in most states—34 out of 50—which comes as little surprise considering the overall decline in the average travel nursing salary in Q3. Notably, three western states had average pay fall by more than 5%.
California recorded a wage decrease of 5.7% from $2,984 to $2,814 from June to September. However, despite the recent drop, California still has the highest travel nurse salary in the nation. Meanwhile, pay fell 5.2% in both Alaska and Washington, from $2,909 to $2,814 and from $2,437 to $2,310, respectively, during the same time frame.
| State | June 2024 Avg Pay (Q2) | September 2024 Avg Pay (Q3) | Percent Decrease |
| California | $2,984 | $2,814 | -5.7% |
| Alaska | $2,909 | $2,759 | -5.2% |
| Washington | $2,437 | $2,310 | -5.2% |
| Nebraska | $2,316 | $2,203 | -4.9% |
| Arizona | $2,313 | $2,205 | -4.7% |
| Minnesota | $2,557 | $2,446 | -4.3% |
| Texas | $2,050 | $1,965 | -4.2% |
| Utah | $2,306 | $2,214 | -4.0% |
| Hawaii | $2,336 | $2,249 | -3.7% |
| Delaware | $2,643 | $2,547 | -3.6% |
| Georgia | $2,103 | $2,028 | -3.5% |
| Montana | $2,334 | $2,261 | -3.1% |
| South Dakota | $2,350 | $2,283 | -2.9% |
| New Jersey | $2,598 | $2,525 | -2.8% |
| Iowa | $2,256 | $2,200 | -2.5% |
| Rhode Island | $2,442 | $2,383 | -2.4% |
| Florida | $2,189 | $2,141 | -2.2% |
| Maine | $2,482 | $2,426 | -2.2% |
| North Dakota | $2,350 | $2,301 | -2.1% |
| Colorado | $2,235 | $2,191 | -2.0% |
| Kentucky | $2,243 | $2,197 | -2.0% |
| Wyoming | $2,369 | $2,324 | -1.9% |
| New Hampshire | $2,365 | $2,325 | -1.7% |
| Pennsylvania | $2,362 | $2,322 | -1.7% |
| West Virginia | $2,305 | $2,265 | -1.7% |
| Mississippi | $1,857 | $1,828 | -1.6% |
| North Carolina | $2,106 | $2,073 | -1.6% |
| Maryland | $2,223 | $2,190 | -1.5% |
| Connecticut | $2,370 | $2,338 | -1.3% |
| Michigan | $2,155 | $2,126 | -1.3% |
| Ohio | $2,264 | $2,234 | -1.3% |
| Idaho | $2,223 | $2,195 | -1.2% |
| Tennessee | $1,969 | $1,948 | -1.1% |
| Virginia | $2,245 | $2,222 | -1.0% |
States Where Travel Nursing Salaries Stayed Relatively Flat
In 10 states, the change in travel nursing pay was relatively minor, less than 1% up or down. We’ve included these states in the table below and will monitor them to see if they begin to record more substantial changes that could affect your travel choices.
| State | June 2024 Avg Pay (Q2) | September 2024 Avg Pay (Q3) | Percent Change |
| Illinois | $2,342 | $2,348 | 0.3% |
| New Mexico | $2,147 | $2,153 | 0.3% |
| Indiana | $2,195 | $2,195 | 0.0% |
| New York | $2,507 | $2,501 | -0.2% |
| Oregon | $2,430 | $2,424 | -0.2% |
| Wisconsin | $2,395 | $2,391 | -0.2% |
| Louisiana | $2,037 | $2,032 | -0.3% |
| Oklahoma | $2,118 | $2,111 | -0.3% |
| Nevada | $2,484 | $2,470 | -0.6% |
| Massachusetts | $2,538 | $2,519 | -0.8% |
States Where Travel Nurse Salaries Are Highest and Go Furthest
As a travel nurse, you may also be focused on knowing where pay is the highest and where that pay goes the furthest, thanks to a low cost of living. To help address that, we created the chart above listing all the states where the average weekly travel nurse salary is above the national average of $2,260, indicated by the dashed red line. We juxtaposed those pay figures in the table below with each state’s cost of living relative to the national average, according to Sperling’s Best Places.
In Q3, two states come out far ahead of the rest with the highest travel nurse pay in the nation. At the end of Q3, travel pay in California was $2,814 or 124.5% of the national average, while Alaska was just behind at $2,759 per week or 122.1% of the national average. However, both states have a higher-than-average cost of living, 149.9% in California and 116.5% in Alaska. In particular, the high cost of living reflects California’s lofty housing costs across much of the state.
Therefore, travel nurses in California may feel that they come out behind financially despite higher-than-average salaries. Alternatively, they may come out ahead in Alaska since the higher pay offered here offsets the higher cost of living, on average.
| State | Average Travel RN Pay End of Q3 2024 | State Pay as a Percent of the National Average | State Cost of Living as a Percent of the National Average |
| California | $2,814 | 124.5% | 149.9% |
| Alaska | $2,759 | 122.1% | 116.5% |
| Delaware | $2,547 | 112.7% | 103.5% |
| New Jersey | $2,525 | 111.7% | 119.8% |
| Massachusetts | $2,519 | 111.5% | 127.5% |
| New York | $2,501 | 110.7% | 121.5% |
| Nevada | $2,470 | 109.3% | 109.7% |
| Minnesota | $2,446 | 108.2% | 97.8% |
| Maine | $2,426 | 107.4% | 97% |
| Oregon | $2,424 | 107.3% | 114.3% |
| Wisconsin | $2,391 | 105.8% | -89.9% |
| Rhode Island | $2,383 | 105.4% | 112.5% |
| Vermont | $2,349 | 103.9% | 100.8% |
| Illinois | $2,348 | 103.9% | 93.7% |
| Connecticut | $2,338 | 103.4% | 111.8% |
| New Hampshire | $2,325 | 102.9% | 105.8% |
| Wyoming | $2,324 | 102.8% | 97.5% |
| Pennsylvania | $2,322 | 102.7% | 94.6% |
| Washington | $2,310 | 102.2% | 121.9% |
| North Dakota | $2,301 | 101.8% | 88.6% |
| South Dakota | $2,283 | 101.0% | 89.3% |
| West Virginia | $2,265 | 100.2% | 79.4% |
| Montana | $2,261 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Sources: Average Pay from Vivian Health / Cost of Living from Sperling’s Best Places
Several states join Alaska in the group where higher-than-average wages outweigh the cost of living. These include Delaware, Minnesota, Maine, Wisconsin, Vermont, Illinois, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia. Many of these states have low living costs due to their vast rural areas, where the cost of services and housing tends to be below average. Remember, however, that in some of these states’ major cities, such as Minneapolis, Chicago or Philadelphia, the cost of living may be higher than their respective statewide averages. Luckily, pay is typically higher in larger cities as well.
Vivian is your leading source of travel nurse job listings for all 50 states. Explore the extensive job listings staffing agencies post on our site to find the travel healthcare job with your optimal mix of location, pay and cost of living.
