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Travel jobs provide an exciting opportunity for healthcare professionals to explore different parts of the U.S., often at a pay premium over staff roles. However, clinicians know that travel wages have fallen from their pandemic-era heights, including the highly lucrative travel nursing salary that lured staff nurses to hit the road in years past. Keep reading to learn how travel registered nurse (RN) salaries fared in 2023 and explore Vivian Health’s wage predictions for 2024.
Despite Declines, Travel Wages Remained Above Pre-Pandemic Levels
Source: Vivian Health’s average weekly travel RN pay from December 2022 to December 2023 for all 50 states.
After falling 15.1% in 2022, RN travel wages took another 11.3% dive in 2023. However, most of that drop occurred during the first 5 months of the year, and wages stabilized substantially for the remainder of the year.
Despite the overall wage drop, nurses can still expect to earn a 7% premium in travel wages today compared to the pre-pandemic era. When the U.S. government first declared the pandemic health emergency (PHE) in January 2020, average travel wages were $2,257 per week (when adjusted for inflation to today’s dollars). As of December 2023, nationwide average travel pay was $2,414 based on travel RN jobs posted on Vivian Health during this period.
2023 Travel RN Wage Trends by Month & Quarter
To recap travel pay throughout 2023, we specifically reviewed RN salary data for each month throughout the year, with the findings in the chart below. Then, we broke down this data by winter, spring, summer and fall quarters to provide some insights into significant events that may have influenced salaries during each period.
| Month | Largest Increase in Any State | Largest Decrease in Any State | Avg National Wage | % Change from Previous Month |
| January | 5.9% | 3.5% | $2,713 | -0.3% |
| February | 1.8% | 5.2% | $2,671 | -1.6% |
| March | 5.2% | 10% | $2,589 | -3.1% |
| April | 1.8% | 6.3% | $2,528 | -2.3% |
| May | 2.2% | 10.5% | $2,488 | -1.6% |
| June | 9.4% | 6.4% | $2,466 | -0.9% |
| July | 5.4% | 7.2% | $2,448 | -0.7% |
| August | 3.9% | 4.2% | $2,430 | -0.7% |
| September | 3.9% | 8.7% | $2,430 | 0.0% |
| October | 4.1% | 7.6% | $2,422 | -0.3% |
| November | 4.9% | 6.4% | $2,417 | -0.2% |
| December | 4.9% | 2.4% | $2,414 | -0.1% |
Winter 2023 Recap
The first three months of 2023 saw travel nurse wages fall rapidly across the United States. Nurses may recall that January was marked by elevated rates of COVID-19 cases, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections, dubbed a “tridemic,” that temporarily increased the strain on hospitals. Despite this uptick, January still saw travel RN pay fall 0.3%, setting the trend for the rest of the year.
In February, travel salaries fell by another 1.6%, only to drop nearly twice as fast in March, dropping 3.1% that month as the tridemic receded. During this quarter, the Biden Administration announced that the COVID-19 Pandemic Health Emergency (PHE) would come to an end, signaling a transition to a post-COVID era.
Spring 2023 Recap
The continued slide of travel nurse wages didn’t diminish in the spring, with April, May and June recording pay decreases of 2.3%, 1.6% and 0.9%, respectively. However, the decline slowed late in the quarter, foreshadowing flatter wages later in the year.
Once the PHE ended on May 11, many supplemental federal healthcare spending programs and special rules for the pandemic vanished, including supplemental funding for travel healthcare staff. Many healthcare employers responded by doubling their efforts to fill vacant full-time staff positions.
So, while travel wages dropped in the spring quarter, many health systems offered additional incentives to woo nurses back to full-time roles. In fact, a survey for Vivian Health’s Future of Healthcare Work 2023 report found that 46% of travel nurses were considering moving back into staff roles during this timeframe.
Summer 2023 Recap
The Summer of 2023 saw a new trend for travel nursing salaries emerge. While wages declined a modest 0.7% in both July and August, they remained flat in September. We viewed this period as a transition to fewer fluctuations within travel RN pay, with wages staying flatter going forward.
Fall 2023 Recap
Travel wage decreases were relatively mild in the last three months of the year. October, November and December saw pay decrease by 0.3%, 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. In fact, during this last quarter, most states saw travel RN salaries remain essentially flat compared to the wilder swings common in the past year.
Wage Predictions for 2024
Barring any surprises in infectious disease outbreaks, we suspect travel wages will remain relatively flat in 2024 as part of a “new normal” in healthcare. Notably, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicates that January 2024 is already recording a spike in COVID-19 cases, but hospitalizations remain lower than the same week in 2023. However, as noted above, even last January’s tridemic spike didn’t push travel wages up.
Even if travel wages don’t grow considerably this year, travel work provides an opportunity to earn above-average pay while seeing new places and working with new colleagues. Furthermore, RNs can find opportunities to earn even higher pay by working in certain regions and specialties.
Fluctuating Wages in Travel RN Specialties
Though travel nurse wages decreased by 11.3% overall nationwide in 2023, several specialties fared much worse than the average. The three specialties with the most significant drops in travel wages included mental health nurses, cardiology nurses and electrophysiology lab nurses.
| Specialty | 2023 Percent Decrease in Travel Wage |
| Mental Health Nurse | -21.7% |
| Cardiology Nurse | -21.4% |
| Electrophysiology Lab Nurse | -21.1% |
Only a few specialties actually saw travel wages increase in 2023. Top among these were home health nursing, director of nursing positions and progressive care unit nurses.
| Specialty | 2023 Percent Increase in Travel Wage |
| Home Health Nurse | 4.5% |
| Director of Nursing | 3.7% |
| Progressive Care Unit Nurse | 3.7% |
RELATED: Top 10 Highest-Paying RN Specialties for 2024
Location Is a Key Consideration for Travel Nurses
Certain states and cities still offer travel jobs paying significantly above the national average. We compiled a guide of areas offering notably high-paying jobs. Each region has pros and cons. High-paying areas are often replete with interesting amenities but are often in major metropolitan areas where the cost of living may be much higher. To start, let’s look at which states in 2023 experienced the largest increases or declines in travel pay.
States with Wage Increases
| State | Dec 2022 Wage | Dec 2023 Wage | Year-over-Year % Change |
| Alaska | $2,815 | $2,899 | 3.0% |
| Utah | $2,510 | $2,556 | 1.9% |
| Florida | $2,113 | $2,119 | 0.2% |
Alaska, Utah and Florida were the only three states nationwide to record increased travel RN salaries in 2023. In Florida’s case, the average wage ended 2023 well below the nationwide average despite the increase. Living in Florida offers great winter weather and numerous world-class attractions. It’s also an income-tax-free state, making it quite popular with travel nurses. Alternately, Alaska has notably long, dark winters and a remote location that doesn’t appeal to everyone. These drawbacks often require employers in the state to offer a hefty premium over the national average to lure nurses to the Last Frontier. Travel nurses might consider four-season states like Utah ideal, where wages are above-average but living costs aren’t.
Top 5 States with Wage Decreases
| State | Dec 2022 Wage | Dec 2023 Wage | Year-over-Year % Change |
| Pennsylvania | $2,915 | $2,294 | -21.3% |
| Mississippi | $2,431 | $2,009 | -17.4% |
| North Dakota | $2,902 | $2,459 | -15.3 |
| Idaho | $2,672 | $2,269 | -15.1% |
| Wyoming | $2,868 | $2,438 | -15.0% |
If you considered travel nursing in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, North Dakota, Idaho or Wyoming over the past year, it wasn’t a great time for it. All five states saw unusually swift drops in travel RN pay of 15% or more. Although North Dakota and Wyoming managed to end the year with wages above the national average, salaries in the other three states were considerably below that average.
Comprehensive List of Pay by State
For travel nurses wanting to explore how pay in every state wound up at the close of 2023, we provide a comprehensive list of average travel wages in all 50 states in the chart below. It lists states by average salary from highest to lowest as of December 2023, with the change in travel RN salaries compared to 2022 listed as a percentage.
| State | Average Weekly Pay December 2023 | Percent Change from 1 year ago |
| National Average | $2,414 | -11.3% |
| California | $2,928 | -13.0% |
| Alaska | $2,899 | 3.0% |
| New Jersey | $2,727 | -12.2% |
| Massachusetts | $2,663 | -8.7% |
| New York | $2,621 | -12.2% |
| Nevada | $2,588 | -10.5% |
| Oregon | $2,560 | -12.5% |
| Utah | $2,556 | 1.9% |
| Delaware | $2,550 | -13.2% |
| Vermont | $2,533 | -10.7% |
| Minnesota | $2,520 | -12.7% |
| Washington | $2,505 | -13.7% |
| Rhode Island | $2,490 | -1.5% |
| Maine | $2,474 | -8.1% |
| Arizona | $2,469 | -9.4% |
| Wisconsin | $2,464 | -8.1% |
| North Dakota | $2,459 | -15.3% |
| Wyoming | $2,438 | -15.0% |
| Hawaii | $2,416 | -11.4% |
| Colorado | $2,406 | -9.0% |
| West Virginia | $2,383 | -11.0% |
| Illinois | $2,383 | -12.9% |
| Ohio | $2,372 | -11.5% |
| Connecticut | $2,367 | -12.9% |
| Montana | $2,359 | -5.7% |
| South Dakota | $2,339 | -12.9% |
| New Hampshire | $2,331 | -8.4% |
| Kentucky | $2,331 | -12.7% |
| Maryland | $2,308 | -13.9% |
| Virginia | $2,303 | -10.2% |
| Indiana | $2,301 | -13.0% |
| Pennsylvania | $2,294 | -21.3% |
| New Mexico | $2,291 | -12.5% |
| Michigan | $2,289 | -13.8% |
| Nebraska | $2,283 | -13.5% |
| Idaho | $2,269 | -15.1% |
| Iowa | $2,240 | -11.8% |
| Missouri | $2,232 | -9.3% |
| Georgia | $2,210 | -8.5% |
| North Carolina | $2,209 | -9.6% |
| Kansas | $2,185 | -9.5% |
| South Carolina | $2,160 | -7.8% |
| Texas | $2,156 | -8.9% |
| Alabama | $2,133 | -2.1% |
| Florida | $2,119 | 0.2% |
| Oklahoma | $2,113 | -10.6% |
| Arkansas | $2,105 | -10.7% |
| Louisiana | $2,086 | -13.3% |
| Tennessee | $2,080 | -11.7% |
| Mississippi | $2,009 | -17.4% |
Introducing Our New Quarterly Travel Nursing Salary Trends
Starting in April 2024, Vivian Health will release a new quarterly series on travel nursing salary trends to promote pay transparency for clinicians. We’ll review what happened to travel nurse wages during each quarter, including examining which states fared best and worst to help you choose your next travel contract. The series will also compare wages within RN specialties for those considering a career change.
Going forward, you can expect Vivian to provide a travel nursing pay update every quarter, so look for those in April, July, October and next January. While RN travel wages are the main focus of this series, allied health professionals and advanced practice registered nurses can also read our yearly reviews in our Community Hub regarding pay trends in their specialties.
Vivian makes it easy to research current salary data for staff and travel roles across any discipline, specialty and location using our comprehensive Healthcare Salary Tool.
Accelerate your career by exploring the latest job openings from top staffing partners on Vivian Health today.
Thank you, I appreciate the detailed salary information by state.