In South Dakota, travel nurses earn $2,415 per week, or $60.37 per hour based on a 40-hour work week. That’s $27.20 more per hour than registered nurses overall – higher than the pay gap between travel nurses and all RNs nationally.
Nationwide, nurses who sign travel contracts in the Midwest earn more compared to their staff counterparts. Travel nurse pay stands out here, as a lower cost of living in this region often translates into lower pay for residents. Offering high salaries to traveling nurses in needy parts of the Midwest could help attract more RNs to these states, which don’t rank among the most popular for state-to-state migration. The Midwest enjoys higher nurse per capita ratios than other areas of the US, which translates into lower demand for traveling nurses overall.
On the other hand, the smallest pay gaps exist in states where nurses are paid the most: Hawaii and along the West Coast. These locations also have relatively high costs of living, especially in urban areas, and strong nursing unions that help nurses demand better wages and benefits.
West Coast states are home to top nursing/medical schools and major medical employers, including Kaiser Permanente (California), University of Washington Medical Centers, University of California Hospitals, and other large healthcare facilities. Nurses in California also benefit from legally required minimum staffing levels, which help prevent overwork and burnout.
Regardless of where they operate, travel nurses typically have the potential to earn much more than their colleagues. There are some downsides to these contracts, including a lack of stability, the challenge of learning a new workplace every few months, and fewer opportunities to build lasting relationships with co-workers and patients. But they also offer the opportunity to see new places, learn skills associated with different roles, meet lots of people and accumulate wealth.
Hiring staff on temporary contracts, such as traveling nurses, has created huge cost burdens for hospitals from 2020 to 2022. For starters, many hospitals are in precarious financial situations and may have to rework their staffing strategies to be more sustainable. Still, amid nursing shortages and an aging and increasingly care-dependent population, traveling nurses will likely continue to be a critical element of the American health care industry.
This story features reporting and data writing by Paxtyn Merten and is part of a series using data automation in 51 states.
This story originally appeared on Vivian Health and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
