Travel Nurse Take-Home Pay Calculator
Enter your contract numbers to see weekly take-home, per-hour blended rate and what the stipends really add.
By the NursePayLab editorial team · Updated $1
Key numbers at a glance
| Taxable (fed + FICA + state) | Tax-free (with valid tax home) |
|---|---|
| Hourly base rate × hours | Housing stipend / agency-provided housing value |
| Overtime and bonus pay | Meals & incidentals (M&IE) stipend |
| Taxable per-diem above GSA caps | Travel reimbursement to and from assignment |
| License and certification reimbursements in some setups | Licensing/certification reimbursements in qualifying setups |
Federal tax uses 2025 single-filer brackets with the standard deduction, annualized from your weekly gross. Stipends are treated as tax-free — valid only if you maintain a tax home and duplicate expenses. This is an estimate, not tax advice.
How it's calculated
Weekly taxable gross = rate × hours. We annualize it, subtract the standard deduction, apply federal brackets, add FICA at 7.65% and your state rate, then convert back to weekly. Tax-free stipends are added after tax. The blended rate divides total take-home by your hours — the single best number for comparing offers.
A worked example
Contract: $25/hr × 36 guaranteed hours, $1,500 housing stipend, $400 M&IE, no state income tax (Texas assignment). Taxable gross: $900/week. Estimated federal tax ~$103/week (after standard deduction), FICA $68.85. Net taxable pay: ~$728. Add $1,900 tax-free stipends → ~$2,628/week take-home, a $73/hour blended rate. Over a 13-week contract: about $34,000. The same $900 taxable week without stipends would net roughly $728 — the stipends more than triple the take-home, which is the entire economic engine of travel nursing.
Common mistakes
Comparing gross package numbers across states. A $2,700/week contract in California (state tax up to ~13%) can net less than $2,500/week in Texas. Always run both through the calculator with the state rate.
Counting one-time money as weekly. Travel reimbursements and sign-on bonuses (often with clawbacks) aren't weekly pay — keep them out of the stipend fields.
Ignoring the tax-home requirement. No duplicated expenses = stipends become taxable, retroactively. Read our tax home guide before signing anything.
What gets taxed and what doesn't
The whole travel pay game is which bucket each dollar lands in. The standard split:
| Taxable (fed + FICA + state) | Tax-free (with valid tax home) |
|---|---|
| Hourly base rate × hours | Housing stipend / agency-provided housing value |
| Overtime and bonus pay | Meals & incidentals (M&IE) stipend |
| Taxable per-diem above GSA caps | Travel reimbursement to and from assignment |
| License and certification reimbursements in some setups | Licensing/certification reimbursements in qualifying setups |
Two practical consequences. First, two contracts with identical gross packages can differ by hundreds of dollars a week in take-home purely because of the taxable/tax-free split — which is why comparing offers without a calculator is how people lose money politely. Second, the split has limits: stipends above the federal GSA rates for the assignment location can lose their tax-free status regardless of your tax home, and agencies that push suspiciously low taxable wages with enormous stipends are exporting audit risk onto you. A reasonable rule of thumb the industry treats as sane territory: taxable wages around $18–25/hour with stipends tied to the local GSA tables.
FAQ
How is travel nurse take-home pay calculated?
Taxable hourly pay is reduced by federal income tax, FICA (7.65%) and state income tax, then tax-free stipends are added on top — provided you maintain a valid tax home.
My agency says I'll make $2,500/week. Why does the calculator show less?
Agencies often quote gross weekly package (taxable + stipends). This calculator subtracts estimated taxes from the taxable portion only — stipends aren't taxed, which usually softens the drop.
Do travel nurses pay income tax in two states?
Possibly. You generally owe resident tax in your home state, and nonresident tax in states where you earn money — California and New York are the aggressive ones. Most states credit taxes paid elsewhere, so full double taxation is rare, but model the worst case with the state field before signing.
How much of a travel nurse's pay is tax-free?
In a typical package, 50–65% arrives as stipends. A $2,600/week offer might be $900 in taxable wages plus $1,700 in housing and meal stipends — this calculator shows the after-tax value of that split. Stipends are capped by the federal GSA rates for the assignment location.
Do stipends stop if I miss shifts?
Often, partially. Stipends are tied to working the assignment, and many agencies prorate or claw back stipends for unpaid days even when guaranteed hours protect your base wage. The policy is contract-specific — ask what happens to stipends in a missed-shift week before you sign.