Travel Nurse Pay in Idaho (2026)

Key numbers at a glance

Travel nurse pay in Idaho: the numbers

Idaho employed 16,880 registered nurses as of May 2025, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. The median RN wage was $92,460 ($44.45/hr) per year, essentially identical to the mean of $92,710 ($44.57/hr) — a symmetric distribution with no dominant union step-scale pushing the middle up or down. The 10th percentile starts at $71,210 and the 90th reaches $121,230.

For travelers, the interesting number is the 75th percentile at $102,320: that is roughly the experienced-RN wage band hospitals are buying when they open traveler lines in Boise, Idaho Falls or Coeur d'Alene. Because Idaho staff pay sits mid-pack nationally, bill rates are moderate too — the state's selling points are a 5.3% flat income tax, compact licensure and outdoor lifestyle rather than headline rates.

Use the table as the anchor and treat the travel range as hedged planning figures — Boise quotes move with the seasons and with unit needs, so verify current offers with your recruiter before comparing.

All BLS figures on this page: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 release (bls.gov/oes). Wage figures are for staff registered nurses (SOC 29-1141), all industries — travel packages are quoted separately and are inherently variable. See the full list on our travel nurse pay by state hub.

How stipends change the math in Idaho

Idaho stipends are moderate and follow the federal GSA per-diem tables for your assignment city — Boise's lodging rates are respectable but far below coastal cities, and smaller towns have lower caps (current tables at gsa.gov/perdiem). That means an Idaho package leans proportionally more on taxable wage than a Hawaii or California offer would, which is worth remembering when you compare gross numbers across states.

An illustrative split: $25/hr taxable × 36 guaranteed hours = $900/week taxable. Subtract roughly $103 federal, $69 FICA and $48 Idaho tax at the 5.3% flat rate, leaving about $680. Add a typical $1,500 housing stipend plus $400 meals and incidentals — $1,900 tax-free — for a take-home near $2,580/week, a blended rate around $72/hour. The stipend portion is 70%+ of the money you keep, so guard your tax home. Model your own offer in the take-home calculator and rank competing contracts by blended rate, not gross.

One structural note: because Idaho's flat tax is low but not zero, the difference between a well-split and badly-split contract is smaller than in high-tax states — but a stipend-heavy offer still beats a wage-heavy one of the same gross by hundreds of dollars over 13 weeks.

Idaho income tax: flat 5.3%

Idaho taxes individual income at a flat 5.3% for 2025 and 2026 — the rate came down from 5.695% under House Bill 40, per the Idaho State Tax Commission, which also posts the current rate schedules. A flat rate is easy to model: whatever your taxable weekly wage, the state's cut is 5.3% of it. Nonresidents file an Idaho return (form 43) on Idaho-sourced wages; if your home state also taxes that income, most states credit the Idaho tax back, but confirm your exact situation with a tax professional.

Tax figures here are 2026 planning rates from official state sources and the Tax Foundation's 2026 tables — confirm your own filing position with the relevant state revenue department or a CPA; this page is not tax advice.

Licensure in Idaho: compact member

Idaho is a member of the Nurse Licensure Compact. If you claim a compact state as your primary state of residence and hold a multistate RN license, you can work Idaho assignments on that license with no separate Idaho application — one of the practical reasons Idaho gets paired with Utah, Arizona and Nevada in multi-state travel itineraries. Confirm your multistate privileges on the NCSBN verification site before you sign, and remember a multistate license is only valid if you genuinely reside in the issuing compact state. Compact status per the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (ncsbn.org).

Where the demand is in Idaho

Boise is the center of gravity: St. Luke's Boise and Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center anchor the Treasure Valley and generate the bulk of traveler lines. Outside the valley, St. Luke's Magic Valley in Twin Falls, the Idaho Falls hospitals and Kootenai Health in Coeur d'Alene keep rural and community demand steady. Smaller critical-access hospitals across the state post intermittent needs, and those quotes can outpace Boise when coverage gets desperate — offset by thinner housing options.

Stipend ceilings everywhere follow the federal per-diem tables for your assignment location — gsa.gov/perdiem.