Travel nurse take-home pay calculator, 2026The gross rate is a trap. Let’s find out what actually hits your account.

This travel nurse take-home pay calculator shows what lands in your account each week. It splits your contract into the taxable hourly wage and the tax-free housing and meals stipends, applies tax year 2026 federal, state and FICA tax to the taxable part only, and adds the stipends back. It works for staff jobs too. Checking whether a stipend is under the GSA limit is a different question: use the travel nurse stipend calculator for that.

By Jayson Minagawa, BSN, RN

Last updated

Free · no email · nothing leaves this browser

01

The basics

Staff or travel?
Contract type
$$/hr
The W-2 taxable rate on the offer, not the blended rate a recruiter quotes.
hrs
wks
Typical travel contracts are 13 weeks. Used for bonus amortization and contract totals.
Travel nurses pay state tax where they work. Nine states charge zero income tax.
02

Tax-free stipends

If you qualify
$$/wk
$$/wk
$$/wk
Read the tax guide
Worth knowing · above the GSA rate

Your stipends are above the GSA maximum for this state. The amount over the limit may be taxable.

Check · the 12-month rule

Working 12 months or more in the same area makes stipends taxable. Assignments have to be temporary.

03

The fine print

Optional
Overtime and bonuses
hrs at 1.5×
$total
$total
$total
Pre-tax deductions
$$/wk
$$/wk
Pre-tax, from taxable wages only, not stipends. The 2026 limit is about $24,000 a year.
Reimbursements (not taxed)
$per contract
$$/yr
$$/yr
$$/yr
No signup, no email. Nothing leaves this browser. After the first result, it updates as you type.
The method, written out

How the travel nurse take-home pay calculator works

A travel nurse contract pays two different kinds of money. The first is the taxable hourly wage, the rate on your W-2. The second is the stipends: a weekly housing stipend and a meals and incidentals (M&IE) stipend. The calculator treats them separately because the tax rules treat them separately.

  1. Taxable portion. Hourly rate times hours worked, plus any overtime at 1.5 times the rate and any bonuses spread across the contract. Federal income tax, state income tax and FICA (Social Security and Medicare) are applied to this portion only.
  2. Stipend portion. Housing plus M&IE. These are paid tax free only when you keep a qualifying tax home, meaning a permanent residence you keep paying for while you work away from it (IRS Publication 463). They should also stay at or under the General Services Administration (GSA) per diem rate for the assignment location.
  3. No tax home. If you do not have a qualifying tax home, the calculator moves every stipend dollar into the taxable portion and taxes it like wages.

Federal tax uses the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax year 2026 brackets and standard deduction. Social Security is 6.2% up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500 and Medicare is 1.45% on all wages, with an extra 0.9% above $200,000 for a single filer. To find the right bracket, the calculator annualizes your weekly taxable pay over 52 weeks, then divides the year’s tax back into a weekly figure.

The formula

  1. Taxable weekly pay = hourly rate × hours + overtime hours × hourly rate × 1.5 + bonuses ÷ contract weeks
  2. Stipend weekly pay = housing stipend + M&IE stipend (tax free only with a qualifying tax home)
  3. Annual taxable income = taxable weekly pay × 52 − federal standard deduction
  4. Weekly federal tax = federal brackets applied to annual taxable income ÷ 52
  5. Weekly FICA = taxable weekly pay × 6.2% (Social Security) + taxable weekly pay × 1.45% (Medicare)
  6. Weekly state tax = the work state’s brackets applied to annual taxable income, less the state’s own deduction, ÷ 52
  7. Net weekly take-home = taxable weekly pay − federal tax − FICA − state tax + stipend weekly pay

Worked example: a 13-week contract in Dallas, Texas

A single filer with a qualifying tax home takes a 13-week, 36-hour-a-week contract in Dallas. The offer is $40 an hour taxable, a $1,050 weekly housing stipend and a $490 weekly M&IE stipend ($70 a day). Both stipends sit under the GSA fiscal year 2027 per diem for Dallas County, which is $184 a night for lodging ($1,288 a week) and $80 a day for M&IE ($560 a week). Texas has no state income tax, so the state line is zero.

Weekly take-home for a $40 an hour Dallas contract with $1,540 in weekly stipends
Gross weekly pay (the number a recruiter quotes)$2,980.00
Taxable portion: $40 × 36 hours$1,440.00
Stipend portion: $1,050 housing + $490 M&IE$1,540.00
Estimated taxes on the taxable portion
Federal income tax: $1,440 × 52 = $74,880, less the $16,100 standard deduction = $58,780 taxable, which owes $7,643.60 a year−$146.99
Social Security: $1,440 × 6.2%−$89.28
Medicare: $1,440 × 1.45%−$20.88
Texas state income tax$0.00
Total estimated tax (17.9% of the taxable portion, 8.6% of gross)−$257.15
Net weekly take-home$2,722.85
Net for the full 13 weeks$35,397.02

The same contract without a qualifying tax home nets about $2,253.48 a week, because all $2,980 becomes taxable wages. That is roughly $469 a week, or about $6,100 over 13 weeks, that depends on the tax home alone. Before you trust a stipend, read the travel nurse tax home rules.

In a state with an income tax, add the state line on top of the federal and FICA lines. The California travel nurse take-home pay example works the same kind of contract through California income tax and State Disability Insurance.

What this calculator does not model

  • It is an estimate, not a paystub. Your agency’s withholding may differ week to week even when the annual tax comes out the same.
  • It annualizes at 52 weeks. If you take unpaid weeks between contracts, your real annual income is lower and your real federal rate may be too. The agency versus staff nursing comparison counts those gaps.
  • State tax is a simplified estimate. It does not apply state credits, nonresident proration or state payroll taxes such as California State Disability Insurance.
  • It does not check your stipends against the GSA rate for you. The travel nurse stipend calculator does that, and also subtracts what housing actually costs you.
The guide

How to use this calculator

The fields follow the order an offer letter or a recruiter will give them to you. Once you have a first result, the weekly, biweekly, contract and annual figures update as you type.

  • Contract type. Staff or travel. Travel mode opens the housing, meals and incidentals stipend fields and the tax home checkbox.
  • Hourly base rate. The taxable W-2 rate on the offer, not the blended rate a recruiter quotes.
  • Hours per week. Overtime hours go in their own field and are paid at 1.5 times the base rate. Shift differentials have their own shift differential calculator.
  • Work state and filing status. Single, married filing jointly or head of household. Filing status sets the federal brackets and standard deduction.
  • Retirement and health insurance. Pre-tax retirement contributions lower the taxable wages the calculator uses. Health insurance premiums come out of take-home.

Federal figures use the IRS tax year 2026 brackets and standard deductions ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household). Check the result against your agency’s paystub and a tax professional before you sign.

Taxes, stipends and take-home pay

The most common mistake I hear on night shift is that a higher gross rate always means a bigger paycheck. It does not. How the package is split matters as much as the headline number.

Federal income tax: marginal and effective rates

Federal tax is progressive. Only the dollars inside a bracket are taxed at that bracket’s rate, so a nurse in the 22% bracket pays well under 22% on the whole paycheck. In the Dallas example above, the top bracket is 22% but federal tax is about 10% of the taxable wage.

FICA: Social Security and Medicare

FICA is 7.65% of wages: 6.2% for Social Security up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500, plus 1.45% for Medicare with no cap. An extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax applies to wages over $200,000 for a single filer. For a travel nurse with a tax home, FICA applies to the taxable wage only, not the stipends.

State income tax

Nine states have no income tax on wages: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. An assignment in one of them helps, but your tax home state may still tax you as a resident.

Stipends and the tax home rule

Housing and meals stipends are tax free only while you keep a qualifying tax home under IRS Publication 463: a permanent residence with living costs you keep paying while you are away. An assignment expected to last more than a year in one area is not temporary, and stipends for it are taxable. The split also cuts the other way: mortgage underwriters usually count only the W-2 wage, not the stipends.

Why I built this calculator

I spent ten years as a travel nurse across ICU, psych, corrections and telehealth. In every break room the conversation was the same: “I thought I was making $2,800 a week. Where did it go?” Agencies quote gross, and recruiters often guess at state tax.

This calculator started as a spreadsheet on my phone. Before I accepted a contract I put in the base rate, the stipends, the state and my 403(b) percentage, and I knew within about $50 what would land on Friday. That is how I stopped signing a $3,100 gross contract that netted less than a $2,650 one down the street.

Related tools and guides

Frequently asked questions

Are travel nurse stipends really tax free?

Only if you keep a qualifying tax home: a permanent residence you keep paying for while you work away from it. Without one, every housing and meals and incidentals (M&IE) stipend dollar is taxable wages. Stipends also need to stay at or under the General Services Administration (GSA) per diem rate for the assignment location to stay tax free. Keep rent or mortgage statements, utility bills and your voter registration. The full checklist is in the travel nurse tax home rules guide.

Which states have no state income tax on wages?

Nine: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. An assignment in one of them keeps more of your taxable wage, but your tax home state may still tax you as a resident on income earned elsewhere.

Is overtime taxed at a higher rate?

No. Overtime can look heavily taxed on a single paystub because withholding treats that week as if you earned it every week. At filing time the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) taxes your annual income, and overtime dollars are taxed at the same federal, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state rates as the rest of your wages.

How does the 8/80 overtime rule change a nurse's paycheck?

Hospitals can use the 8/80 system under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): overtime is owed for hours over 8 in a day and over 80 in a 14-day period, instead of over 40 in a week. On 12-hour shifts that makes 4 hours of each shift overtime. The hospital has to agree to it with you in advance.

How much can I put into a 403(b) in 2026?

The IRS limit on employee contributions to a 401(k) or 403(b) for 2026 is $24,500. For travel nurses, contributions come out of taxable wages only, not stipends, so a low taxable rate leaves less room to contribute than the headline weekly pay suggests. At a minimum, contribute enough to get the full employer match if there is one.

Do travel nurses owe tax in more than one state?

Usually. You typically file a nonresident return in each state where you worked and a resident return in your tax home state. Your home state generally gives a credit for tax paid to the other state, so the same dollar is rarely taxed twice, but you may file three or more state returns in a year. Keep a log of the days you worked in each state.

Recommended resources

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Written and reviewed byJayson Minagawa, BSN, RN10 years of travel nursing taught me that the gross weekly rate is a trap. What matters is what lands in your account after federal, FICA, state, and whatever tax-home math your contract forces on you. Background in ICU, psych, correctional nursing, telehealth, and unit management. No sponsored content.Last updated
Disclaimer

This calculator is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute tax, financial, or legal advice. Tax law changes constantly and travel nurse tax home rules are audit-sensitive. Verify all results with a licensed CPA before making contract or financial decisions.

Sources and method

Last updated · Tax year 2026 · Rates verified

Weekly take-home is the taxable wage minus federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, plus the stipends. Taxes are applied to the taxable wage only; stipends are added back tax free when you have a qualifying tax home and taxed as wages when you do not. Federal tax annualizes the weekly taxable pay over 52 weeks, applies the tax year 2026 brackets after the standard deduction, and divides by 52. The full formula and a worked example are in the method section above.

Weekly take-home
$0