Read any pay package in 90 seconds.
Three parts, from the 2027 Travel Nurse Guide by Jayson Minagawa, BSN, RN. Run the calculator on your offer, read how the money is split before it reaches you, then work the checklist before you sign.
Decode the offer in front of you.
Type in the numbers from your recruiter’s email. Weekly figures, before tax. The defaults are a typical 2026 package, not a quote.
Education, not tax advice. Stipends are only tax-free if you keep a real tax home and duplicate living expenses. That is Chapter 10 of the full guide.
How the money actually works
Your recruiter isn’t negotiating your bill rate. Here’s what they’re actually negotiating.
This is the chapter I wish I’d read before contract one. Once you understand where the money comes from, every conversation with a recruiter makes sense.
The bill rate
The hospital pays your agency a flat amount per hour you work. That’s the bill rate. Out of that, the agency pays your hourly wage, your stipends, your employer taxes, insurance, your travel reimbursement, their recruiters, their overhead, and their profit.
You never see the bill rate on your offer. You see the pay package. But the pay package is just what’s left after the agency takes its cut.
Who sets the bill rate: MSPs and VMS
Most hospitals don’t call agencies one by one anymore. They hire a managed service provider (MSP), which runs a vendor management system (VMS), basically a job board for agencies. The hospital posts the job with the bill rate already set, and dozens of agencies submit nurses to it.
About 74% of travel nurse revenue in 2025 flowed through MSP relationships, according to the SIA and NATHO survey. That means on most jobs the bill rate is locked before a recruiter ever calls you.
You’re not negotiating the bill rate. You’re negotiating the split of a fixed bill rate between you and the agency. That’s why two agencies can offer different pay for the exact same job, and why pushing back works.
What agencies actually charge
Illinois is one of the few states that makes nurse agencies report what they charge facilities and what they pay nurses. For Cook County, the state’s June 2024 to May 2025 report showed an average RN charge of $110.89 an hour against an average RN wage of $78.79. That’s a 40.74% markup, according to Boostpoint’s analysis of the report.
That markup isn’t all profit. It covers employer payroll taxes, insurance, workers’ comp, housing and travel money, and the recruiter’s salary. But it shows you how much room there is.
Reading a pay package
A typical package is split into two parts:
- Taxable hourly. Your W-2 wage. Overtime, holiday pay, and any paid sick time are calculated from this number.
- Non-taxable stipends. Money for housing and meals and incidentals (M&IE). These are only tax-free if you have a legitimate tax home and are duplicating expenses (Chapter 10).
The benefit of traveling is the tax-free stipends. The higher those are, the lower your hourly and taxes will be. But if you like to pick up overtime, you probably want a higher hourly rate, since OT is paid on the hourly, not the stipend.
The per diem ceiling
Agencies usually cap stipends near the federal GSA per diem rates for the area. For fiscal year 2027, which starts October 1, 2026, the standard rate for most of the continental US is $113 a night for lodging, up from $110, and $68 a day for meals and incidentals, with higher rates in expensive cities. See which cities moved most, and always check the current table at gsa.gov/perdiem.
A package with a tiny hourly (say, $20) and huge stipends looks great until you get cancelled, need OT, or apply for a mortgage. Lenders look at taxable income. Many travelers don’t want their taxable hourly to be unreasonably low compared to what a staff nurse makes locally.
Gross versus net
In general, I really only care about the GROSS weekly pay, because I can figure the NET pay myself. Recruiters sometimes put a net pay estimate that can be way off. I like to do the math myself with the pay package spreadsheet in the toolkit, or the calculator at the top of this page.
Questions to ask about every package
- What’s the taxable hourly, and what’s the weekly stipend breakdown?
- How many hours are guaranteed, and what happens if I’m called off?
- What’s the overtime rate, and is it paid after 40 hours or after my scheduled shifts?
- Is there a holiday rate? Which holidays?
- Are there any penalties for missed shifts or ending early?
- Is travel reimbursement paid up front, at the end, or split?
The contract red flag checklist
Twenty-five things to check before you sign. Print it. Use it every time.
Pay
Hours and schedule
Floating and assignment
Ending the contract
Everything else
Red flag facilities
In edition one I named hospitals. I’m not doing that anymore, partly because things change and partly because what I experienced on one unit isn’t true of a whole health system. Instead, here’s what I look for. On one of my assignments I was floated off my unit almost every shift, and I wish I’d checked for these first:
- A history of cancelling travelers early (search the Facilities Cancellation Database group).
- Staff working 8-hour shifts while travelers work 12s. That often means floating halfway through your shift.
- ICU travelers routinely floated to non-ICU floors.
- Little or no ancillary support: no CNAs, no monitor techs, no unit secretary.
- Orientation shorter than one full shift.
- Lots of recent traveler posts about unsafe ratios.
None of these alone means “don’t go.” Stack three or four together and ask for more money, or pass.