Florida travel nurse pay 2026: $75,575, compact state
Last reviewed: by Jayson Minagawa, BSN, RN
What travel nurses earn in Florida
Travel RN contracts in Florida post an average base of $75,575 annualised — 25% below the national travel average of $101,132, and 1st-lowest in the country.
Posted base, not take-home: stipend calculator · pay calculator.
How Florida compares for staff work
Staff RNs in Florida average $90,650, 31st of 51 states and DC, against a $75,575 posted travel base — so Florida staff work out-earns the posted travel base, and a staff contract with benefits can win outright. Florida salary guide.
Licensing for a Florida assignment
Florida is a Nurse Licensure Compact state. A multistate license from your primary state of residence starts a Florida assignment with no separate application, which is why Florida can take a contract beginning in two weeks. Without one, endorsement is the route. The Florida Board of Nursing charges $105 and quotes 3–5 weeks.
Tax, stipends and your tax home
Florida has no state income tax, so the taxed half of a Florida package loses only federal tax and FICA and a Florida contract nets more than a nominally identical one across the state line.
Stipend rules are federal: tax home guide.
Where the contracts are
Florida's travel markets are Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville. Regional price parity is 99.7 against a national 100, so Florida costs run 0.3% below average, and its GSA-linked stipends move with it.
What drives Florida demand
Projected RN surplus (~53,700 extra by 2030) suppresses wage pressure; no state income tax improves take-home; aging population still drives high specialty demand.
Ratio law: Florida has no statutory nurse-to-patient ratios, so staffing levels are set by each hospital rather than by statute. For a traveller that cuts both ways: there is no legal floor on the assignment you can be given, so the ratio you are quoted at interview is worth getting in writing, and it is worth asking what the unit runs at on nights and weekends rather than what the daytime policy says.
Timing a Florida contract
What moves Florida rates: negotiation cycles at the systems in Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, and any stretch where one is short in a specialty. Crisis work runs well above Florida's $75,575 posted average. Seasonality is national: travel nursing guide.
Before you sign a Florida contract
Get the Florida license cost, guaranteed hours and cancellation terms in writing. Red flags.
Common questions
How much do travel nurses make in Florida?
About $75,575 annualised posted base, 25% below the national $101,132 and 51st of 51.
Do I need a Florida license to travel there?
No — a multistate compact license covers Florida.
Are Florida travel stipends tax-free?
Only with a real tax home you are away from. See the tax guide.
Travel nursing in states bordering Florida
Georgia · Alabama · South Carolina · Mississippi.
Related Florida guides
Florida RN salary · Florida licensure · travel nursing quick start · agency comparison.