Texas travel nurse pay 2026: $94,220, compact state
Last reviewed: by Jayson Minagawa, BSN, RN
What travel nurses earn in Texas
Travel RN contracts in Texas post an average base of $94,220 annualised — 7% below the national travel average of $101,132, and 36th of 51 states and DC.
Posted base, not take-home: stipend calculator · pay calculator.
How Texas compares for staff work
Staff RNs in Texas average $95,380, 19th of 51 states and DC, against a $94,220 posted travel base — so Texas staff work out-earns the posted travel base, and a staff contract with benefits can win outright. Texas salary guide.
Licensing for a Texas assignment
Texas is a Nurse Licensure Compact state. A multistate license from your primary state of residence starts a Texas assignment with no separate application, which is why Texas can take a contract beginning in two weeks. Without one, endorsement is the route. The Texas Board of Nursing charges $186 and quotes 3–6 weeks.
Tax, stipends and your tax home
Texas has no state income tax, so the taxed half of a Texas package loses only federal tax and FICA and a Texas contract nets more than a nominally identical one across the state line.
Stipend rules are federal: tax home guide.
Where the contracts are
Texas's travel markets are Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio. Regional price parity is 97.0 against a national 100, so Texas costs run 3.0% below average, and its GSA-linked stipends move with it.
What drives Texas demand
Persistent and widening 12.6% RN shortage projected to reach 14.3% by 2030; no state income tax; Texas Medical Center concentration makes Houston a top APRN market.
Ratio law: Texas 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 Texas contract
What moves Texas rates: negotiation cycles at the systems in Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and any stretch where one is short in a specialty. Crisis work runs well above Texas's $94,220 posted average. Seasonality is national: travel nursing guide.
Before you sign a Texas contract
Get the Texas license cost, guaranteed hours and cancellation terms in writing. Red flags.
Common questions
How much do travel nurses make in Texas?
About $94,220 annualised posted base, 7% below the national $101,132 and 36th of 51.
Do I need a Texas license to travel there?
No — a multistate compact license covers Texas.
Are Texas travel stipends tax-free?
Only with a real tax home you are away from. See the tax guide.
Travel nursing in states bordering Texas
New Mexico · Oklahoma · Arkansas · Louisiana.
Related Texas guides
Texas RN salary · Texas licensure · travel nursing quick start · agency comparison.