How Does Travel Nurse Pay Work? (Base Rate vs. Tax-Free Stipend)
What this post will cover
What the taxable base rate actually is and why agencies want it low.
Meals & incidentals (M&IE) stipend vs. lodging stipend — what each one is for.
Why the “blended rate” your recruiter quotes is a trap.
What to ask for in writing before you sign anything.
The taxable base rate
The taxable base rate is your hourly pay. This is what staff nurses make. What you see is probably not what you take home. Fifty dollars per hour is taxed anywhere from 15 to 30 percent depending on where you are working. It is important to find a tax specialist who is familiar with travel nursing and works to get the best tax refund for you. I have a no-nonsense guy out of Ohio who is fast, efficient, and always does everything he can to get me my biggest refund — and yes, he is taking on new clients. The guy is a travel nurse tax refund machine and has saved me thousands since I started.
Stipends: what actually hits your bank account
A lot of people think that stipends are broken down into certain categories, which technically they are. What really matters is what hits your bank account. Food and lodging are your largest stipends. You can always look up the maximum stipends listed on the government per diem website (the GSA per diem rate lookup at gsa.gov) to make sure that you are getting the best stipend. Use this as negotiation leverage with your agency. The stipends go directly to your bank account along with your hourly rate. They don't directly pay for rent or food. There is no need to save receipts — your credit card and bank ledger should store that for you if questioned.
Who qualifies for tax-free stipends
You are only eligible to collect stipends if your contract is far enough away from your permanent tax residence that you cannot reasonably return home between shifts. Most agencies enforce this with a 50- or 60-mile policy of their own. You must also be able to show duplicate housing expenses — expenses at your tax residence and expenses at your travel housing. Keep your tax residence expenses manageable, even if that means renting a room from family. Better yet, rent your apartment or house out when you are on the road. This delta between stipends and housing expenses is where you save.
Compare contracts by what one hour of your time is worth
Before weighing possible contract offers, I always look at the net weekly take-home pay and calculate how much one hour of my time is worth at the hospital. Sometimes the larger pay packages don't actually mean you are getting paid fairly for your time. For example, a 48-hour-per-week contract could quote $3,400 versus one that is 36 hours and pays $2,800. $3,400 ÷ 48 hours versus $2,800 ÷ 36 hours works out to $70.83/hr versus $77.78/hr respectively. Your time at the hospital would be worth more to you by taking the $2,800 contract. I always take 36-hour contracts over 48-hour contracts. The reason is that if the hospital really needs help, you can pick up shifts most of the time, but it is up to you to pick that additional fourth shift up — it is not written into the contract that you must work four shifts. If you do plan on working overtime, always check the overtime rate to see if it is worth it.
Get it in writing
A fantastic thing about travel nursing is that you can be as selective as you want with your contract. You want eight planned days off during your assignment? Write it into the contract. I usually try to gather dates for family plans, festivals, or other time obligations a month in advance before searching for contracts. Your chances of getting the contract do go down if you have a bunch of time-off requests, but I have had many contracts go through with a very particular schedule request. For example, I may ask to work only Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and I make sure that this is written into the contract.