Travel Nurse Rooms for Rent: How Much They Cost and How to Find a Good One
By CircleRN Team | Published 2026-10-17 | 8 min read
What a furnished room costs a travel nurse, from 2,773 CircleRN room listings: a $1,200 median, about $600 a month less than a one-bedroom, with prices in 11 cities. What is included, what to ask the host, night shifts, scams, and where to look.
A room for rent is the cheapest way to live on a travel contract. On CircleRN the median room asks $1,200 a month, against $1,800 for a one-bedroom, so a room saves about $600 a month, or roughly $1,800 over a 13-week contract. Three quarters of rooms are in a house, usually with the kitchen and laundry shared. Whether that works for you comes down to the bathroom, the household's schedule, and whether you can sleep there after a night shift.
The figures here come from 2,773 room listings in 1,312 cities on CircleRN as of October 2026. For the wider choice between a stipend and agency housing, see how travel nurses find housing.
How much does a room cost for a travel nurse?
The median room asks $1,200 a month. The middle half ask $950 to $1,500, and eight in ten ask between $800 and $1,800. Rooms are almost always furnished (98 percent of room listings), and nearly all list Wi-Fi. Whether utilities are included varies, so confirm it for each place.
Prices follow the local market. In the cities with the most room listings:
| City | Room (listings) | One-bedroom (listings) | GSA lodging, 30 days (lowest season) |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego, CA | $1,650 (30) | $2,400 (27) | $6,240 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $1,625 (28) | $2,348 (16) | $5,970 |
| Seattle, WA | $1,500 (19) | $2,000 (25) | $5,640 |
| Charlotte, NC | $1,300 (23) | Too few | $4,290 |
| Tampa, FL | $1,250 (18) | Too few | $4,650 |
| Chicago, IL | $1,200 (15) | Too few | $4,440 |
| Atlanta, GA | $1,150 (18) | Too few | $5,640 |
| Houston, TX | $1,075 (26) | $1,600 (15) | $3,990 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $1,000 (21) | $1,800 (11) | $3,600 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $1,000 (18) | $1,900 (14) | $3,660 |
| San Antonio, TX | $925 (22) | Too few | $4,470 |
The table includes every city with at least 15 room listings. One-bedroom medians are shown where a city has at least 10. Each city housing page shows the current room median for that city.
Is renting a room cheaper than a studio or one-bedroom?
Yes, by about a third. Nationally, a studio on CircleRN asks a median $1,700 and a one-bedroom $1,800, against $1,200 for a room. In the cities above where both can be compared, the gap runs from about $500 a month in Seattle to $900 in Phoenix.
What you give up is privacy. Three quarters of room listings are in a house, where you usually share the kitchen and laundry and often a bathroom. A studio costs more but gives you your own door, your own kitchen and your own schedule. If you are on a long contract, on nights, or traveling with a partner or a pet, a studio is often worth the difference. Only 16 percent of room listings allow pets, against 29 percent of all listings.
How much of your housing stipend do you keep by renting a room?
It depends on your stipend, but a room leaves more of it than any other option. Travel stipends are tax-free up to the federal per diem rate for the location, which is lodging plus meals and incidental expenses, and only if you keep a tax home elsewhere. The table above shows the lowest-season lodging part for a 30-day month; several cities run higher in peak months. A median room uses about 20 to 30 percent of it in every city listed.
Agencies often pay less than the full rate, so start from your actual offer. Take the weekly housing stipend, multiply by 52 and divide by 12 for a monthly figure, and subtract the rent. In Houston, for example, choosing the median room over the median one-bedroom keeps an extra $525 a month. The stipend calculator gives the federal limit for any ZIP code, and the stipend rules explain the tax home requirement.
What is usually included when you rent a room?
Most room listings include the basics:
- Furnished bedroom: 98 percent of room listings are furnished
- Wi-Fi: 98 percent
- Air conditioning: 91 percent
- Laundry in the home or building: 87 percent
- Parking: 85 percent
The bathroom is the item to check. About 22 percent of room listings mention a private bathroom in the title or description, and those ask the same $1,200 median as the rest, so a private bath does not always cost more. Ask. Also ask whether utilities are capped, whether linens and towels are provided, and how much fridge and shelf space is yours.
What should you ask before renting a room in someone's home?
You will be living with the host, so ask what you would ask a roommate, and get the answers in writing:
- Who else lives here? Other renters, children, pets, and anyone working from home
- Is the bathroom private or shared, and with how many people?
- Does the bedroom door lock? Only 8 percent of room listings mention a lock, so ask
- What are the quiet hours, and can they work around your shifts?
- What is shared: kitchen, laundry, living room, and any rules for using them
- Guests: can you have a visitor, and for how long?
- What happens if your contract is cancelled or extended? Agree on notice in the lease
- How far is the hospital, in minutes at the time your shift starts or ends?
A good host will ask you questions too. Hosts can verify your nursing license, and on CircleRN a Verified Nurse badge shows you have been checked. The host's side of this is in renting to travel nurses.
Is renting a room a good idea if you work nights?
It can be, but it is the case that most often goes wrong. You sleep while the household is awake, and only about 4 percent of room listings mention night shifts, day sleeping or blackout curtains. Before you agree, ask:
- Where the bedroom is relative to the kitchen, living room and front door
- Whether anyone works from home, has young children, or has a dog that barks at deliveries
- Whether the room has blackout curtains, or whether you can put them up
- Whether daytime quiet hours can be written into the agreement
- How you get in at 8 a.m. without waking anyone, such as a keypad lock or a separate entrance
If the answers are vague, a studio may be worth the extra cost for a night contract. Thirteen weeks of 12-hour nights on poor sleep is a high price for $500 a month.
How do you spot a room-for-rent scam?
Room listings attract the same scams as any rental. Watch for:
- A price well below the city median with professional photos. Compare against the table above or your city's housing page
- A host who cannot show the room by video, or is "out of the country"
- A deposit before a video tour or before a written agreement
- Payment by wire transfer, gift card, cryptocurrency or a payment app to someone you have not verified
- Photos that appear on other listings, often under a different name or city. A reverse image search takes a minute
- An overpayment: a "host" who sends you money and asks for part of it back
Confirm that the person renting the room lives there or owns the home, which county property records often show. Report a rental scam to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
Where do travel nurses find rooms for rent?
Often on housing sites built for healthcare travelers, where hosts list furnished rooms for stays of a month or more near hospitals. On CircleRN, 40 percent of all listings are private rooms, and each city housing page shows rooms next to whole places. Other sources are hospital housing lists, which some hospitals keep for incoming travelers, and travel nurse groups on social media, which reach hosts directly but carry the most scam risk.
Start looking when you accept the contract, and book an extended-stay hotel for the first few nights if you cannot see the room before you arrive. It is easier to judge a household in person.
Bottom Line
A furnished room is the cheapest housing on a travel contract: a $1,200 median on CircleRN, about $600 a month less than a one-bedroom, and about 20 to 30 percent of the federal lodging rate in the largest markets. It works best on day shifts, with a private bathroom, a lock, and a household whose schedule you know before you arrive. On nights, ask about the bedroom's location and daytime noise first.
Browse rooms and whole places on the housing pages, check what you can spend with the stipend calculator, or find a contract first on the jobs board.
Sources
- CircleRN active listings with a monthly rent, October 17, 2026 (2,773 private rooms; studio and one-bedroom comparisons; amenity shares)
- GSA, Per Diem Rates (FY2027 lodging rates by location)
- FTC, Rental Listing Scams (how rental scams work and how to report them)
Frequently Asked Questions
What should you ask before renting a room in someone's home?
Who else lives there, including children, pets and anyone working from home; whether the bathroom is private or shared and with how many people; whether the bedroom door locks (only 8 percent of room listings mention a lock); the quiet hours and whether they fit your shifts; what is shared and the rules for it; guests; what happens if your contract is cancelled or extended, written into the lease; and the drive time to the hospital at your shift change.