How Much Do Travel Nurses Make in Georgia? 2026 Pay, Stipends and Licensing

By CircleRN Team | Published 2026-11-03 | 7 min read

Travel nurses in Georgia were offered a median of $2,135 a week across 365 contracts (October 2026), 35th of 40 states and 8% below national for the same specialties. Staff RN wages, FY2027 stipend limits, license and tax.

Travel nurses in Georgia were offered a median of $2,135 a week across 365 open contracts when we last measured the whole market on October 1, 2026, against $2,347 nationally. That put Georgia 35th of the 40 states with enough contracts to rank. Compared specialty by specialty, Georgia paid about 8 percent below the national median. Staff nurses in Georgia earn a median of $93,550 a year, about $1,799 a week, so a typical travel contract advertised roughly a fifth more.

These are advertised weekly totals before tax, which usually include tax-free stipends, and for most postings they are the top of an advertised range. They are not take-home pay. Today's openings are on the Georgia travel nursing page.

How much do travel nurses make in Georgia?

On October 1, 2026, the median advertised weekly total on 365 open travel nursing contracts in Georgia was $2,135. That is about $55,500 for 26 weeks of assignments, or about $111,000 if you worked all 52 weeks with no gaps, which few travelers do.

Your specialty moves that figure more than anything else. Nationally, Med-Surg contracts sit near the bottom of the range and operating room, labor and delivery and cath lab near the top; the specialty pay table shows how far apart they are. Current Georgia figures for single specialties are on the ER, ICU, PCU, OR and Med-Surg pages for Georgia.

Why an October figure: since late October the Georgia contracts on our board are openings we fill ourselves, all at Piedmont hospitals. A median of one health system's offers would describe that employer, not the state, so we quote the last measurement of the whole market instead. That is also why the live Georgia page currently shows a lower median than this one.

How does Georgia travel nurse pay compare with other states?

It ranks in the bottom fifth. On October 1, 2026, Georgia's $2,135 median was 35th of the 40 states with at least 30 open contracts. Most of its neighbors were lower still: North Carolina was 37th at $2,085, South Carolina 39th at $2,034 and Alabama last at $2,015. Florida, 32nd at $2,186, and Tennessee, 25th at $2,271, paid a little more.

Part of a state's median is just which specialties it is hiring, so we also compare each contract with the national median for its own specialty. On that measure Georgia paid 8 percent below the national median for the same work. Prices in Georgia run about 4 percent below the national average (BEA Regional Price Parity), which narrows the gap to about 4 percent after prices. All 40 states are ranked three ways in highest-paying states for travel nurses.

How much do staff nurses make in Georgia?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median registered nurse wage in Georgia at $93,550 a year, or $44.98 an hour, across 100,950 employed RNs (May 2025). The national median is $97,550, or $46.90 an hour, so Georgia staff pay is about 4 percent below the national figure.

Inside Georgia the gap between metros is wide:

That matters when you weigh an offer. Spread over 52 weeks, Georgia's staff median is about $1,799 a week, and the $2,135 travel median is about 19 percent more. It is not a like-for-like comparison: the travel figure is gross and usually includes tax-free stipends, but it also has to cover a second home, travel and the weeks between contracts. Our travel versus staff pay guide works through those terms.

What are the tax-free stipend limits in Georgia?

The tax-free part of a travel package is capped by the federal GSA per diem rate for where you work. Multiplying the daily lodging and meals rates by seven gives the weekly ceiling. The FY2027 rates took effect October 1, 2026:

Area (county)Lodging a nightMeals a dayWeekly ceiling
Atlanta (Fulton, DeKalb)$188; $207 Jan to Mar$86$1,918 to $2,051
Jekyll Island, Brunswick (Glynn)$176; $230 Mar to Jul$86$1,834 to $2,212
Savannah (Chatham)$153; $186 Mar to Apr$80$1,631 to $1,862
Athens (Clarke)$154$74$1,596
Augusta (Richmond)$131; $113 May to Jun$74$1,309 to $1,435
Marietta (Cobb)$131$74$1,435
Rest of Georgia$113$68$1,267

Most of Georgia, including Gwinnett, Henry, Fayette and Bartow counties around Atlanta, is on the standard rate. A contract in Stockbridge or Cartersville therefore has a lower tax-free ceiling than one in Fulton or DeKalb County. These are ceilings, not what an agency pays: offers often pay less as stipend and more as taxable wage. Every state's limits are in travel nurse stipends by state, and the stipend rules explain who qualifies.

Where are travel nurses hiring in Georgia right now?

As of November 2, 2026, every Georgia opening on our board is at a Piedmont hospital. The most are at:

The nursing specialties include cardiac telemetry, ER, PCU, critical care float, operating room and Med-Surg, alongside some allied roles. The list changes weekly; the Georgia job board has what is open today, with pay on every posting.

Do you need a Georgia nursing license to travel there?

Not if you already hold a multistate license. Georgia is a member of the Nurse Licensure Compact, so a multistate RN license issued by your home compact state lets you work there. If your primary state of residence is outside the compact, for example California, New York or Illinois, you need a Georgia license by endorsement before you start. The license compact checker shows which kind you hold.

Georgia also taxes income earned in the state, at a flat 4.99 percent for 2026. That applies to the taxable wage part of your package, not to stipends that qualify as tax-free, and your home state may give you a credit for it.

What does housing cost for a travel nurse in Georgia?

On November 2, 2026 there were 342 active rentals in Georgia on CircleRN, and the median one-bedroom was $1,250 a month. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom, taken as a median across 215 Georgia cities, is $1,085. Either way, a month in a one-bedroom costs about one week of a stipend paid at Georgia's $1,267 standard ceiling.

Browse travel nurse housing in Georgia, or start with Atlanta and Augusta.

Bottom Line

Travel nurses in Georgia were offered a median of $2,135 a week across 365 contracts on October 1, 2026: below the $2,347 national median, and about 8 percent below it for the same specialties. Staff RNs in the state earn a median of $93,550, and Atlanta pays staff nurses more than the national median. Georgia is a compact state with a flat 4.99 percent income tax, and its tax-free stipend ceiling runs from $1,267 a week on the standard rate to $2,051 in Atlanta from January to March, and up to $2,212 at Jekyll Island and Brunswick from March to July. Check which county a contract is in before you compare two Georgia offers.

Ready to look? See open Georgia travel nursing jobs, or compare Georgia with travel nurse pay in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Sources

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