Travel Nurse Stipends by State in 2027: The New GSA Per Diem Rates, City by City
By CircleRN Team | Published 2026-09-30 | 9 min read
The FY2027 GSA per diem rates took effect October 1, 2026: $113 lodging and $68 meals standard, a $1,267 weekly ceiling for a tax-free stipend. Weekly limits for 33 major cities and every state, what changed, and why your offer pays less.
The federal per diem rates for fiscal year 2027 took effect on October 1, 2026. The standard rate, which applies anywhere without its own listing, is $113 a day for lodging and $68 a day for meals and incidentals, up from $110 for lodging in fiscal 2026. That puts the standard weekly ceiling for a tax-free travel stipend at $1,267. In the most expensive metros it is more than twice that.
These rates matter to a traveler because the IRS uses them as the line for tax-free per diem. Below is what the line is in 33 major cities and in every state, what changed this year, and why the stipend in your offer is probably lower than the number in the table. To look up any ZIP code, use the stipend calculator; for what a stipend leaves after rent, see travel nurse housing stipend; to see what a whole package nets you, use the travel pay calculator.
What are the GSA per diem rates for fiscal year 2027?
The General Services Administration sets lodging and meal rates for every location in the continental United States, for the federal fiscal year running October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027. The standard rate is $113 for lodging and $68 for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE), $181 a day combined. GSA lists 295 non-standard areas with their own higher rates, and the M&IE tiers run from $68 to $92.
Lodging in many non-standard areas is seasonal. Boston's lodging rate runs from $213 to $365 a day depending on the month, and New York City's from $189 to $358. M&IE does not vary by month.
How do GSA rates cap a tax-free travel stipend?
They set the amount the IRS treats as substantiated without receipts. Under Revenue Procedure 2019-48, when an employer pays a per diem allowance instead of reimbursing actual lodging and meal costs, the amount deemed substantiated for each day is the lesser of the allowance or the federal per diem rate for the place you sleep. The federal rate is GSA's lodging rate plus its M&IE rate for that locality. Anything paid above it, if you are not required to return it, is treated as wages under 26 CFR 1.62-2(h)(2)(i)(B).
Two conditions come before the rate, and the rate is irrelevant without them. You must be traveling away from a tax home you genuinely maintain, which our tax home guide covers, and the allowance has to be a real per diem. The same revenue procedure says an allowance computed like wages, such as by hours worked, is generally not a per diem allowance, which is why stipends that shrink with missed shifts are worth reading closely in the offer and the contract.
Agencies usually express the result as a weekly figure. The rate applies per calendar day away from home, so for a week spent entirely away from home the ceiling is the daily rate times seven: $113 plus $68, times seven, is $1,267 at the standard rate. Days spent back at your tax home do not count, and partial travel days can be prorated.
What is the maximum weekly stipend in major travel nurse cities?
Weekly ceilings for fiscal 2027, lodging plus M&IE times seven, ordered by the middle of each range. Where lodging is seasonal, the range runs from the cheapest month to the most expensive.
| Area | Lodging per day | M&IE per day | Weekly ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston / Cambridge, MA | $213 to $365 | $92 | $2,135 to $3,199 |
| San Francisco, CA | $232 to $325 | $92 | $2,268 to $2,919 |
| New York City, NY | $189 to $358 | $92 | $1,967 to $3,150 |
| Washington, DC | $192 to $295 | $92 | $1,988 to $2,709 |
| Nashville, TN | $230 | $86 | $2,212 |
| San Diego, CA | $208 to $249 | $86 | $2,058 to $2,345 |
| Seattle, WA | $188 to $255 | $92 | $1,960 to $2,429 |
| San Jose / Palo Alto, CA | $218 | $92 | $2,170 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $174 to $227 | $92 | $1,862 to $2,233 |
| Denver, CO | $170 to $227 | $92 | $1,834 to $2,233 |
| Miami, FL | $151 to $244 | $92 | $1,701 to $2,352 |
| Los Angeles / Orange County, CA | $199 | $86 | $1,995 |
| Chicago, IL | $148 to $238 | $92 | $1,680 to $2,310 |
| Atlanta, GA | $188 to $207 | $86 | $1,918 to $2,051 |
| Dallas, TX | $184 | $80 | $1,848 |
| Austin, TX | $184 | $80 | $1,848 |
| Tampa / St. Petersburg, FL | $155 to $212 | $80 | $1,645 to $2,044 |
| Phoenix / Scottsdale, AZ | $122 to $232 | $86 | $1,456 to $2,226 |
| Albuquerque, NM | $154 to $208 | $80 | $1,638 to $2,016 |
| Tucson, AZ | $154 to $208 | $80 | $1,638 to $2,016 |
| Baltimore, MD | $166 | $86 | $1,764 |
| Portland, OR | $161 | $86 | $1,729 |
| Cleveland, OH | $167 | $80 | $1,729 |
| Minneapolis / St. Paul, MN | $153 | $92 | $1,715 |
| Oakland, CA | $152 | $92 | $1,708 |
| Sacramento, CA | $156 | $86 | $1,694 |
| St. Louis, MO | $156 | $86 | $1,694 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $120 to $173 | $86 | $1,442 to $1,813 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $152 | $80 | $1,624 |
| Charlotte, NC | $143 | $80 | $1,561 |
| San Antonio, TX | $149 | $74 | $1,561 |
| Raleigh, NC | $142 | $74 | $1,512 |
| Houston, TX | $133 | $80 | $1,491 |
| Standard rate (anywhere not listed) | $113 | $68 | $1,267 |
A GSA area is a county or group of counties, not a whole metro as people use the word, so a hospital twenty minutes outside a listed city can fall under the standard rate. Check a ZIP code in our stipend calculator, or the exact address on GSA's per diem lookup before comparing an offer to this table. Rates are set by where you sleep, which Revenue Procedure 2019-48 calls the locality of travel.
What is the highest-rate area in each state?
How many areas in each state have a rate above the standard, and the highest of them. Resort towns top many states because GSA sets lodging rates from hotel prices, so the highest rate is often not where the hospitals are. Use the city table above for the markets travelers actually work in.
| State | Higher-rate areas | Highest-rate area | Weekly ceiling there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 4 | Gulf Shores | $1,526 to $2,065 |
| Arizona | 5 | Sedona | $1,848 to $2,618 |
| Arkansas | 1 | Hot Springs | $1,281 |
| California | 32 | Santa Monica | $2,625 |
| Colorado | 15 | Aspen | $1,855 to $3,577 |
| Connecticut | 4 | Bridgeport / Danbury | $1,694 |
| Delaware | 2 | Lewes | $1,400 to $2,030 |
| District of Columbia | 1 | Washington, DC area | $1,988 to $2,709 |
| Florida | 22 | Key West | $2,471 to $3,766 |
| Georgia | 6 | Jekyll Island / Brunswick | $1,834 to $2,212 |
| Idaho | 3 | Sun Valley / Ketchum | $1,841 to $2,772 |
| Illinois | 4 | Chicago | $1,680 to $2,310 |
| Indiana | 3 | Indianapolis / Carmel | $1,540 |
| Iowa | 2 | Des Moines | $1,414 |
| Kansas | 1 | Kansas City / Overland Park | $1,533 |
| Kentucky | 4 | Kenton | $1,792 |
| Louisiana | 2 | New Orleans | $1,526 to $1,876 |
| Maine | 3 | Bar Harbor / Rockport | $1,603 to $2,884 |
| Maryland | 8 | Washington, DC area | $1,988 to $2,709 |
| Massachusetts | 13 | Martha's Vineyard | $2,037 to $3,955 |
| Michigan | 11 | Detroit | $1,638 |
| Minnesota | 3 | Duluth | $1,715 to $2,142 |
| Mississippi | 3 | Oxford | $1,498 |
| Missouri | 2 | St. Louis | $1,694 |
| Montana | 4 | Big Sky / West Yellowstone/Gardiner | $1,743 to $2,842 |
| Nebraska | 1 | Omaha | $1,456 |
| Nevada | 2 | Incline Village / Reno / Sparks | $1,652 to $1,841 |
| New Hampshire | 7 | Lebanon / Lincoln / West Lebanon | $1,568 to $1,820 |
| New Jersey | 10 | Toms River | $1,701 to $2,037 |
| New Mexico | 4 | Albuquerque | $1,638 to $2,016 |
| New York | 19 | New York City | $1,967 to $3,150 |
| North Carolina | 10 | Kill Devil Hills | $1,358 to $2,387 |
| North Dakota | 0 | Standard rate everywhere | $1,267 |
| Ohio | 6 | Cincinnati | $1,792 |
| Oklahoma | 1 | Oklahoma City | $1,407 |
| Oregon | 7 | Portland | $1,729 |
| Pennsylvania | 12 | Philadelphia | $1,862 to $2,233 |
| Rhode Island | 2 | Jamestown / Middletown / Newport | $1,610 to $2,478 |
| South Carolina | 4 | Charleston | $2,170 to $2,660 |
| South Dakota | 3 | Deadwood / Spearfish | $1,351 to $1,736 |
| Tennessee | 5 | Nashville | $2,212 |
| Texas | 11 | Arlington / Fort Worth / Grapevine | $1,904 |
| Utah | 4 | Park City | $2,233 to $4,137 |
| Vermont | 5 | Montpelier | $1,687 to $2,107 |
| Virginia | 10 | Washington, DC area | $1,988 to $2,709 |
| Washington | 9 | Seattle | $1,960 to $2,429 |
| West Virginia | 2 | Charles Town | $1,372 |
| Wisconsin | 3 | Milwaukee | $1,568 |
| Wyoming | 2 | Jackson / Pinedale | $2,149 to $3,731 |
Every area not listed in a state uses the standard $1,267 weekly ceiling. North Dakota has no higher-rate area at all. The Washington, DC area spans DC, northern Virginia and two Maryland counties, so it appears under all three.
What changed from fiscal 2026 to fiscal 2027?
Almost everything went up. The standard lodging rate rose $3, from $110 to $113, after it was held flat for fiscal 2026; the standard M&IE stayed at $68 and the tiers stayed at $68 to $92. Of the higher-rate areas listed in both years, all but 13 rose on annual average lodging and those 13 were unchanged. One area went down: Allentown, Easton and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, dropped off the list and now takes the standard rate, a weekly ceiling of $1,267 against $1,323 last year. Some seasonal months also fell even where the year rose: Nashville's peak lodging went from $248 to $230, though its rate is now $230 all year.
The largest increases by annual average lodging were Albuquerque, up $37 a day, and Tucson and Bakersfield, each up about $32. San Jose and Palo Alto rose $26. For a traveler that is the difference between the two years' ceilings: Albuquerque's weekly ceiling rose about 16 percent, Tucson's about 15. Most large markets rose 2 to 4 percent, roughly $35 to $100 a week. A contract you signed in September at a fiscal 2026 rate is not automatically repriced in October; whether your agency adjusts is up to the agency. Where a rate fell, in Allentown or in a seasonal month, a stipend set at last year's rate can now sit above this year's ceiling, and the excess is treated as wages.
Why is the stipend in my offer lower than the GSA maximum?
Because the GSA rate is a ceiling, not an entitlement. An agency may pay any amount up to it tax-free, and offers often pay less, putting the rest of the package into the taxable hourly rate. The total is set by what the facility pays the agency; the split between taxable and tax-free is the agency's choice.
A larger tax-free share is not automatically better. Stipends that qualify as per diem are excluded from the regular rate used to compute overtime under 29 CFR 778.217, so a low taxable base means a low overtime rate. And Social Security credits your wages, not your stipends. Compare offers on the whole package and on the taxable base separately, as how to read a pay package explains, and be wary of a taxable rate so low it looks designed to maximize the tax-free half rather than to pay you for the hours.
What about Alaska and Hawaii?
They are not in GSA's tables. Revenue Procedure 2019-48 assigns rates for non-foreign areas outside the continental United States, including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, to the Secretary of Defense, and they are published by the Defense Travel Management Office. The same rules apply: the federal rate for the locality is the line for tax-free per diem. Look the location up on the DoD per diem rate lookup.
Bottom Line
For fiscal 2027 the standard per diem is $113 for lodging and $68 for meals, a $1,267 weekly ceiling for a tax-free stipend, rising past $3,000 a week in Boston and New York City at their peak months. The rate only matters if you maintain a tax home and the stipend is a real per diem. Your offer will usually pay less than the ceiling, and that is legal; judge it on the total and on the taxable base that drives your overtime. Rates reset every October 1, and this page is updated when they do.
Want to see what an offer nets? Try the pay calculator, read the stipend rules, or browse open travel assignments.
Sources
- GSA, Per Diem Bulletin FTR 27-01 (FY2027 standard rate of $113 lodging and $68 M&IE, 295 non-standard areas, M&IE tiers $68 to $92, effective October 1, 2026)
- Federal Register, Maximum Per Diem Reimbursement Rates for CONUS (September 10, 2026)
- IRS, Revenue Procedure 2019-48 (section 4.01, the lesser of the allowance or the federal per diem rate; section 3.02, the federal rate as GSA lodging plus M&IE, and Defense rates for Alaska and Hawaii; section 3.03(2), allowances computed like wages)
- 26 CFR 1.62-2 (accountable plans; amounts above the substantiated amount)
- 29 CFR 778.217 (travel expenses excluded from the regular rate)
- GSA Per Diem API, FY2026 and FY2027 rates for all 48 contiguous states and DC, retrieved 30 September 2026. Weekly ceilings computed as (lodging + M&IE) x 7.