Travel CVICU Nurse Pay

The median advertised pay for a travel CVICU (cardiovascular intensive care unit) contract is $2,476 per week. The middle half of contracts fall between $2,217 and $2,819. Measured across 104 active travel contracts at 65 facilities, as of 2026-09-15.

These are advertised weekly totals, a taxable hourly base plus tax-free housing and meal stipends. They are not take-home, and the tax-free half depends on maintaining a tax home. How to read a pay package explains the split.

Travel CVICU pay by state

StateOpen contractsMedian weekly
Illinois11$2,781
California11$2,975
Oklahoma7$2,446
Arizona7$2,136
Texas6$1,930
Oregon5$2,484
Indiana5$1,979
Virginia4$2,623
Ohio4$2,655
North Carolina3$1,823
Connecticut3$2,437
Colorado3$2,554
District of Columbia3$2,411
Kansas2$2,071
South Carolina2$1,985
Delaware2$2,804
Washington2$2,413
Wisconsin2$2,605
Florida2$2,001
Georgia2$2,697
Rhode Island2$3,238
Kentucky2$2,282
Massachusetts2$2,865
Minnesota2$2,931
New Hampshire2$2,321

The 25 states with the most open CVICU contracts, of 33 with any. Pay varies by market, facility and shift, and a state with few contracts moves more than one with many, so treat a median drawn from a handful of postings as an indication rather than a rate.

The highest medians, among states carrying at least 10 open CVICU contracts, are California at $2,975 and Illinois at $2,781. The table above is ordered by how many contracts are open, not by pay.

Where every open CVICU contract falls

Weekly rateOpen contracts
Under $1,9006
$1,900 to $2,10013
$2,100 to $2,30011
$2,300 to $2,50024
$2,500 to $2,70012
$2,700 to $2,90020
$2,900 to $3,1009
$3,100 and up9

All 104 open contracts, banded by advertised weekly rate. The outer bands are open-ended so nothing falls outside the chart.

Open CVICU contracts

See every open CVICU assignment, including those from partner agencies.

What CVICU travel roles ask for

Drawn from the postings that state a requirement, which is not all of them, so each figure carries the number it was measured from. Your recruiter confirms the specifics for a given contract before submission.

Related

Common questions

How much does a travel CVICU nurse make?
The median advertised pay for a travel CVICU contract is $2,476 a week, with the middle half of contracts between $2,217 and $2,819. Measured across 104 active travel contracts at 65 facilities, as of 2026-09-15. These are advertised weekly totals, taxable base plus tax-free stipends, not take-home.
Where does this CVICU pay figure come from?
From the travel contracts currently posted on CircleRN, not from an industry survey or an estimate. No federal source publishes pay by nursing specialty: the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports registered nurses as a single occupation, so there is no official median for an ICU or a labor and delivery nurse. We publish the median rather than the average because one crisis-rate assignment moves an average enough to misrepresent the market.
Which states pay travel CVICU nurses the most?
California at $2,975 and Illinois at $2,781, by median advertised weekly pay. Only states carrying at least 10 open CVICU contracts are ranked, because a median drawn from a handful of postings moves on one contract closing. These are advertised weekly totals, taxable base plus tax-free stipends, not take-home, and a higher median does not survive a higher cost of living on its own.