Travel ER Nurse Pay
The median advertised pay for a travel ER (emergency room) contract is
$2,353 per week. The middle half of contracts fall
between $2,136 and $2,638.
Measured across 749 active travel contracts at 438 facilities, as of 2026-10-30.
These are advertised weekly totals before tax, usually including tax-free housing and meal
stipends; for almost all postings the figure is the top of an advertised range. They are not
take-home, and the tax-free part depends on maintaining a tax home.
How to read a pay package
explains the split.
Travel ER pay by state
| State | Open contracts | Median weekly |
|---|
| California | 126 | $2,638 |
| New York | 42 | $2,484 |
| Massachusetts | 41 | $2,631 |
| Texas | 35 | $1,997 |
| Arizona | 31 | $2,129 |
| Illinois | 30 | $2,288 |
| North Carolina | 24 | $2,137 |
| Missouri | 23 | $2,176 |
| Kansas | 20 | $2,182 |
| Florida | 20 | $2,024 |
| Minnesota | 19 | $2,528 |
| Virginia | 17 | $2,199 |
| Connecticut | 17 | $2,468 |
| Delaware | 17 | $2,430 |
| Washington | 16 | $2,292 |
| Oregon | 16 | $2,330 |
| Iowa | 15 | $2,266 |
| Ohio | 14 | $2,116 |
| Colorado | 14 | $2,275 |
| Wisconsin | 13 | $2,451 |
| New Jersey | 13 | $2,283 |
| Indiana | 13 | $2,325 |
| Tennessee | 12 | $2,087 |
| Oklahoma | 11 | $2,228 |
| Michigan | 11 | $2,208 |
The 25 states with the most open ER contracts, of 49 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 5 open
ER contracts, are Rhode Island at $2,674, California at $2,638 and Massachusetts at $2,631. The table
above is ordered by how many contracts are open, not by pay.
Where every open ER contract falls
| Weekly rate | Open contracts |
|---|
| Under $1,900 | 47 |
| $1,900 to $2,100 | 111 |
| $2,100 to $2,300 | 173 |
| $2,300 to $2,500 | 165 |
| $2,500 to $2,700 | 109 |
| $2,700 to $2,900 | 61 |
| $2,900 to $3,100 | 18 |
| $3,100 and up | 65 |
All 749 open contracts, banded by advertised weekly rate. The
outer bands are open-ended so nothing falls outside the chart.
Is travel ER pay rising or falling?
Over the last seven days the median advertised rate rose
2.4 percent, from $2,306 to
$2,362 a week. Measured against the seven days before it, across
780 open postings, 2026-10-17 to 2026-10-30.
A national median moves when the states that are posting change, not only when a rate
changes, so this is published only while the share of contracts held by each state is
steady across both weeks. Where it is not, no figure is shown.
Open ER contracts
- Registered Nurse - ER — Spokane, WA — $3,253/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Spokane, WA — $3,253/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Spokane, WA — $3,253/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Olympia, WA — $3,137/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Everett, WA — $3,020/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Seattle, WA — $3,010/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Spokane, WA — $2,292/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Spokane, WA — $2,292/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Spokane, WA — $2,292/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Chewelah, WA — $2,271/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Olympia, WA — $2,267/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Olympia, WA — $2,267/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Seattle, WA — $2,214/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Everett, WA — $2,150/week
- Registered Nurse - ER — Everett, WA — $2,150/week
See every open ER assignment, including
those from partner agencies.
What ER travel roles ask for
- 13 weeks is the most common contract length, on 654 of the 749 postings that state one.
- 2 years of experience is the most common requirement, among the 171 postings that state one.
- Certifications named most often, among the 193 postings that list any: BLS (193), ACLS (181), PALS (163), TNCC (141).
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 ER nurse make?
- The median advertised pay for a travel ER contract is $2,353 a week, with the middle half of contracts between $2,136 and $2,638. Measured across 749 active travel contracts at 438 facilities, as of 2026-10-30. These are advertised weekly totals before tax, usually including tax-free stipends; for almost all postings the figure is the top of an advertised range. Not take-home.
- Where does this ER 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 ER nurses the most?
- Rhode Island at $2,674, California at $2,638 and Massachusetts at $2,631, by median advertised weekly pay. Only states carrying at least 5 open ER contracts are ranked, because a median drawn from a handful of postings moves on one contract closing. These are advertised weekly totals before tax, usually including tax-free stipends and for almost all postings the top of an advertised range, not take-home, and a higher median does not survive a higher cost of living on its own.