Travel ICU Nurse Pay

The median advertised pay for a travel ICU (intensive care unit) contract is $2,307 per week. The middle half of contracts fall between $2,128 and $2,547. Measured across 503 active travel contracts at 274 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 ICU pay by state

StateOpen contractsMedian weekly
California79$2,628
Arizona47$2,116
Massachusetts37$2,548
Georgia31$2,115
Ohio18$2,265
North Carolina17$2,162
Virginia17$2,205
Illinois17$2,326
Iowa15$2,185
Texas14$1,849
Connecticut13$2,392
New York12$2,344
Louisiana12$2,460
Oklahoma11$2,332
Wisconsin10$2,276
Delaware9$2,556
Alabama9$2,064
New Hampshire8$2,415
Nebraska8$2,160
Michigan8$2,116
Kansas8$2,511
Indiana7$2,101
Pennsylvania6$2,507
Colorado6$2,441
Florida6$1,874

The 25 states with the most open ICU contracts, of 46 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 ICU contracts, are California at $2,628, Massachusetts at $2,548 and Louisiana at $2,460. The table above is ordered by how many contracts are open, not by pay.

Where every open ICU contract falls

Weekly rateOpen contracts
Under $1,90031
$1,900 to $2,05040
$2,050 to $2,200101
$2,200 to $2,350110
$2,350 to $2,50070
$2,500 to $2,65066
$2,650 to $2,80031
$2,800 and up54

All 503 open contracts, banded by advertised weekly rate. The outer bands are open-ended so nothing falls outside the chart.

Open ICU contracts

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

What ICU 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 ICU nurse make?
The median advertised pay for a travel ICU contract is $2,307 a week, with the middle half of contracts between $2,128 and $2,547. Measured across 503 active travel contracts at 274 facilities, as of 2026-09-15. These are advertised weekly totals, taxable base plus tax-free stipends, not take-home.
Where does this ICU 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 ICU nurses the most?
California at $2,628, Massachusetts at $2,548 and Louisiana at $2,460, by median advertised weekly pay. Only states carrying at least 10 open ICU 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.