Travel Med-Surg Nurse Pay
The median advertised pay for a travel Med-Surg (medical-surgical) contract is
$2,174 per week. The middle half of contracts fall
between $2,031 and $2,364.
Measured across 767 active travel contracts at 366 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 Med-Surg pay by state
| State | Open contracts | Median weekly |
|---|
| Georgia | 73 | $1,941 |
| Illinois | 57 | $2,257 |
| Massachusetts | 41 | $2,657 |
| California | 38 | $2,210 |
| Iowa | 38 | $2,131 |
| Ohio | 30 | $2,231 |
| North Carolina | 29 | $1,999 |
| Oklahoma | 28 | $2,203 |
| New York | 24 | $2,311 |
| Missouri | 23 | $2,192 |
| Texas | 23 | $1,775 |
| Arizona | 22 | $2,200 |
| Virginia | 20 | $2,068 |
| New Hampshire | 20 | $2,289 |
| North Dakota | 19 | $2,430 |
| South Carolina | 19 | $1,952 |
| Indiana | 19 | $2,111 |
| Nebraska | 19 | $2,447 |
| Tennessee | 18 | $2,300 |
| Michigan | 18 | $2,200 |
| West Virginia | 17 | $2,070 |
| Kansas | 15 | $2,128 |
| Pennsylvania | 13 | $2,273 |
| Oregon | 12 | $2,136 |
| Wisconsin | 12 | $2,353 |
The 25 states with the most open Med-Surg 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
Med-Surg contracts, are Massachusetts at $2,657, Nebraska at $2,447 and North Dakota at $2,430. The table
above is ordered by how many contracts are open, not by pay.
Where every open Med-Surg contract falls
| Weekly rate | Open contracts |
|---|
| Under $1,800 | 60 |
| $1,800 to $1,950 | 64 |
| $1,950 to $2,100 | 156 |
| $2,100 to $2,250 | 184 |
| $2,250 to $2,400 | 133 |
| $2,400 to $2,550 | 53 |
| $2,550 to $2,700 | 36 |
| $2,700 and up | 81 |
All 767 open contracts, banded by advertised weekly rate. The
outer bands are open-ended so nothing falls outside the chart.
Open Med-Surg contracts
- Registered Nurse - MS/Tele Float — Seattle, WA — $2,456/week
- Registered Nurse - MS/Tele Float — Seattle, WA — $2,456/week
- Registered Nurse - MS/Tele Float — Seattle, WA — $2,370/week
- Registered Nurse - MS/Tele Float — Seattle, WA — $2,370/week
- Registered Nurse - MS/Tele — Seattle, WA — $2,168/week
- Registered Nurse - MS/Tele Float — Olympia, WA — $2,166/week
See every open Med-Surg assignment, including
those from partner agencies.
What Med-Surg travel roles ask for
- 13 weeks is the most common contract length, on 565 of the 767 postings that state one.
- 2 years of experience is the most common requirement, among the 173 postings that state one.
- Certifications named most often, among the 186 postings that list any: BLS (186), ACLS (158), NIHSS (11), PASS/ FAIL FILL IN THE BLANK TELE TEST (4).
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 Med-Surg nurse make?
- The median advertised pay for a travel Med-Surg contract is $2,174 a week, with the middle half of contracts between $2,031 and $2,364. Measured across 767 active travel contracts at 366 facilities, as of 2026-09-15. These are advertised weekly totals, taxable base plus tax-free stipends, not take-home.
- Where does this Med-Surg 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 Med-Surg nurses the most?
- Massachusetts at $2,657, Nebraska at $2,447 and North Dakota at $2,430, by median advertised weekly pay. Only states carrying at least 10 open Med-Surg 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.