Travel OR Nurse Pay

The median advertised pay for a travel OR (operating room) contract is $2,601 per week. The middle half of contracts fall between $2,339 and $2,894. Measured across 381 active travel contracts at 244 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 OR pay by state

StateOpen contractsMedian weekly
Georgia37$2,522
California23$3,016
Massachusetts20$2,846
Illinois18$2,654
Arizona18$2,370
Missouri16$2,787
Texas14$2,343
South Carolina13$2,205
Tennessee13$2,484
West Virginia12$2,270
Oklahoma12$2,264
Florida11$2,264
Pennsylvania11$2,872
Indiana10$2,848
Virginia10$2,580
Connecticut10$2,674
Michigan9$2,449
Ohio9$2,515
New Jersey8$2,376
North Carolina8$2,949
Iowa7$2,463
Louisiana7$2,532
Wisconsin7$2,933
Oregon6$2,842
Nebraska6$2,697

The 25 states with the most open OR contracts, of 44 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 OR contracts, are California at $3,016, Pennsylvania at $2,872 and Indiana at $2,848. The table above is ordered by how many contracts are open, not by pay.

Where every open OR contract falls

Weekly rateOpen contracts
Under $2,10023
$2,100 to $2,30054
$2,300 to $2,50070
$2,500 to $2,70083
$2,700 to $2,90057
$2,900 to $3,10043
$3,100 to $3,30021
$3,300 and up30

All 381 open contracts, banded by advertised weekly rate. The outer bands are open-ended so nothing falls outside the chart.

Open OR contracts

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

What OR 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 OR nurse make?
The median advertised pay for a travel OR contract is $2,601 a week, with the middle half of contracts between $2,339 and $2,894. Measured across 381 active travel contracts at 244 facilities, as of 2026-09-15. These are advertised weekly totals, taxable base plus tax-free stipends, not take-home.
Where does this OR 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 OR nurses the most?
California at $3,016, Pennsylvania at $2,872 and Indiana at $2,848, by median advertised weekly pay. Only states carrying at least 10 open OR 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.