Travel OR Nurse Pay
The median advertised pay for a travel OR (operating room) contract is
$2,653 per week. The middle half of contracts fall
between $2,422 and $2,937.
Measured across 419 active travel contracts at 278 facilities, as of 2026-10-31.
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 OR pay by state
| State | Open contracts | Median weekly |
|---|
| California | 54 | $3,007 |
| Arizona | 20 | $2,453 |
| Illinois | 17 | $2,910 |
| Pennsylvania | 16 | $2,937 |
| Massachusetts | 16 | $2,806 |
| Connecticut | 16 | $2,898 |
| Oregon | 15 | $2,635 |
| Indiana | 15 | $2,802 |
| Florida | 15 | $2,274 |
| New York | 15 | $2,653 |
| Texas | 14 | $2,359 |
| Oklahoma | 14 | $2,269 |
| Ohio | 12 | $2,345 |
| Colorado | 12 | $2,802 |
| Missouri | 11 | $2,964 |
| Washington | 11 | $2,616 |
| West Virginia | 10 | $2,564 |
| Michigan | 10 | $2,583 |
| Nebraska | 9 | $2,649 |
| Virginia | 9 | $2,600 |
| Kentucky | 9 | $2,553 |
| Wisconsin | 9 | $2,657 |
| South Carolina | 7 | $2,342 |
| Iowa | 7 | $2,749 |
| New Mexico | 6 | $2,456 |
The 25 states with the most open OR contracts, of 47 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
OR contracts, are California at $3,007, Missouri at $2,964 and Pennsylvania at $2,937. The table
above is ordered by how many contracts are open, not by pay.
Where every open OR contract falls
| Weekly rate | Open contracts |
|---|
| Under $2,200 | 36 |
| $2,200 to $2,350 | 37 |
| $2,350 to $2,500 | 66 |
| $2,500 to $2,650 | 69 |
| $2,650 to $2,800 | 48 |
| $2,800 to $2,950 | 67 |
| $2,950 to $3,100 | 38 |
| $3,100 and up | 58 |
All 419 open contracts, banded by advertised weekly rate. The
outer bands are open-ended so nothing falls outside the chart.
Is travel OR pay rising or falling?
Over the last seven days the median advertised rate rose
1.0 percent, from $2,643 to
$2,668 a week. Measured against the seven days before it, across
420 open postings, 2026-10-18 to 2026-10-31.
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 OR contracts
- Registered Nurse - CVOR — Seattle, WA — $2,931/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Seattle, WA — $2,658/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Olympia, WA — $2,621/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Olympia, WA — $2,621/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Olympia, WA — $2,621/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Everett, WA — $2,616/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Seattle, WA — $2,579/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Seattle, WA — $2,469/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Seattle, WA — $2,469/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Atlanta, GA — $2,395/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Everett, WA — $2,363/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Everett, WA — $2,363/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Augusta, GA — $2,295/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Atlanta, GA — $2,160/week
- Registered Nurse - Operating Room — Athens, GA — $2,091/week
See every open OR assignment, including
those from partner agencies.
What OR travel roles ask for
- 13 weeks is the most common contract length, on 375 of the 419 postings that state one.
- 2 years of experience is the most common requirement, among the 58 postings that state one.
- Certifications named most often, among the 88 postings that list any: BLS (88), ACLS (51), PALS (17), CNOR (15).
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 $2,653 a week, with the middle half of contracts between $2,422 and $2,937. Measured across 419 active travel contracts at 278 facilities, as of 2026-10-31. 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 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 $3,007, Missouri at $2,964 and Pennsylvania at $2,937, by median advertised weekly pay. Only states carrying at least 5 open OR 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.