The median advertised pay for a travel PACU (post-anesthesia care unit) contract is $2,456 per week. The middle half of contracts fall between $2,292 and $2,654. Measured across 110 active travel contracts at 84 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.
| State | Open contracts | Median weekly |
|---|---|---|
| California | 29 | $2,737 |
| Virginia | 8 | $2,305 |
| Missouri | 7 | $2,438 |
| Massachusetts | 6 | $2,611 |
| Oregon | 5 | $2,622 |
| Iowa | 5 | $2,236 |
| Illinois | 4 | $2,259 |
| District of Columbia | 4 | $2,071 |
| New York | 4 | $2,522 |
| North Dakota | 3 | $2,626 |
| Louisiana | 2 | $2,142 |
| South Carolina | 2 | $1,962 |
| Vermont | 2 | $2,622 |
| Maryland | 2 | $2,415 |
| Wisconsin | 2 | $2,925 |
| Minnesota | 2 | $2,671 |
| Pennsylvania | 2 | $2,319 |
| Arizona | 2 | $2,269 |
| Hawaii | 2 | $2,253 |
| Wyoming | 1 | $2,457 |
| Colorado | 1 | $2,182 |
| Connecticut | 1 | $2,868 |
| Delaware | 1 | $2,335 |
| Florida | 1 | $1,935 |
| Kansas | 1 | $2,481 |
The 25 states with the most open PACU contracts, of 36 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 PACU contracts, are California at $2,737, Oregon at $2,622 and Massachusetts at $2,611. The table above is ordered by how many contracts are open, not by pay.
| Weekly rate | Open contracts |
|---|---|
| Under $2,000 | 8 |
| $2,000 to $2,150 | 8 |
| $2,150 to $2,300 | 13 |
| $2,300 to $2,450 | 24 |
| $2,450 to $2,600 | 18 |
| $2,600 to $2,750 | 22 |
| $2,750 to $2,900 | 10 |
| $2,900 and up | 7 |
All 110 open contracts, banded by advertised weekly rate. The outer bands are open-ended so nothing falls outside the chart.
See every open PACU assignment, including those from partner agencies.
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.