The median advertised pay for a travel PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) contract is $2,706 per week. The middle half of contracts fall between $2,571 and $2,942. Measured across 71 active travel contracts at 40 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.
| State | Open contracts | Median weekly |
|---|---|---|
| California | 12 | $3,367 |
| Colorado | 8 | $2,754 |
| Arizona | 6 | $2,352 |
| New Jersey | 5 | $2,779 |
| Ohio | 5 | $2,650 |
| Washington | 5 | $2,543 |
| Oklahoma | 4 | $2,768 |
| Nebraska | 3 | $2,604 |
| Illinois | 3 | $2,349 |
| New York | 3 | $3,078 |
| Virginia | 3 | $2,573 |
| Oregon | 2 | $2,515 |
| Indiana | 2 | $3,266 |
| Massachusetts | 2 | $2,568 |
| Pennsylvania | 1 | $2,616 |
| South Carolina | 1 | $2,321 |
| Tennessee | 1 | $2,305 |
| Missouri | 1 | $2,706 |
| Alaska | 1 | $2,858 |
| North Carolina | 1 | $2,862 |
| Florida | 1 | $2,577 |
| Georgia | 1 | $2,836 |
Every state with an open PICU contract. 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 PICU contracts, are California at $3,367. The table above is ordered by how many contracts are open, not by pay.
| Weekly rate | Open contracts |
|---|---|
| Under $2,300 | 4 |
| $2,300 to $2,500 | 10 |
| $2,500 to $2,700 | 21 |
| $2,700 to $2,900 | 17 |
| $2,900 to $3,100 | 6 |
| $3,100 to $3,300 | 3 |
| $3,300 to $3,500 | 9 |
| $3,500 and up | 1 |
All 71 open contracts, banded by advertised weekly rate. The outer bands are open-ended so nothing falls outside the chart.
See every open PICU 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.