Travel PCU Nurse Pay
The median advertised pay for a travel PCU (progressive care unit) contract is
$2,309 per week. The middle half of contracts fall
between $2,161 and $2,596.
Measured across 409 active travel contracts at 216 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 PCU pay by state
| State | Open contracts | Median weekly |
|---|
| California | 35 | $2,520 |
| Arizona | 30 | $2,273 |
| Virginia | 21 | $2,325 |
| Ohio | 21 | $2,278 |
| West Virginia | 19 | $2,423 |
| Wisconsin | 19 | $2,609 |
| North Carolina | 17 | $2,144 |
| Illinois | 16 | $2,310 |
| Washington | 16 | $2,527 |
| Tennessee | 15 | $2,381 |
| Florida | 13 | $2,145 |
| South Carolina | 12 | $1,956 |
| Oklahoma | 12 | $2,237 |
| Missouri | 12 | $2,343 |
| Kansas | 11 | $2,674 |
| Colorado | 11 | $2,282 |
| Indiana | 9 | $2,302 |
| New York | 9 | $2,974 |
| Massachusetts | 8 | $2,780 |
| Nebraska | 8 | $2,231 |
| Texas | 8 | $2,051 |
| New Hampshire | 8 | $2,244 |
| District of Columbia | 7 | $2,143 |
| Iowa | 6 | $2,508 |
| Kentucky | 6 | $2,373 |
The 25 states with the most open PCU contracts, of 45 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
PCU contracts, are New York at $2,974, Massachusetts at $2,780 and Kansas at $2,674. The table
above is ordered by how many contracts are open, not by pay.
Where every open PCU contract falls
| Weekly rate | Open contracts |
|---|
| Under $2,000 | 33 |
| $2,000 to $2,200 | 86 |
| $2,200 to $2,400 | 138 |
| $2,400 to $2,600 | 52 |
| $2,600 to $2,800 | 29 |
| $2,800 to $3,000 | 18 |
| $3,000 to $3,200 | 35 |
| $3,200 and up | 18 |
All 409 open contracts, banded by advertised weekly rate. The
outer bands are open-ended so nothing falls outside the chart.
Is travel PCU pay rising or falling?
Over the last seven days the median advertised rate rose
1.0 percent, from $2,282 to
$2,304 a week. Measured against the seven days before it, across
410 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 PCU contracts
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Olympia, WA — $3,456/week
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Olympia, WA — $3,456/week
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Seattle, WA — $3,224/week
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Seattle, WA — $3,127/week
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Spokane, WA — $2,559/week
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Spokane, WA — $2,559/week
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Spokane, WA — $2,559/week
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Spokane, WA — $2,559/week
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Olympia, WA — $2,495/week
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Olympia, WA — $2,495/week
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Seattle, WA — $2,275/week
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Edmonds, WA — $2,211/week
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Edmonds, WA — $2,211/week
- Registered Nurse - Stepdown Cardiac — Seattle, WA — $2,169/week
- Registered Nurse - PCU — Augusta, GA — $1,981/week
See every open PCU assignment, including
those from partner agencies.
What PCU travel roles ask for
- 13 weeks is the most common contract length, on 367 of the 409 postings that state one.
- 2 years of experience is the most common requirement, among the 87 postings that state one.
- Certifications named most often, among the 84 postings that list any: BLS (84), ACLS (76), NIHSS (28), CARDIAC DYSRHYTHMIAS COURSE (1).
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 PCU nurse make?
- The median advertised pay for a travel PCU contract is $2,309 a week, with the middle half of contracts between $2,161 and $2,596. Measured across 409 active travel contracts at 216 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 PCU 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 PCU nurses the most?
- New York at $2,974, Massachusetts at $2,780 and Kansas at $2,674, by median advertised weekly pay. Only states carrying at least 5 open PCU 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.