Travel Psych Nurse Pay

The median advertised pay for a travel Psych (psychiatric) contract is $2,038 per week. The middle half of contracts fall between $1,905 and $2,217. Measured across 59 active travel contracts at 46 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 Psych pay by state

StateOpen contractsMedian weekly
Kansas5$2,038
Missouri5$1,917
North Carolina4$1,889
Iowa4$2,029
Massachusetts4$2,246
California3$2,373
Tennessee3$2,013
Maine3$1,989
Wisconsin3$2,128
Maryland3$2,200
New York2$2,355
New Hampshire2$2,186
Illinois2$1,934
Virginia2$1,903
Oklahoma2$1,740
West Virginia1$1,906
Arkansas1$2,215
Arizona1$2,169
Connecticut1$2,172
District of Columbia1$2,155
Indiana1$2,039
Kentucky1$2,270
Nebraska1$2,479
Ohio1$1,833
Oregon1$2,019

The 25 states with the most open Psych contracts, of 27 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 Psych contracts, are Kansas at $2,038 and Missouri at $1,917. The table above is ordered by how many contracts are open, not by pay.

Where every open Psych contract falls

Weekly rateOpen contracts
Under $1,8005
$1,800 to $1,9007
$1,900 to $2,00011
$2,000 to $2,10011
$2,100 to $2,2009
$2,200 to $2,3008
$2,300 to $2,4004
$2,400 and up4

All 59 open contracts, banded by advertised weekly rate. The outer bands are open-ended so nothing falls outside the chart.

Open Psych contracts

Browse open Psych assignments on the board.

What Psych 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 Psych nurse make?
The median advertised pay for a travel Psych contract is $2,038 a week, with the middle half of contracts between $1,905 and $2,217. Measured across 59 active travel contracts at 46 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 Psych 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 Psych nurses the most?
Kansas at $2,038 and Missouri at $1,917, by median advertised weekly pay. Only states carrying at least 5 open Psych 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.