Travel nurse salary comparator
Turn a weekly pay package into a transparent assignment total — and see what changes when stipends or duplicate housing costs are treated differently.
Defaults to taxable · No tax-home inference · Inputs stay in your browser
Assignment breakdown
Your contract totals will appear here
Enter pay-package values exactly as shown by the agency. The default treats stipends as taxable until you explicitly choose otherwise.
Package math first. Then find the next assignment.
After you understand taxable wages versus stipends, browse travel and staff nursing roles that match your license and specialty.
Calculation contract
What the comparison does
It uses only values and tax-treatment assumptions you enter. No agency rate, GSA allowance, or tax-home status is inferred.
- Regular wages
- Rate × hours × weeks
- Overtime
- Rate × multiplier × OT hours × weeks
- Weekly stipends
- Housing + meals × weeks
- Estimated tax
- User rate × taxable pay
- Spendable estimate
- After tax − entered costs
- Annualized pace
- Average week × 52
Tax-treatment boundary
A stipend label does not decide taxability
The default scenario treats all compensation as taxable. The non-taxable option is an explicit modeling choice for an agency-designated arrangement that you still must verify.
IRS Publication 463 discusses travel, temporary assignments, tax homes, and accountable plans. GSA publishes federal per diem rates, but a listed rate does not by itself make a private payment non-taxable.
Primary references
IRS and GSA
Reference links were verified August 3, 2026. This page performs arithmetic and does not provide tax or legal advice.
Common questions
Travel nurse pay FAQ
Are travel nurse stipends automatically tax-free?
No. The tax treatment depends on the facts, including tax-home rules and the employer’s accountable-plan handling. The tool defaults to treating all entered compensation as taxable and only uses a non-taxable estimate when you explicitly select it. Verify your situation with the agency and a qualified tax professional.
What is included in total contract value?
The calculation adds regular taxable wages, overtime wages, taxable bonus, entered weekly housing and meal stipends, and one-time travel reimbursement across the selected assignment weeks.
Why show duplicate costs?
A travel package can look larger while also requiring costs at both a tax home and assignment location. The optional duplicate-cost input subtracts only the amount you enter, helping separate contract value from estimated spendable cash.
Is annualized gross the same as annual salary?
No. Annualized gross multiplies the assignment’s average weekly value by 52. It assumes the same pay package and continuous work all year, so it is a comparison pace rather than an assignment total or salary guarantee.
Does the estimated tax rate calculate my tax return?
No. It is a simple user-entered percentage applied to compensation classified as taxable in the scenario. It does not calculate brackets, payroll taxes, deductions, credits, state residency, filing status, or tax-home eligibility.
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