Pay cut to travel??

I think I've met one traveler from Massachusetts and one from California in the last twenty years. No others from the West Coast and Alaska or the the NE. Too hard to pencil out any financial advantage. The vast majority of traveler come from non-union areas of the South and Midwest where travel seems like big bucks. Even today in my area of Ohio, staff pay maxes out at around $25. Even from those areas, it can be tough for nurses to justify travel versus staff pay with good benefits, PTO, holidays, vacations, good health insurance, low cost housing and so on. Hard to justify on paper. But it is good cash flow typically and a faster way to pay off school loans and mortgages.

I started traveling in 1995 and pay was not my priority, it was to travel. I was making $15 an hour at the time just below the Mason Dixon line and my several assignments (even in San Francisco) paid $16 to $17 an hour. I didn't maintain a tax home as that was not a thing back then, and worked for the only company at the time that offered tax free housing and per diems and travel reimbursement. Let me tell you, the difference was dramatic! I went from a few percent savings of my take home, to more like 80%. No contest and I was delighted. It is still dramatic today (depending on where you live) but savings rates that high are much more difficult as having to maintain a tax home cuts into it depending on how well you plan, and again on where you live.

I agree with NedRN. Personally, my family and I have a tax home in Florida and we decided to travel due to the pay rates for travel nurses. It's really dependent on what states your tax homes are in. I have never met any travel nurses from the high paying states like California.

I don't take a pay cut, but I did make only a little over my staff pay on my first contract. Of course, that was Florida in the winter and I was a poor negotiator. I've never taken a contract since that wasn't a good fit pay-wise. But, having friends who work in San Francisco, I can definitely see how it would be a challenge for you to find travel nursing financially worth it.

Cost of living varies greatly across the U.S. You may take a lower-paying contract in a state with a low cost of living, and wind up banking significantly more than you would with a higher-paying contract in an expensive area. But, you should do really travel because you enjoy the lifestyle. Exploring new areas is fun. I've met several travelers from the northeast who travel to warm climates to avoid winter. Good luck!

I've met several travelers from the northeast who travel to warm climates to avoid winter.

You are right! In fact, NE nurses did winter assignments directly for Florida hospitals as staff before the travel nurse industry even started! Lots of synergy there as NE hospitals census drops in the wintertime. I did a couple assignments in Florida early in my career, but both times I was the only traveler so I didn't meet any travelers from anywhere.

I highly doubt the staff pay in Ohio maxes out at $25/hr.

Likely not. Just my area. Although there are a lot of forces holding down pay in Ohio. No nurse shortage, a near monopoly by Cleveland Clinic in the northern part of the state, and a lack of unions.

$25 is what I was offered by the largest hospital in the largest local system for my 17 years of experience for the only open job I could find. I suppose that is OK pay considering you can buy a decent home in my area for $60,000.

I highly doubt the staff pay in Ohio maxes out at $25/hr.

There are definitely rural parts of the US, mainly midwest and the south, that pay experienced nursing staff under $30/hr.

They usually have staff that have been there forever and have no staffing needs or unions to enforce ratios/wages.

As a person that would review resumes/applications and be hiring RNs, i would be shocked at how low some of the wage requests were from some people. I would actually tell them to let HR know that was a typo and ask for more, whatever a local reasonable rate was.

Lots of synergy there as NE hospitals census drops in the wintertime.

I'm also not so sure about this ^ as every hospital I have worked at in the wintertime the census is at the highest point of the year. Due to PNA, influenza, resp. illness etc.

There are definitely rural parts of the US, mainly midwest and the south, that pay experienced nursing staff under $30/hr.

Yes I realize that...which is why I said Ohio. I'm positive some nurses out there are making $30+/hr. Areas of Alabama start new grad RN's @ $18/hr. Pitiful.

Which is one reason why I will never take a staff position in a low paying area again. I learned my lesson in Utah. Now in a cheap COL area I make over $60/hr as staff. And I am trying to get a per diem position in the SF Bay to hit the triple digit per hour wage.

Back in the day, we are talking about 40 years ago and before travel, acuity was a lot lower for inpatients. I don't disagree that even adults have more health issues in the wintertime, but picture where snowbirds are coming from. When the population may double in the wintertime in Florida, there is a greater need there.