Travel Nursing Pay in Houston, TX

Trauma Columnist · Mar 9, 2017

Moved to Travel Nursing

bensonbsn · Mar 10, 2017

I am not a traveler. I am a staff nurse. I work at an acute care hospital in a suburb of Houston. I have 9 years med/surg/tele/onc experience. My base pay is $38.00, shift diff is about $2.50.

Of course, people make a bit more in the Med Center.

dmstanl1 · Mar 10, 2017

Thanks for your reply! Sounds like pay in Houston is similar to Chicago which is great.

livingkennedy · Mar 11, 2017

Many agencies will do around 20 per hour with 245 weekly per diem and a 2500ish housing stipend. With tax savings this is probably a little over $40 per hour.

dmstanl1 · Mar 11, 2017

Thanks Livingkennedy. I am learning how this works. I got quoted $24.59 per hour, $245 weekly per diem and a $1,932 stipend which would come out to more like $34 per hour. I want to make $40 or above per hour considering I'm coming from Chicago. This is a clinic I got offered. Does stipend pay change based on hospital? I guess the stipend is wear they can mess with ya

livingkennedy · Mar 11, 2017

Math is not my strong suit, so I may be missing something. What hours do they have you working, 36? When I do a quick number crunch at 36 hours, you're making more than the numbers you gave. I get you grossing $1613 weekly, with a net of $1417. That's around $44 per hour. (I seriously could be missing something, so let me know if I am). Given the tax savings on that, if you were paid straight hourly you would have to make somewhere around 55/hour according to this payment calculator.

NedRN · Mar 11, 2017

Does stipend pay change based on hospital? I guess the stipend is wear they can mess with ya

Allowable stipends are based on the location. You can look up the maximum IRS allowable amount on GSA (google for link). Different agencies will pay different stipends, but any agency should pay the same amount for the same location no matter the hospital. If they don't, they could get into hot water with the IRS. This doesn't affect you as the traveler, and you can even negotiate stipends with some agencies (like lower hourly for higher stipends).

livingkennedy · Mar 11, 2017

After looking further, I suppose that possibly you're not including the housing stipend as hourly rate. Some include it and some don't. I tend to include it as my pay and will calculate it in to form a total hourly rate. This works better for me as I like to compare overall pay.

dmstanl1 · Mar 12, 2017

Hey LivingKennedy, I have my travel pay broken down hourly. This is for an assignment at a clinic working 8 hour shifts, so 40 hours per week. Base rate = $24.59/day, Meals per Diem = $35/day, and Stipend = $69.07/day. I hope that makes more sense. Math is not my strong suit, either. I appreciate your feedback!

NedRN · Mar 12, 2017

If that describes your entire compensation, that is low for a travel contract. I calculate yours at about $45 an hour. You may also be getting a travel or mileage reimbursement and health insurance? I think of $50 as the very lowest a traveler should accept on most contracts.

dmstanl1 · Mar 12, 2017

Hey NedRN. I calculated with the agency I'd be making $1502.22 per week with those figures I listed below. I'm not sure where you got $45? I calculated it to be lower like $37-$41 hour. How do you calculate? I am looking into other travel agencies. Also, where in the 3 pieces of the pie am I getting low balled? The base rate seems higher than most places. The per diem seems the same as most places. Is my stipend too low? I quoted some figures for Seattle and Los Angeles with Medical Solutions and those figures had lower base rates but slightly higher stipends. They seemed low too. Is this because I am new to travel nursing? Thanks!