STACKER — Over the past decade, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, nursing has become a high-paying profession due to increased demand.
Nationwide, the average hourly wage for a registered nurse is over $45, which is about $14 more than the average wage for all occupations in the U.S. Traveling nurses with the same skills and qualifications can earn an additional $16 more per hour, on average, compared to a registered nurse. The typical contract length for a traveling nurse is about 13 weeks, but it can be shorter or longer.
In some states, the pay gap between traveling and full-time nurses is even more dramatic.
Vivian Health used its own proprietary data along with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to analyze the pay gap between staff nurses and traveling nurses in North Dakota as part of a broader national analysis. Data from both sources was last updated in May 2023. For this analysis, BLS data on registered nurses is consolidated with staff nurse positions, although that figure technically includes traveling nurses. However, traveling nurses make up a small portion of the overall RN workforce, and their wages do not contribute much to the overall average.
The pandemic has exacerbated existing nursing shortages and increased demand for nurses who can temporarily fill the gap. Although COVID-19-related demand has eased, visiting nurses remain a critical solution to the ongoing nursing shortage.
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How are travel nurses paid in North Dakota?
In North Dakota, traveling nurses earn $2,712 a week, or $67.80 per hour for a 40-hour work week, which is $29.70 more than the hourly wage for nurses overall and higher than the national pay gap between traveling nurses and all RNs.
Nationwide, nurses on travel contracts in the Midwest earn the highest salaries compared to permanent nurses. Travel nurse salaries are especially high in the region because the low cost of living often results in lower compensation for residents. Offering higher wages for travel nurses in high-demand areas of the Midwest will help attract more nurses to these states, which are not the most popular for interstate migration. The Midwest has a higher rate of nurses per capita than other regions of the United States, resulting in an overall lower demand for travel nurses.
Conversely, the states with the highest nurse salaries — Hawaii and along the West Coast — have the smallest salary gaps. These areas have a relatively high cost of living, especially in cities, and strong nurses unions, allowing nurses to demand better pay and benefits.
West Coast states are home to some of the top nursing and medical schools and major healthcare employers, including Kaiser Permanente (California), University of Washington Medical Center, University of California Hospitals, and other large healthcare facilities. California nurses further benefit from legally mandated minimum staffing levels that help prevent overwork and burnout.
Regardless of where you work, travel nurses can usually earn significantly more than staff nurses. These contracts come with some drawbacks, including a lack of stability, the difficulty of getting used to a new workplace every few months, and fewer opportunities to build lasting relationships with colleagues and patients. But they also offer the chance to see new places, learn skills relevant to different roles, meet new people, and make money.
Staffing expansion through contingent contracts like travel nurses has imposed significant costs on hospitals in 2020 and 2022. Many hospitals are already in a precarious financial position and may need to reevaluate their staffing strategies to be more sustainable. Nevertheless, with a nursing shortage and an aging, increasingly care-dependent population, travel nurses will likely remain a key component of the U.S. healthcare industry.
This article originally appeared on Vivian Health and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio. It is republished under a CC by NC 4.0 license.
