A travel nurse pay package has roughly six numbers that actually matter: taxable base rate, weekly housing stipend, weekly meals stipend, guaranteed hours, overtime rate, and any sign-on or completion bonus. Everything else on the offer sheet — the bill rate, the "up to" weekly total, the blended rate — is marketing. Read those six lines first and you can compare any two offers on equal footing.
Key takeaways
- The number recruiters lead with is usually a blended rate or a weekly gross — neither is what you actually take home, and neither is what your overtime or 401(k) is calculated from.
- Your taxable base hourly rate drives overtime pay, retirement contributions, unemployment benefits, and loan underwriting. A package with a lower taxable base and higher stipends can look identical on paper but pay you less in every one of those situations.
- Guaranteed hours is the number of hours you get paid for even if the unit cancels a shift — everything below that threshold, and you eat the loss.
- Sign-on and completion bonuses are taxable wages, not stipends, and completion bonuses are usually forfeited if you don’t finish the full contract.
Start with the two rates on the offer, not one
Every offer has a bill rate (what the hospital pays the agency, which you’ll never see) and a pay package built from that bill rate. Inside the pay package are two more numbers worth separating: the taxable base hourly rate that shows up on your W-2, and the blended rate that adds your tax-free stipends back in and divides by hours worked to produce one bigger-looking number. Recruiters lead with the blended rate because it’s the biggest figure on the page. We break down exactly why that number can mislead you in The Blended Rate Trap — read that alongside this if two offers look close on paper.
Line 1: taxable base hourly rate
This is the actual wage on your paystub and W-2. It’s what overtime is calculated from, what a 401(k) match is based on, what unemployment benefits (if you ever need them between contracts) are calculated from, and often what a lender uses to qualify you for a mortgage. A lower taxable base with a higher stipend can produce the same weekly take-home while quietly shrinking all four of those. Never accept a package without knowing this number specifically — if a recruiter only wants to talk in blended rate or weekly gross, ask directly for the taxable hourly rate before you go further.
Line 2 and 3: the stipends
The housing stipend and the meals & incidental expenses (M&IE) stipend are paid weekly and are tax-free only while you maintain a valid tax home under the IRS three-factor test — see our tax home guide if you’re not sure yours qualifies. Compare both stipend amounts against the GSA’s published per-diem rate for the assignment city using our Per Diem Checker — agencies sometimes offer stipends noticeably below the GSA benchmark, which is negotiating room you can ask for.
One stipend detail that trips up first-timers: missed shifts and call-offs prorate the stipend down, because it’s only tax-free for days you’re actually away from home working. We cover the exact mechanics in Per Diem Clawbacks.
Line 4: guaranteed hours
This is the number of hours per week the agency guarantees you’ll be paid for, regardless of whether the unit calls you off or cuts your shift short. A 36-hour guarantee on a 36-hour contract means you’re paid in full even on a slow census week; a 30-hour guarantee on the same contract means you can lose a full shift of pay with no recourse. Ask what happens below the guarantee threshold and whether missed-shift stipend proration (above) stacks on top of lost wages.
Line 5: overtime
Overtime is calculated from the taxable base rate, not the blended rate — a package advertising a high blended rate but a low taxable base pays noticeably less overtime per hour than the sticker number implies. If you regularly pick up extra shifts, ask for the taxable base rate specifically before assuming your effective overtime pay matches the advertised package.
Line 6: sign-on and completion bonuses
Bonuses are ordinary taxable wages, not stipends, and W2 bonuses are withheld at a flat 22% federal supplemental rate regardless of your actual bracket. Completion bonuses are typically paid only after you finish 100% of the contracted shifts — leaving early, even for a legitimate reason, usually forfeits it. Full mechanics and the exact withholding math are in Sign-On and Completion Bonuses.
W2 or 1099 changes what these lines mean
Everything above assumes a W2 package, where the agency withholds taxes and pays the employer half of FICA. Some agencies offer the same assignment as a 1099 contract instead — no withholding, no employer FICA match, and you’re responsible for quarterly estimated payments and the full 15.3% self-employment tax yourself. The taxable base rate on a 1099 offer needs to be meaningfully higher than a W2 offer’s to end up in the same place after taxes. We walk through the exact break-even math in W2 vs. 1099 Travel Nurse: The Real Tax Math, and cover 1099-specific deductions and quarterly payments in 1099 Travel Nurse Taxes.
Stipend or company housing?
Some offers replace the housing stipend with agency-provided housing instead. You give up the ability to pocket the difference between the stipend and your actual rent, but you also remove the risk and hassle of finding a place in an unfamiliar city on short notice. Neither is a universally better line item — it depends on how confident you are finding cheap housing in that specific assignment location. The full tradeoff is in Housing Stipend vs. Company Housing.
A worked example
Take a 13-week, 36-hour contract at a $34/hour taxable base, with a $450/week housing stipend and a $350/week M&IE stipend, for a nurse with a valid tax home filing single with no state income tax at home:
- Taxable wages: $34 × 36 hours × 13 weeks = $15,912
- Tax-free stipends: $800/week × 13 weeks = $10,400
- Total contract value: $26,312
- Federal income tax + FICA on the taxable wages: about $1,308
- Net take-home: about $25,004, or roughly $53.42/hour effective — noticeably below whatever blended rate was on the flyer.
Run your own contract’s numbers — including your specific home and assignment states — through the Contract Analyzer rather than trusting this example’s assumptions to match your situation.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What is my taxable base hourly rate, specifically — not the blended rate?
- What are the guaranteed hours, and what happens below that threshold?
- How do the housing and M&IE stipends compare to the GSA rate for this city?
- Is the completion bonus paid on 100% attendance, and what counts as a disqualifying absence?
- What happens to my stipend on a call-off or low-census cancellation?
FAQ
Why do agencies advertise the blended rate instead of the taxable base?
Because it’s a bigger, more attractive number for comparing offers at a glance, and it isn’t against any rule to quote it — it’s just not what drives your overtime, benefits, or loan qualification. Ask for the taxable base directly.
Is a higher stipend and lower taxable base ever the better deal?
It can be, if you don’t plan to work overtime, don’t need the 401(k) match, and aren’t applying for a mortgage during the contract — the net take-home can be identical or even slightly higher due to the tax-free treatment of stipends. The tradeoff is worth understanding, not automatically avoiding.
What’s the single biggest first-timer mistake reading a pay package?
Comparing two offers by their blended rate or weekly gross alone. Two packages with the same weekly total can have a $10/hour difference in taxable base, which only shows up once you need overtime, benefits, or a loan.