Financially Beneficial?
As I started to gather the information I needed to do a review of my Travel Nurse pay VS. Staff Nursing pay, I realized that understanding the pay packages was an essential part of the puzzle. My situation may be very different from others and it is these differences that make this lifestyle and career very beneficial for me.
Things to consider regarding my situation: I worked in a state that does not have income tax! I pay federal tax, but not state income tax which means I will take home more pay than if I worked in a state that does have state income taxes. I receive health insurance coverage through my husband’s work. The money allotted to health insurance was added into my weekly per diem benefits. I do not have a mortgage because my home was paid for in full, which means that my monthly living expenses are much lower than if I had to pay rent while on location while continuing to make payments on a home mortgage. I do, however, have monthly expenses like water, electric and property taxes on my home base. These expenses in addition to my monthly rent at an RV Park/Resort while on contract are still significantly lower than someone not in my situation.
With every Contract I look into, this is the initial breakdown of what is sent to me by my Recruiter.
(The Pay Package below was my actual package for Contract 1)
- (Hospital Name and City Here)
- Description: Endoscopy (5) 8-Hour Day
- $18.00/hr (taxed)
- $658 weekly housing stipend
- $224 weekly per diem
- $150 travel reimbursement
- Declined Health Insurance
- Gross/Week = $1602.00 for 40 hours
The only taxed portion of my entire pay is the 18$/hr.
The weekly housing and weekly per diem are 100 percent tax free and I was awarded that money whether I worked or not. This is not the norm and must be negotiated like that with each agency! Some agencies only award that money base on a percent of hours worked. I only had 1 week out of 8 that I worked a full 40 hours!
Travel reimbursement is a one time payout and is tax free as well.
When looking at these pay packages, it is better to not focus on these numbers but to calculate the combined hourly pay rate! To reach this number first identify the number of weeks in the contract and number of hours contracted to work: 8 weeks/ 320 hours. $1602×8=$12,816 Then add in the one time travel reimbursement payment. $12,816+150=12,966 Divide this number by the number of hours contracted to work and that is the combined hourly pay rate. $12,966/320= $40.51
Now, $40.51 doesn’t look like much and there are A LOT of nurses making more than this, but the difference is in the taxes! Remember, I am only being taxed on $18, which means that I am paying roughly $4.50 per hour to federal income taxes instead of $10 if I was taxed on 100% of my income! This also has a down fall. Because the taxed portion of my income is so low, my contributions to a 401K will also low. To offset this, I am having to invest separately in a non-taxed differed account such as an IRA.
The end results: In this 8 week contract, I took home nearly 2x more than at my full time Staff Nurse position!
Was it worth the pay? Yes! I did not have this grand illusion that this job would be easy. This job IS NOT easy, but when you go into a situation knowing that there will be challenges, it is easier to overcome them. The job is not impossible and I would recommend trying it if you are interested in Travel Nursing!
(Every hospital, location, contract, and travel agency is going to be different and my experience and opinions are based off my first travel nurse contract)
