After six months of relative stability, travel nurse salary trends took a more pronounced negative turn in April. The national average weekly travel RN wage was $2,360 in March 2024, decreasing by 1.1% to $2,333 over the next month.
Travel nurse wages haven’t fallen by 1% or more in any given month since June of 2023 and only declined slowly over the last six months, compared to faster increases early in 2023. The cumulative effect of falling wages in many of the past 12 months has also resulted in a year-over-year weekly wage change of -7.5%, with travel nurse salaries decreasing from $2,521 in April 2023 to $2,333 in April 2024.
|
March 2024 |
April 2024 |
Monthly Change |
April 2023 |
Year-over-Year Change |
|
|
National Average Weekly Travel RN Wage |
$2,360 |
$2,333 |
-1.1% |
$2,521 |
-7.5% |
Vivian recently expanded our database of travel nurse wages to include additional nurse specialties. The inclusion of this additional data has resulted in slight revisions to our wage data for previous months compared to what we published in earlier blog posts.
Although travel nursing pay has been declining overall for many months, the April data represents a more pronounced decline than we’ve seen in some time. April was also a period in which the U.S. labor market cooled off altogether, which may help explain the falling pay rates for travel nurses.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. labor market added 175,000 jobs in April 2024, a slowdown from over 300,000 jobs added in March, and monthly job increases of at least 200,000 every month since December 2023. For many months, the Federal Reserve has been trying to achieve a slowdown in hiring by using higher interest rates to help tame inflation.
Travel nurse pay is certainly experiencing deflation, and travel nurse demand may continue to fall if high interest rates continue. The following graph displays the month-over-month average travel nursing salary changes in each state for April 2024. The gray column in the center delineates changes of less than 1% up or down, which we consider unchanged because the dollar amounts are so low.
The national average travel RN salary decline in April is evidenced by how few states recorded significant salary increases this month. Just four U.S. states eked out a weekly average pay increase of 1% or more.
Rhode Island led this small group. Travel RN pay in the Ocean State increased by 3.8% from $2,413 in March 2024 to $2,504 in April. Texas, the largest state in the lower 48, wasn’t far behind the smallest one nationwide. The Lone Star state saw wages climb 3.2% from $2,033 in March 2024 to $2,097 in April. Unfortunately for travel nurses to Texas, these wages remain a whopping 10.1% below the national average, even with this bump.
|
State |
Avg Pay March 2024 |
Avg Pay April 2024 |
MoM Change |
|
Rhode Island |
$2,413 |
$2,504 |
3.8% |
|
Texas |
$2,033 |
$2,097 |
3.2% |
|
New Hampshire |
$2,369 |
$2,401 |
1.3% |
|
Kansas |
$2,142 |
$2,162 |
1.0% |
Most states saw travel nurse salaries fall at least 1% in April. Nevada stood out among the 28 states in this crowded category. Average weekly travel nursing pay in the Silver State plummeted 5.5% from $2,725 in March 2024 to $2,575 in April. Fortunately for travel nurses looking to work in metro Las Vegas, metro Reno or the state’s vast rural areas, average travel nurse wages remain a respectable 10.3% above the national average in Nevada despite the recent declines.
|
State |
Avg Pay March 2024 |
Avg Pay April 2024 |
MoM Change |
|
Nevada |
$2,725 |
$2,575 |
-5.5% |
|
Utah |
$2,457 |
$2,365 |
-3.8% |
|
Arkansas |
$2,031 |
$1,961 |
-3.5% |
|
Massachusetts |
$2,681 |
$2,594 |
-3.2% |
|
Montana |
$2,426 |
$2,356 |
-2.9% |
|
Michigan |
$2,222 |
$2,160 |
-2.8% |
|
Colorado |
$2,302 |
$2,244 |
-2.5% |
|
California |
$3,178 |
$3,101 |
-2.4% |
|
Kentucky |
$2,288 |
$2,235 |
-2.3% |
|
Nebraska |
$2,366 |
$2,312 |
-2.3% |
|
Oregon |
$2,583 |
$2,525 |
-2.2% |
|
South Carolina |
$2,105 |
$2,059 |
-2.2% |
|
Illinois |
$2,405 |
$2,358 |
-2.0% |
|
West Virginia |
$2,356 |
$2,310 |
-2.0% |
|
Indiana |
$2,226 |
$2,185 |
-1.9% |
|
New York |
$2,627 |
$2,579 |
-1.9% |
|
Alabama |
$2,022 |
$1,985 |
-1.8% |
|
Wisconsin |
$2,512 |
$2,468 |
-1.8% |
|
Florida |
$2,203 |
$2,167 |
-1.7% |
|
Minnesota |
$2,700 |
$2,656 |
-1.6% |
|
North Carolina |
$2,164 |
$2,132 |
-1.5% |
|
Georgia |
$2,192 |
$2,159 |
-1.5% |
|
North Dakota |
$2,438 |
$2,402 |
-1.5% |
|
Pennsylvania |
$2,409 |
$2,377 |
-1.3% |
|
Alaska |
$2,958 |
$2,928 |
-1.0% |
|
Tennessee |
$2,018 |
$1,998 |
-1.0% |
|
Maryland |
$2,279 |
$2,257 |
-1.0% |
|
New Jersey |
$2,672 |
$2,647 |
-1.0% |
Meanwhile, a fair number of states – 18 to be exact – saw wages remain within a relatively narrow band of change of less than 1% up or down. In recent months, half of all states had typically fallen into this category, aligning with a broader trend of overall wage stability. The shift of states from this category to having more significant wage decreases contributed to the acceleration of falling wages in April.
|
State |
Avg Pay March 2024 |
Avg Pay April 2024 |
MoM Change |
|
New Mexico |
$2,185 |
$2,206 |
0.9% |
|
Washington |
$2,467 |
$2,489 |
0.9% |
|
Louisiana |
$2,099 |
$2,112 |
0.6% |
|
Arizona |
$2,379 |
$2,385 |
0.2% |
|
Idaho |
$2,181 |
$2,181 |
0.0% |
|
Hawaii |
$2,410 |
$2,408 |
-0.1% |
|
Missouri |
$2,240 |
$2,238 |
-0.1% |
|
Connecticut |
$2,375 |
$2,373 |
-0.1% |
|
South Dakota |
$2,330 |
$2,326 |
-0.2% |
|
Mississippi |
$1,886 |
$1,880 |
-0.3% |
|
Ohio |
$2,321 |
$2,314 |
-0.3% |
|
Oklahoma |
$2,102 |
$2,092 |
-0.5% |
|
Maine |
$2,528 |
$2,516 |
-0.5% |
|
Wyoming |
$2,471 |
$2,457 |
-0.6% |
|
Virginia |
$2,282 |
$2,266 |
-0.7% |
|
Iowa |
$2,236 |
$2,220 |
-0.7% |
|
Vermont |
$2,320 |
$2,299 |
-0.9% |
|
Delaware |
$2,662 |
$2,637 |
-0.9% |
With the recent decline in travel salaries and the cooling of the once-hot labor market, now may be a great time to hire nurses for both staff and travel positions. Whatever your needs, Vivian has you covered. Schedule a demo to learn how we can support your hiring efforts today.
Average salary data based on travel RN jobs posted on Vivian Health during the complete month of March 2024 compared to the jobs posted during the complete month of April 2024.