While travel RN wages in 2023 are lower than they were during the height of the pandemic, they remain higher than pre-pandemic levels. Core staff vacancies are a primary driver of the ongoing demand for temporary contract nurses.

According to the May 2023 jobs report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the healthcare industry added 52,000 jobs this month, holding to the average monthly gain of 50,000 jobs over the last 12 months. If the number of jobs is increasing, but the permanent staff members to cover these jobs are decreasing, the need for temporary staff to fill the gaps remains constant. 

Per a recent report by Vizient, travel nurse demand in October 2022 was more than double compared to the demand in October 2019. It also projected demand to remain at least 20% higher throughout 2023 compared to pre-pandemic levels. Part of the reason behind the continued high demand is a vicious cycle of staff nurse turnover, which has also more than doubled since 2019. Staff shortages often lead to the increased need for overtime, resulting in increased burnout and even more staff shortages, so the cycle continues. 

Staffing Demands Versus Travel RN Wages in 2023

Despite the ongoing demand for travel nurses, pay rates on travel contracts continue to fall in most states. According to Vivian Health’s salary data, the national average of weekly travel nurse pay in May 2023 was down 10.4% compared to May last year. To put that into perspective, travel nurses earned an average weekly rate of $2,488 nationwide compared to $2,776 during the same time in 2022, a difference of $288 per week. However, some states had more significant fluctuations in May, while others remained relatively steady this month.

States With Wage Increases

Despite ongoing news of contract nurse pay dropping nationwide, five states saw increased travel RN wages this month, presenting a slight improvement over the three states with increased travel pay in April 2023. Also, the largest bump in May was 2.2% in two states compared to 1.8% in April in a single state, another small improvement.

Vermont and Iowa tied for the most significant bump in healthcare travel pay for nurses in May at 2.2%. Compared to the previous month, Vermont saw an insignificant drop of 0.3%, while Iowa had a more substantial reduction of 1.6%. Looking back at travel RN wages in March 2023, Vermont’s pay dropped by 1.3%, while Iowa’s dropped by 2.6%. Thus, this month’s increase helps even out the recent declines in Vermont, but Iowa is technically still playing catch up.

States With Wage Decreases

Following the pattern for 2023 thus far, a greater number of states recorded drops in travel RN wages than increases in May. This month saw 33 states with decreased wages, identical to April but down from 39 compared to March 2023 travel RN wage trends. However, April’s largest decrease was 6.3% in Wyoming, while May’s most significant drop involved a double-digit decrease. The last double-digit drop occurred in March when Pennsylvania’s travel pay fell by 10%.

Utah had the most substantial decrease in travel RN pay in May at 10.5%. Last month, Utah recorded the largest increase nationwide, but it only equaled a jump of 1.8%. Plus, the state saw travel pay drop 1.4% in March, making April’s jump inconsequential. Overall, Utah has recorded a year-over-year decline of 13.2%.

States Where Wages Stayed the Same

While 14 states had fluctuations of less than 1% in April, 12 states made the list in May. Weekly travel RN wages in these states did move up or down to some degree, but these relatively small changes were slight enough to be considered unchanged for the month. Of the states listed, New Hampshire had the largest increase of 0.6%, resulting in a pay bump of $15 per week. South Dakota had a drop of 0.9%, resulting in a decrease in pay of $22 per week.

All average salary data based on travel RN jobs posted on Vivian Health during the complete month of May compared to the jobs posted during the complete month of April 2023.