Current Travel Nursing Wage Trends by State
January 2025 Travel Nursing Wage Trends by State
As 2025 begins, hospitals across the U.S. are still navigating a chronic staffing crisis. Despite the official end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, its ripple effects remain. Burnout, early retirements, and tighter state budgets have left healthcare systems operating under sustained personnel pressure — especially in travel nursing.
In January, nearly 1 in 4 hospitals reporting to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services flagged severe staffing shortages, with many citing an urgent need for temporary RNs.
This happened against the backdrop of yet another winter surge in respiratory cases — fueled by a highly transmissible COVID subvariant that spread rapidly during and after the holidays. While not as severe as previous waves, the increase was enough to trigger contract extensions and short-term rate spikes in many states.
📈 Wages Rose in 43 States
By mid-January 2025, travel nurse pay increased in 43 states, ranging from +1.1% to +11.1%, as hospitals scrambled to maintain safe staffing levels. This marked the broadest national pay surge since mid-2022, with only a few states showing flat or declining wages.
| Top Wage Increases (Jan 2025) | % Increase |
|---|---|
| Delaware | +11.1% |
| Iowa | +7.8% |
| New Hampshire | +6.5% |
| Rhode Island | +5.9% |
| South Dakota | +5.6% |
Delaware stood out with the highest jump following a 12% wage drop in December. Daily COVID-related hospital admissions in Delaware peaked at 4,493 new cases on January 1, but by January 31 had fallen to just 473 — a steep drop that may signal a coming wage correction in February.
🔻 States With Wage Decreases
Only three states reported meaningful pay declines in January:
| States With Pay Decreases | % Decrease |
|---|---|
| Idaho | -3.7% |
| Arizona | -1.6% |
| Oregon | -1.3% |
These dips were attributed to stabilizing census volumes, completed contract extensions, or shifts in staffing strategy from crisis pay to more stable, fixed-rate positions.
⚖️ States With Minimal Change
Four states — including Wisconsin, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Utah — saw negligible wage movement, with pay changes under 0.5%. These regions have trended steadily for months, often cycling travel nurses between adjacent states depending on seasonal demand.
🧠 Goodwork Insight
The takeaway for 2025 is clear: travel nursing wages remain volatile, and regional surges still influence short-term pay. But the longer-term wage floor continues to hold — driven by inflation, retirement-driven turnover, and a limited pipeline of new RN graduates.
Even as COVID case counts stabilize, hospitals are competing harder for fewer nurses. That’s good news for travel RNs — but it also means recruiters need faster tools and smarter targeting to fill roles before contracts expire.
Goodwork helps both sides win by automating matches, highlighting trustworthy jobs, and charging only when a hire is made.