February 2025 Travel Nursing Wage Trends by State
February 2025 Travel Nursing Wage Trends by State
After three years of staffing volatility, February 2025 brought a new inflection point. COVID-related hospitalizations dropped sharply, with a 71% decrease in cases mid-month, bringing the national daily average to its lowest level since Christmas 2024. This trend continued into early March, allowing hospitals to resume non-COVID procedures that had been deferred. Despite the surge in elective care and overall admissions, travel nurse wages fell across most of the country.
📈 States With Wage Increases
Only six states recorded travel nurse pay increases in February, a sharp drop from the 43 states that saw gains in January. The decrease in COVID-19 cases may have triggered a lag in reactive wage premiums from January surges.
Wisconsin led with a 6.1% increase, a continuation of modest gains from January (+0.6%) and a major jump in December (+6.75%). While Wisconsin's case count fell from 6,600 daily in January to 742 by the end of February, this month’s pay increase likely reflects late contract adjustments tied to previous demand.
| State | Avg Weekly Pay Jan 2025 | Avg Weekly Pay Feb 2025 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | $2,681 | $2,844 | +6.1% |
| Alaska | $2,920 | $3,045 | +4.3% |
| Maine | $2,559 | $2,638 | +3.1% |
| Oregon | $2,808 | $2,878 | +2.5% |
| South Dakota | $2,650 | $2,698 | +1.8% |
| New Hampshire | $2,730 | $2,770 | +1.5% |
📉 States With Wage Decreases
32 states saw travel RN wages decline by 1% or more in February. The steepest drop occurred in Delaware, where wages fell by 10.5% after a double-digit spike in January. This suggests a post-surge wage correction, common after periods of intense demand.
Other states with notable decreases include:
| State | Avg Weekly Pay Jan 2025 | Avg Weekly Pay Feb 2025 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | $2,689 | $2,407 | -10.5% |
| Georgia | $2,476 | $2,323 | -6.2% |
| Kansas | $2,283 | $2,146 | -6.0% |
| Arizona | $2,661 | $2,525 | -5.1% |
| Mississippi | $2,492 | $2,373 | -4.8% |
⚖️ States With Stable Wages
Twelve states reported minimal changes in average weekly pay, with movements under 1%. These states are considered to have stable wage environments for February.
- Nevada: Wage changed by only $2, from $2,490 to $2,492
- Illinois, North Carolina, Vermont, and West Virginia saw minor increases between 0.3% and 0.7%
- Texas, Missouri, Indiana, and Michigan had slight declines, ranging from 0.1% to 0.9%
🔮 What To Expect Going Forward
February’s decline in wages, despite the rise in overall patient volume, indicates that COVID-related hazard pay is fading while overall staffing demand remains high. Although travel nurse salaries dropped this month, labor shortages persist, especially in rural hospitals, home health, and specialties like ICU and labor & delivery.
While COVID-19 cases are stabilizing, the healthcare workforce has not recovered to pre-2020 levels. Over 500,000 clinicians have exited the workforce since 2020, and many systems remain understaffed. If turnover stays high and facilities struggle to retain staff, wages could rise again in Q2, driven less by COVID and more by the need to fill critical roles long-term.