TL;DR: Your housing stipend ceiling = the GSA nightly lodging rate for your assignment city × 30.4 days. Any dollar above that ceiling is taxable wages. Use the calculator below to check your offer, then compare against local rent to see your real pocket margin. Boston travelers have the highest ceiling in the country at $9,576/month — but $2,600 rent eats most of it.
What Is a Travel Nurse Housing Stipend Calculator?
A travel nurse housing stipend calculator converts the government’s GSA per-diem tables into contract numbers. It shows the monthly ceiling your agency can pay tax-free, the weekly equivalent in your offer letter, and the margin left after rent. As a CPA, I built this page because nurses keep asking me the same question: is $1,200 a week fair for Dallas? The answer is always math, not opinion.
The General Services Administration publishes a nightly lodging rate and a meals-and-incidents (M&IE) rate for every county. Agencies use the lodging number as the legal ceiling for tax-free housing money. Your recruiter’s offer should sit at or below it.
Travel Nurse Housing Stipend Calculator (Free Tool)
Pick your assignment city and type your weekly offer. You’ll get the ceiling, your taxable-excess warning, and the real margin after rent.
Interactive: What Should Your Stipend Be?
FY2026 GSA rates, effective through Sept 30, 2026. Monthly allowance = nightly lodging × 30.4. Educational tool — verify at gsa.gov/perdiem.
2026 Stipend Ceiling Table: 20 Popular Travel Nurse Cities
| City | Lodging/night | M&IE/day | Monthly ceiling | Avg 1BR rent | Pocket margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | $342 | $92 | $10,397 | $3,000 | $7,397 |
| New York, NY | $335 | $92 | $10,184 | $3,300 | $6,884 |
| Boston, MA | $315 | $92 | $9,576 | $2,600 | $6,976 |
| Seattle, WA | $268 | $84 | $8,147 | $2,100 | $6,047 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $255 | $88 | $7,752 | $2,350 | $5,402 |
| San Diego, CA | $236 | $84 | $7,174 | $2,200 | $4,974 |
| Washington, DC | $258 | $92 | $7,843 | $2,200 | $5,643 |
| Chicago, IL | $224 | $84 | $6,810 | $1,900 | $4,910 |
| Denver, CO | $210 | $80 | $6,384 | $1,750 | $4,634 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $168 | $76 | $5,107 | $1,450 | $3,657 |
| Houston, TX | $148 | $74 | $4,499 | $1,250 | $3,249 |
| Dallas, TX | $152 | $74 | $4,621 | $1,300 | $3,321 |
| Atlanta, GA | $158 | $74 | $4,803 | $1,400 | $3,403 |
| Miami, FL | $240 | $84 | $7,296 | $2,300 | $4,996 |
| Nashville, TN | $186 | $76 | $5,654 | $1,500 | $4,154 |
| Charlotte, NC | $156 | $74 | $4,742 | $1,350 | $3,392 |
| Columbus, OH | $132 | $68 | $4,013 | $1,100 | $2,913 |
| Kansas City, MO | $138 | $70 | $4,195 | $1,050 | $3,145 |
| Boise, ID | $148 | $72 | $4,499 | $1,150 | $3,349 |
| Tucson, AZ | $142 | $70 | $4,317 | $1,100 | $3,217 |
The pocket-margin column is the one that pays you. A high ceiling means nothing if rent eats it. Bozeman-style markets (ceiling ≫ rent) are where travelers bank the most tax-free cash — the GSA rate is high but the apartment is cheap.
How the Math Works (30-Second Version)
- Find your city’s GSA lodging rate — for example, Phoenix is $168/night for FY2026.
- Multiply by 30.4 — $168 × 30.4 = $5,107/month ceiling.
- Compare to your offer — an agency offering $4,000/month ($923/week) is $1,107 under ceiling: fully tax-free, with negotiating headroom.
- Subtract real rent — $4,000 − $1,450 average Phoenix 1BR = $2,550/month tax-free pocket money.
Example: two nurses, same hospital, $1,100 apart. Nurse A takes a $1,050/week stipend in Phoenix. That is $4,536 per month, under the $5,107 ceiling, and fully tax-free. Nurse B takes $780/week ($3,379 per month) because the recruiter bundled it into a higher hourly rate. Same contract, same hospital. Nurse A keeps roughly $9,200 more per year, tax-free, purely from knowing the ceiling.
Worked Example: Comparing Two Offers in the Same City
Let us put the calculator to work on a real decision. You have two offers for the same Phoenix hospital, same 13 weeks.
| Offer line | Agency A | Agency B |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly gross | $2,180 | $2,180 |
| Taxable hourly | $28/hr = $1,008/wk | $50/hr = $1,412/wk |
| Housing stipend | $923/wk | $500/wk |
| M&IE stipend | $249/wk | $268/wk |
| Monthly stipend total | $5,074 | $3,312 |
| Phoenix GSA ceiling | $5,107 | $5,107 |
| Tax-free status | Under ceiling ✓ | Under ceiling ✓ |
| Est. federal tax on wages (22% bracket) | About $4,800/yr | About $6,700/yr |
Agency A keeps you about $1,900 more per year after tax. Both offers are legal and both stipends stay under the ceiling. The difference is entirely in how each agency splits the same $2,180 weekly bill rate between taxable wages and tax-free stipends. The higher-wage offer looks better on a job board and costs you money in April.
This is the single most common mistake I see in traveler contracts. Recruiters present the weekly gross because it is identical across agencies. The split is where the real compensation lives. Before you sign anything, run both splits through the table above and check each stipend against the city ceiling.
How Agencies Try to Exceed the Ceiling
The GSA ceiling is a hard legal line, but agencies have workarounds that shift tax burden onto you. Know these three before you negotiate.
The bonus recharacterization
Some agencies pay above-ceiling stipends and label the excess a completion bonus. Bonuses are wages. If your $6,000 monthly stipend exceeds a $5,107 ceiling and the agency books the extra $893 as a bonus, you owe income tax on it at your marginal rate. Ask directly: is any part of my stipend above the GSA rate, and how is it reported on my W-2?
The bundled lower hourly
Agency B in the example above is doing this legally. It is not a scam, but it changes your tax bill and your Social Security earnings history. Lower reported wages mean lower future Social Security benefits. Over a 20-year travel career, that can be worth more than the immediate tax difference.
The non-accountable plan
If your agency does not require expense documentation for the stipend, the IRS treats the whole arrangement as a non-accountable plan. Every stipend dollar becomes taxable wages, regardless of the GSA ceiling. Ask your recruiter one question: is your per-diem plan accountable under IRS rules? If they hesitate, get the answer in writing before signing.
What To Do With the Margin Money
The pocket margin (ceiling minus rent) is the money that makes travel nursing financially better than staff nursing. Two rules protect it.
Rule one: separate account, automatic transfer. The margin should move to a high-yield savings account the day it lands. Travelers who leave stipend money in checking spend about 40 percent of it without noticing. Our HYSA rankings for travelers cover which accounts handle multi-state moves without friction.
Rule two: track the duplicate expenses that justify it. The margin only stays tax-free if your tax home is real. Every rent payment, utility bill, and insurance premium at your home base defends the whole structure. The duplicate expenses checklist lists all 17 line items, and the free PDF gives you a printable version for your CPA.
When Your Stipend Becomes Taxable
Three conditions kill the tax-free treatment — and the third one is the trap:
- Offer above the GSA ceiling — the excess reclassifies as wages on your W-2, taxed at your marginal rate.
- No legitimate tax home — if you fail the IRS three-factor test, every stipend dollar becomes taxable, not just the excess.
- Assignment over 12 months in one metro — the location becomes your new tax home and stipends stop being “away from home” reimbursements.
The duplicate-expense rule is what ties this together: you must be paying for two homes at once. Our duplicate expenses checklist covers every line item the IRS accepts.
Frequently Asked Questions About Travel Nurse Stipends
Is my stipend based on where I work or where I stay?
Where you work. The GSA rate keys to the assignment ZIP code, not your apartment. If your agency uses a different city’s rate, that is a red flag. Ask for the rate printout.
Why is my stipend lower than my friend’s in the same city?
Same ceiling, different splits. Agencies allocate the same total bill rate between taxable wage and tax-free stipend differently. A lower stipend with a higher hourly rate can cost you thousands in tax. Run both offers through the ceiling math before you sign.
Does my stipend count as income for a mortgage or apartment application?
It can, with documentation. Lenders and landlords increasingly accept 12 or more months of stipend deposits as qualifying income. Underwriters differ, so keep every pay stub showing the stipend line separately from wages.
What happens if GSA rates drop mid-contract?
Rates reset every October 1, the federal fiscal year. If your contract crosses that date, ask whether your stipend re-papers at the new rate or stays locked at signing. Both are legal. The difference can be hundreds of dollars per month.
Can I pocket the whole stipend by staying somewhere cheap?
Yes, and the pocket margin measures exactly that. You still need a legitimate tax home with duplicate expenses. Sleeping in your car to max the margin is how nurses end up with five-figure tax bills. The IRS checks whether your tax home is real.
Travel Nurse Housing Stipend Calculator vs. Your Recruiter’s Math
Your recruiter runs the same GSA tables I do. The difference is what they optimize for. An agency compensation team maximizes the spread between the bill rate the hospital pays and the package they present to you. A travel nurse housing stipend calculator like the one above maximizes your after-tax take-home. When those two goals collide, the recruiter wins unless you know the math yourself.
Here is the conversation to have. Ask your recruiter for three numbers in writing: the total weekly bill rate, the taxable hourly portion, and the tax-free stipend portion split into housing and M&IE. Any recruiter who refuses to share the bill rate is telling you something. The bill rate is not confidential; it is the foundation of your pay and you are the one earning it.
Once you have those numbers, this page does the rest. Find the city in the table, check the ceiling, and confirm the stipend portion sits at or below it. Then do the split comparison against any competing offer, exactly like the worked example above. Ten minutes of math routinely protects four figures per contract.
Housing Stipend Rules by Situation
| Your situation | Stipend treatment | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Standard 13-week contract, own tax home | Tax-free up to city ceiling | Keep duplicate-expense documentation current |
| Extension past 12 months, same metro | Becomes taxable at that location | Negotiate extension as new contract in a new metro, or take fully taxable pay knowingly |
| Agency housing provided | Tax-free if at or below ceiling and you maintain a tax home | Agency housing valued at cost can silently exceed the ceiling |
| Staying with family free at assignment | Stipend for housing still tax-free if tax home is real | Zero assignment housing cost plus real duplicate expenses = maximum margin |
| Commuting distance from tax home | Stipends taxable, sleep-or-rest test fails | Under 50 miles with nightly returns is usually taxable |
| Canceled contract mid-assignment | Stipends paid to date stay tax-free | Travel reimbursement home may be negotiable; get it in the contract |
The commuting-distance row surprises nurses most often. The IRS has no mileage rule, but it does have the sleep-or-rest test. If your assignment is close enough that you realistically drive home every night, the agency cannot pay tax-free stipends, no matter what the contract calls them. Recruiters sometimes structure short-distance contracts with stipends anyway and leave the tax liability with you.
State Taxes and Your Stipend
The GSA ceiling is federal. States play a different game, and it depends on your tax home.
If your tax home is in one of the nine no-income-tax states (Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Nevada, Washington, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, New Hampshire on wages), your stipend owes no state tax anywhere, because stipends are not wages in any state when they follow federal accountable-plan rules. Your taxable hourly wages, however, owe tax in every work state with an income tax, filed as a non-resident.
If your tax home is in a state with income tax, the picture inverts. California is the hard case: a California-domiciled traveler owes California tax on their entire income, including wages earned in other states, offset by credits for tax paid elsewhere. The stipend stays federally tax-free, but California taxes your total income regardless. Our state-by-state tax table ranks all 50 states for travelers, and the state income tax explainer covers the domicile rules that decide which state gets to tax you.
One planning note from practice: where you establish your tax home is a genuine financial decision, not just paperwork. A traveler domiciled in Texas versus California on identical contracts can differ by five figures per year in total tax. But domicile must be real: a mail-forwarding address in Florida with no lease, no utilities, and no days spent there is exactly what IRS examiners look for. The three-factor tax home test explains what survives an audit.
Frequently Asked Questions About Travel Nurse Stipends (continued)
Do I pay Social Security and Medicare on my stipend?
No. FICA applies to wages, not to properly structured accountable-plan reimbursements. This is part of why the wage-versus-stipend split matters so much: dollars shifted from stipend to wages pick up 7.65 percent in payroll tax on top of income tax. Some 1099 travelers pay the equivalent (self-employment tax) on their entire net earnings, which is one more reason the W-2 versus 1099 decision deserves its own math.
Is my stipend the same as per diem?
Recruiters use the words interchangeably, which drives the confusion. Per diem technically means the daily M&IE allowance (meals and incidental expenses). Housing is a separate allowance with its own ceiling. Your offer letter might show one blended “stipend” number; ask for the housing and M&IE breakdown because their ceilings differ and the blended number can hide an over-ceiling housing component.
What happens to my stipend between contracts?
Nothing is owed for days you are not on assignment. Stipends attach to worked days. This is why contract gaps hurt travelers twice: no paycheck and no stipend. Building the emergency fund to cover 30 to 60 days of gaps is standard advice for a reason. The budgeting guide shows the 50/30/20 split that still works with irregular income.
Can two travel nurses in the same city have different ceilings?
Almost never. The GSA rate keys to county, so the ceiling is identical across the metro. What differs is the split, the rent each nurse pays, and whether anyone’s stipend sneaks over the ceiling. If a recruiter quotes you a dramatically different stipend than a friend at the same hospital, the bill-rate split is the explanation, not the ceiling.
Does the stipend affect ACA subsidies or student loan payments?
It can, and this one catches people badly. Stipends are not wages, but they also are not documented in ways income-based programs recognize. Mortgage underwriters increasingly accept them; ACA marketplace and income-driven repayment calculations typically do not, because they key off AGI and tax filings. If you rely on either program, model your numbers before leaving a staff job. A CPA who works with travelers can run the projection in one session.
Related Guides
- How housing stipends are calculated — the full GSA breakdown
- The IRS three-factor tax home test
- Every state’s tax burden for travelers, ranked
- 1099 vs W-2: which contract nets more
- Where to park the stipend money you save
This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute personalized tax, financial, or legal advice. Rates change every fiscal year — verify current figures at gsa.gov/perdiem before signing any contract. Consult a qualified tax professional for your specific situation.