Advantis salary data Updated today · 318 open ER jobs

ER Travel Nurse Salary by State

Median weekly · ER
$2,129
Across 318 live contracts nationwide
Current weekly range
$1,552–$3,304
Where most open contracts land
Highest-paying state
New Jersey
$2,504/wk median rate

So what does an ER travel nurse actually make? Right now, the median across open Advantis Medical ER contracts is $2,129 a week. But one number never tells the whole story. This page also shows the states paying the most, what pushes a rate up or down, how a weekly package is built, and how far your pay goes once rent is covered. Whether you're comparing two offers or planning your next move, it's all here.

Pay intelligence

How much do travel ER nurses make

One median figure can hide a wide range, so this chart lays out the full span of weekly pay on open Advantis emergency room contracts. It opens on every active ER contract; pick a state and the chart narrows to that market.

Across all open contracts
<$1.8k $1.8–2.1k $2.1–2.4k $2.4–2.7k $2.7–3.0k $3.0k+
$2,129
Median weekly
$1,552–$3,304
Current range
Distribution of weekly pay across open Advantis ER contracts, loaded from the live feed. Weekly marketplace contract value, not a staff nurse wage.
See salary by specialty ICU Labor and Delivery Operating Room
The biggest lever

How ER travel nurse pay compares

State to state, the type of emergency department is one of the biggest levers on an emergency room travel nurse salary. A Level I trauma center or a boarding-heavy urban ED carries the activations, alerts, and census pressure that push rates up, while a community or fast-track department generally sits lower. The tiers below sketch where ER pay tends to land, top of the range down to the most generalist work, with live openings and medians listed at the top of this page.

Type Work pattern What shapes the rate
Level I / II trauma center Top of range High, resuscitation-heavy Trauma activations, stroke and STEMI alerts, and heavy census, with night and weekend coverage commanding the highest premiums.
High-volume urban / academic ED Top of range High, boarding-heavy Sustained visit volume and ED boarding keep coverage gaps open, so fast fills pay up.
Community hospital ED Mid, steady Broad, general mix A general emergency caseload; the broadest, most generalist caseload.
Freestanding / micro-hospital ED Upper-mid Lower acuity, variable Lean staffing means one short shift drives a contract; throughput and rapid transfers shape the day.
Fast-track / urgent-care-style ED Mid Lower acuity, high throughput Minor-care volume on a predictable pace, so rates land nearer the floor.
Pediatric ED Niche, top Specialized Pediatric emergency competencies narrow the pool, so it pays up when it opens.
Level I / II trauma center Top of range
Work pattern High, resuscitation-heavy What shapes the rate Trauma activations, stroke and STEMI alerts, and heavy census, with night and weekend coverage commanding the highest premiums.
High-volume urban / academic ED Top of range
Work pattern High, boarding-heavy What shapes the rate Sustained visit volume and ED boarding keep coverage gaps open, so fast fills pay up.
Community hospital ED Mid, steady
Work pattern Broad, general mix What shapes the rate A general emergency caseload; the broadest, most generalist caseload.
Freestanding / micro-hospital ED Upper-mid
Work pattern Lower acuity, variable What shapes the rate Lean staffing means one short shift drives a contract; throughput and rapid transfers shape the day.
Fast-track / urgent-care-style ED Mid
Work pattern Lower acuity, high throughput What shapes the rate Minor-care volume on a predictable pace, so rates land nearer the floor.
Pediatric ED Niche, top
Work pattern Specialized What shapes the rate Pediatric emergency competencies narrow the pool, so it pays up when it opens.
Relative pay tiers reflect 2026 ER travel-market patterns, not a single live figure. The current median and range are shown at the top of the page.
What sets the rate

What affects ER travel nurse salary

What pushes an ER rate up or down is mostly where the contract sits and how badly that department needs coverage, because emergency pay chases the hardest-to-staff units. The number of contracted hours feeds in as well: a 36-hour ER week posts below a 40- or 48-hour one, and that spread is already reflected in the rate you see. Beyond that, acuity and trauma-center level, how soon the start date is and how urgent the fill, and the length of the contract all move the figure. What the CEN really opens is the busier, harder-to-cover ED contracts; on the rate itself it works as a qualifier rather than a premium.

Why the demand holds

Emergency room demand keeps ER contracts paying

Emergency departments run around the clock, and the volume does not let up. U.S. EDs handle about 155.4 million visits a year, and roughly 3.1 million of those end in a critical-care admission, per CDC. Much of the staffing strain traces to boarding, where admitted patients wait in the ED for an inpatient bed; ACEP describes boarding as a national capacity-and-staffing crisis, a core reason facilities bring in travel ER nurses. Against that backdrop, most ER contracts hire against advanced certifications, ACLS, PALS, and TNCC, with many employers preferring the CEN from the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing . Sustained volume and credential requirements are what keep ER weekly rates firm.

Sources: ED visits and critical-care admissions, CDC FastStats. Boarding, ACEP. CEN credential, BCEN. Each figure verified against its primary source.
Compare states

ER travel nurse salary by state

A headline weekly rate means different things in different states. This compares the busiest ER markets on median ER pay and what is left each month once rent is paid. ER median pay and pay value load from the live ER feed; income tax, cost of living, and rent are fixed reference data here, pulled from the Advantis state master rather than the live feed.

State Median pay/wk
California $2,417/wk up to 13.3% (graduated) 110.7 $2,599 $7,867
Texas $1,647/wk No 97.1 $1,517 $5,615
New York $2,209/wk up to 10.9% (graduated) + NYC local 107.9 $2,369 $7,194
Connecticut $2,264/wk up to 6.99% (graduated) 103.6 $2,040 $7,763
Massachusetts $2,310/wk 5.0% flat + 4% surtax >$1M (top 9.0%) 105.8 $2,289 $7,713
Arizona $2,090/wk 2.5% flat 100.7 $1,706 $7,344
North Carolina $1,882/wk 3.99% flat 94.3 $1,373 $6,776
Ohio $1,850/wk 2.75% flat 92.8 $1,219 $6,792
California $2,417/wk
State tax up to 13.3% (graduated) COL (BEA) 110.7 2-BR rent $2,599 Pay value/mo $7,867
Texas $1,647/wk
State tax No COL (BEA) 97.1 2-BR rent $1,517 Pay value/mo $5,615
New York $2,209/wk
State tax up to 10.9% (graduated) + NYC local COL (BEA) 107.9 2-BR rent $2,369 Pay value/mo $7,194
Connecticut $2,264/wk
State tax up to 6.99% (graduated) COL (BEA) 103.6 2-BR rent $2,040 Pay value/mo $7,763
Massachusetts $2,310/wk
State tax 5.0% flat + 4% surtax >$1M (top 9.0%) COL (BEA) 105.8 2-BR rent $2,289 Pay value/mo $7,713
Arizona $2,090/wk
State tax 2.5% flat COL (BEA) 100.7 2-BR rent $1,706 Pay value/mo $7,344
North Carolina $1,882/wk
State tax 3.99% flat COL (BEA) 94.3 2-BR rent $1,373 Pay value/mo $6,776
Ohio $1,850/wk
State tax 2.75% flat COL (BEA) 92.8 2-BR rent $1,219 Pay value/mo $6,792
A note on method: the ER figures here are medians of the weekly rate across open Advantis ER contracts, since a median resists a handful of unusually high postings better than an average.
What the number includes

How an ER Travel Weekly Rate Is Built

In a department that runs around the clock, much of an ER weekly figure is shaped by when you work and how quickly the unit needs to fill the role. Night, weekend, and holiday differentials are folded into the hourly base, and a rapid-start or hard-to-fill assignment can lift it further, all on top of the housing and meal stipends paid each week. Run the same headline on a night-and-weekend rotation versus straight days, and the differentials alone can separate them by hundreds a week. The chart below breaks a rate into base, stipends, and premium pay so the gap is visible.

Hourly base, the wage portion of the rate Housing stipend, a weekly housing allowance Meals & incidentals, a daily meals allowance
The exact split varies by contract and location.
Right now

Top-paying ER contracts open today

Listed here are the best-paying ER contracts open at the moment, read straight off the live Advantis feed. Which assignments top the list moves with location, shift, and how fast a department needs to fill the role, so the order changes as new contracts post.

ER · Hackensack, NJ
Flexible · 13 wks
 View →
ER · Edison, NJ
Flexible · 13 wks
 View →
ER · Alturas, CA
Nights · 13 wks
 View →
ER · Reno, NV
Days · 13 wks
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ER · Reno, NV
Nights · 13 wks
 View →
ER · Hartford, WI
Evenings · 14 wks
 View →
ER · Everett, MA
Nights · 13 wks
 View →
Good to know

ER travel nurse salary questions, answered

Week to week, what does an ER travel nurse contract pay?
Weekly pay on ER travel nurse contracts moves with shift, trauma level, and location, so there is no single fixed number. Advantis shows live weekly pay on every emergency room contract, and Advantis publishes the live median and range for open contracts alongside the listings. Night and weekend rotations at trauma-designated departments usually anchor the top of the range, while daytime community-ED coverage sits lower, so read the shift and facility type together with the rate.
What should I expect for an average ER travel nurse salary?
ER pay is quoted as a weekly contract rate, not a fixed annual salary, so the most accurate average ER travel nurse salary is the live median weekly rate. To picture a year, run that weekly figure out over however many weeks you expect to be on contract. Watch the range as well as the median: a wide spread means the market is paying premiums for the harder-to-fill shifts, which is exactly where an experienced ER traveler has leverage.
Over a year, what can an ER travel nurse bring in?
ER travelers are not salaried, so there is no single annual figure. A yearly total depends on weeks worked, the contracts accepted, and breaks taken between assignments. Booked back-to-back, ER contracts can add up to a six-figure year; the more time you take off, the lower the total. Extensions are the quiet multiplier: staying a second term saves the unpaid gap and the moving costs between assignments.
Do 'emergency room' and 'ER' salary listings mean the same thing?
Yes. Emergency room and ER name the same role, so listings under either label describe the same weekly contract pay, and every figure here covers both equally. The weekly number bundles an hourly base with housing and meal stipends, so whichever label a posting uses, compare contracts on the total weekly value and what it leaves after local rent rather than on the name.
Is ER pay any higher with a CEN?
Most ER contracts expect ACLS, PALS, and TNCC, and many prefer the CEN from the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing. The CEN rarely shows up as a line-item bump; what it does is widen the set of departments willing to book you, and the busier trauma and academic EDs that result are where rates run higher.
What does a starting ER travel nurse salary look like?
A starting ER travel salary usually lands in the lower part of the range. The busier trauma centers and hard-to-fill markets pay toward the top, so which department you book shapes the number more than any single entry-level figure. What lifts a first contract fastest is flexibility: travelers open to nights, holiday coverage, or less-requested markets routinely start above the entry band.
Which states put the most on an ER travel nurse contract?
That moves with demand, so the live state comparison is the most reliable read at any moment. It already ranks markets by what a contract clears after rent and tax, which beats sorting on the gross weekly rate when you are choosing where to go. Comparing ER travel nurse salaries on that after-rent basis is what keeps a big headline number in an expensive metro from fooling you.
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ER travel nurse pay & jobs

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