Miami’s beaches and nightlife, Orlando’s world-class theme parks, and year-round incredible weather make travel nursing jobs in Florida irresistible. Navigating housing options as a travel nurse in the vibrant and sunny state of Florida, with its enticing beaches, bustling nightlife in Miami, and the unparalleled attractions of Orlando, presents an exciting yet daunting task. The allure of earning premium pay while enjoying the year-round sunshine is undeniable. However, once the excitement of securing a travel nursing position sets in, the reality of finding a place to stay comes to the forefront. Numerous factors play into this crucial decision, including your budget, the type of accommodation you prefer, the location and duration of your stay, and whether you opt to utilize a housing service. This guide is designed to simplify the housing search process, allowing you to swiftly arrange your living situation and shift your focus to the more enjoyable decision of choosing which Florida beach to explore first. As you prepare for your southeastern assignment, let this guide lead you to the ideal travel nurse housing options in Florida, ensuring a seamless transition into your new adventure.
There’s no doubt that travel nursing is a lucrative career. In Florida, travel nurses are raking in impressive wages that make it an ideal destination. On average, travel nurses in Florida make $1,905 each week, over $105,000 a year if you’re working full-time! In comparison, staff nurses in Florida make about $1,448 each week. This yearly salary falls short of $90,000. This difference of over $15,000 each year makes travel nursing an attractive career choice for many registered nurses.
It all costs money. Whether you stay in agency housing that deducts the cost from your salary or use an agency stipend, you pay for your temporary residence. Before you start browsing, set your budget based on your income. Your recruiter can tell you about your agency’s services and resources.
“Advantis Medical offers concierge service for our clinicians where we help them at the beginning, middle, and end of the housing process,”
explains Sydney Allen, Travel Coordinator.
“We send our clinicians a housing form they fill out with all their preferences/stipend/budget. From there, we work with our partners and resources to find the safest most affordable housing for our clinicians. We will even book housing for them if that is a service they would like.”
Now that you’ve snagged a travel nursing assignment in Florida your first order of business is to secure safe housing. Luckily there are lots of resources at your disposal to find travel nurse housing in Florida as painlessly as possible. Before you can use these resources, however, you need to figure out the type of travel nurse housing you need while you’re on assignment in Florida. You guessed it – options vary by space, cost, and location.
If you’re traveling alone, you may not want or need much space. And if your assignment is relatively short, you might want to consider a hotel. Depending on the sort of hotel you choose, you can get daily housekeeping, room service, and access to onsite restaurants and entertainment.
You might want something that feels more like home for longer assignments, like an apartment or condo rental. There are many different websites and services that help travel nurses find short-term rentals that come fully furnished. Apartments and condos through these platforms are great for longer-term assignments for you and perhaps a spouse or partner, but if you have a family, you might want something with more space.
Travel nursing is a little more complicated if you’ve got your family with you, but many travel nurses love it. The most daunting part is finding accommodations that suit you and your family. You can find townhouses and single-family houses to rent for the duration of your assignment—you just have to know where to look and have some flexibility on location. Housing in this category tends to be further from facilities so plan accordingly for transportation.
Now you’re ready to make a wise choice because you know what you want and what you’ll spend. You can narrow your search to find which filtered options are convenient for your job location and comfortable for your wallet.
Average housing costs for travel nurses in Florida vary depending on the area and type of accommodations. Median rental costs across the state reached over $1,700 in June 2022, and fully furnished short-term rentals are significantly more expensive.
A quick Zillow search reveals you should expect to pay $2,000 to $3,000 for a fully furnished one-bedroom apartment in many areas. That price shoots up to over $4,000 in popular areas like Miami, and even further with short-term rental markups. Travel nurse housing in Orlando costs more than average but also puts you close to some of the best theme parks in the US. In short, the cost of travel nurse housing in Florida varies throughout the state and can get expensive. For most travelers, it’s worth it to have the experience, both professional and personal.
Short-term rentals are almost always more expensive than longer stays, and that unspoken rule persists in Florida. However, the amount that you can expect to spend depends on several factors:
Getting a percent off your car or residential costs can translate to a lot of money. Ask your recruiter if your agency has relationships with providers that translate into discounts for you. As an example, Advantis Medical travelers can save up to 60% on housing and get generous discount codes for car rentals. Savings like that open the door to a lot more living and transportation options, especially in pricey locations.
You can expect to spend a pretty penny in more touristy areas like Orlando and Tampa. You should also anticipate higher prices for shorter stays and fully furnished options. Don’t worry though—your travel nursing agency has already taken these factors into consideration. They’ll provide you with a housing stipend that matches the market price of travel nurse housing in Florida, no matter where you’re headed. And if you find accommodations that cost less than your stipend, you can pocket the difference for an instant bonus!
Keep in mind that you’re only eligible for a housing stipend if you have a tax home. Travel nurses who are nomads without a home to go back to will be responsible for their own accommodations. This is because stipends are reserved for the duplicate living expenses travel nurses take on for their jobs. If you travel full-time and aren’t paying for a home to go back to, you won’t be eligible for this benefit.
Once you know what kind of housing you want while you’re travel nursing in Florida, you need to start searching for your ideal short-term rental. In some cases, your agency may set up travel nurse housing in Florida on your behalf, leaving you with one less thing to worry about. Advantis Medical is happy to book housing for our travelers. For those who don’t have that benefit or who prefer to find accommodations independently there are many services to choose from to find your perfect fit!
If you’re looking for a unique place to stay, Airbnb has some of the most stylish and functional short-term rentals to choose from. These are privately owned properties owned and maintained by the owners in most cases. You can choose from condo rentals, townhouses, and single-family homes in some of the best locations near your work site.
Want a more traditional housing option? Apartments.com is great for anyone who needs an apartment for travel nursing. They don’t deal exclusively in short-term rentals—you can also find long-term housing using their comprehensive database. Simply enter your search parameters, and they’ll help you find the apartment you’re looking for. Make sure you choose something that’s fully furnished if you’re not traveling with furniture and other necessities.
Finding a fully furnished apartment is easy with Landing. This convenient service helps travel nurses and other traveling professionals find fully furnished apartments without the hassle. Each Landing apartment includes a smart TV, a fully loaded kitchen, linens, cleaning supplies, and more. And if your assignment is longer than six months, they have a flexible move-out option that allows you to choose your move-out date at a later time.
Landlords offer up fully furnished housing specifically for travel nurses through Travel Nurse Housing. Their accommodations include private rooms or full apartments and houses. Travel nurses have direct communication with their temporary landlord via an app. Each landlord and listing is fully vetted to ensure your safety while traveling to Florida or any other location.
Sometimes you don’t want to be bothered with the responsibility of a full apartment or house. Travelocity makes it easy to find a hotel that meets your needs. Some include a kitchenette, suite-style layouts, and more. You can even scope out a hotel that has room service options or an on-site spa if that suits your fancy. And in Florida, it’s a great way to roll some fun into your stay. Search for packages that include tickets or discounts for some of the most popular attractions throughout the state.
There are plenty of other services to help you find travel nurse housing in Florida. If you don’t book through your agency you can connect with a realtor or peruse any of the other temporary housing websites not listed here. What's most important is that you figure out which approach works best for you and your situation. And when you find a place in Florida that suits you, you’ll be ready to hit the ground running once you arrive!
There’s never been a better time to pursue a career in travel nursing. Advantis Medical has some of the most attractive travel nursing opportunities in Florida and across the rest of the nation. And getting started is incredibly easy.
Browse exclusive travel job openings from the #1 rated travel nurse agency. You can choose to work with one of our dedicated Pro Recruiters and receive top-notch, white-glove service, or express your interest in specific jobs directly on our individual job pages. Start your next adventure today by searching for travel nurse jobs in Florida.