Advantis salary data Updated today · 218 open Operating Room jobs

OR Travel Nurse Salary by State

Median weekly · Operating Room
$2,316
Across 218 live contracts nationwide
Current weekly range
$1,624–$3,222
Where most open contracts land
Highest-paying state
California
$2,752/wk median rate

The median pay on open Advantis Medical OR contracts is $2,316 a week right now — that's your starting point. The rest of the page helps you judge what any single offer is worth: which states pay the most, why demand for OR nurses stays high, what goes into a weekly rate, and how much is left when rent is paid. Read it once, and the numbers in your inbox make a lot more sense.

Pay intelligence

How much do travel OR nurses make

The chart below lays every open Advantis operating room contract along the weekly pay scale, so the full range shows instead of a single midpoint. It starts on all markets; switch to a state to zero in on where surgical volume runs highest.

Across all open contracts
<$1.9k $1.9–2.2k $2.2–2.4k $2.4–2.7k $2.7–3.0k $3.0k+
$2,316
Median weekly
$1,624–$3,222
Current range
Distribution of weekly pay across open Advantis OR contracts, loaded from the live feed. Weekly marketplace contract value, not a staff nurse wage.
See salary by specialty ER ICU Labor and Delivery
The biggest lever

How OR travel nurse pay compares

On top of the market itself, what most shapes a traveling OR nurse salary is how complex the surgery is. A cardiac or neuro room, with its pump-team coordination and long microsurgical cases, runs heavier than a general or outpatient list and tends to pay accordingly. The tiers below run top to bottom by how demanding the room is; current OR contracts and medians sit higher up the page. Pay tiers reflect 2026 operating-room market patterns, not a single live figure. Cardiac and neuro rooms sit toward the top of the range, while general surgery covers the widest, most generalist case mix.

Type Work pattern What shapes the rate
Cardiac / CVOR Top of range High, long cases CVOR experience and pump-team coordination keep the skill set scarce and credentialing heavy.
Neuro / spine Top of range High, complex Long microsurgical cases and specialized instrument fluency make these rooms hard to staff.
Orthopedic / total joints Upper-mid High volume Implant and equipment fluency in high-throughput rooms on steady surgical schedules.
General surgery Mid, steady Broad case mix The widest case mix; the broadest, most common case mix.
Robotics (da Vinci) Upper-mid Specialized Robotic-console competency narrows the candidate pool.
Outpatient / ASC Mid Lower acuity, predictable Predictable daytime ambulatory schedules; rates land nearer the floor.
Cardiac / CVOR Top of range
Work pattern High, long cases What shapes the rate CVOR experience and pump-team coordination keep the skill set scarce and credentialing heavy.
Neuro / spine Top of range
Work pattern High, complex What shapes the rate Long microsurgical cases and specialized instrument fluency make these rooms hard to staff.
Orthopedic / total joints Upper-mid
Work pattern High volume What shapes the rate Implant and equipment fluency in high-throughput rooms on steady surgical schedules.
General surgery Mid, steady
Work pattern Broad case mix What shapes the rate The widest case mix; the broadest, most common case mix.
Robotics (da Vinci) Upper-mid
Work pattern Specialized What shapes the rate Robotic-console competency narrows the candidate pool.
Outpatient / ASC Mid
Work pattern Lower acuity, predictable What shapes the rate Predictable daytime ambulatory schedules; rates land nearer the floor.
Relative pay tiers reflect 2026 operating room 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 OR travel nurse salary

What moves an OR weekly rate most is the plain geography of demand: rates climb where surgical schedules outrun the local supply of perioperative nurses. Then there are the scheduled hours: because OR weeks range from 36 up to 48, the longer contracts carry a visibly higher weekly figure, and that is built into what you see posted. The rest of the spread comes from the service line you cover, whether the role carries call, how long the contract runs, and credentials such as the CNOR. A subspecialty room with overnight call can sit well above a daytime general-surgery assignment in the very same city.

Why the demand holds

Operating room volume and staffing pressure

Operating rooms run on a tight schedule, and every surgical case needs a nurse coordinating the room. U.S. surgeons perform an estimated 40 to 50 million major surgeries a year, per AHRQ surgical procedures, and the AORN RN circulator standard holds that every surgical patient should have a perioperative registered nurse present for the duration of the procedure. Because that coverage is case-by-case rather than a fixed patient ratio, OR staffing tightens quickly when a hospital adds block time or a nurse calls out. Most OR contracts hire against the core perioperative skill set, with many employers preferring the CNOR from the Competency & Credentialing Institute. With every room depending on a circulator and demand concentrated in the specialty service lines, hospitals rarely let an open OR contract sit for long, and that is what holds perioperative travel rates up.

Sources: surgical volume, AHRQ Making Healthcare Safer IV. Perioperative staffing standard, AORN. CNOR credential, CCI. Each figure verified against its primary source.
Compare states

OR travel nurse salary by state

A given weekly rate goes much further in one state than in another, so the table below compares the busiest OR markets two ways: by the median operating room travel nurse salary and by what is actually left after a month of rent. A strong gross number in a high-cost state can trail a smaller one somewhere cheaper. The pay figures update from open OR contracts, while the tax, cost-of-living, and rent columns stay constant, held in the Advantis state master.

State Median pay/wk
California $2,752/wk $2,674 $9,249 110.7 up to 13.3% (graduated)
Texas $2,177/wk $1,520 $7,914 97.1 No
New York $2,383/wk $2,374 $7,952 107.9 up to 10.9% (graduated) + NYC local
Connecticut $2,711/wk $2,027 $9,719 103.6 up to 6.99% (graduated)
Massachusetts $2,525/wk $2,495 $8,447 105.8 5.0% flat + 4% surtax (top 9.0%)
Arizona $2,546/wk $1,706 $9,327 100.7 2.5% flat
North Carolina $2,109/wk $1,389 $7,748 94.3 3.99% flat
Ohio $2,242/wk $1,219 $8,496 92.8 2.75% flat
California $2,752/wk
2-BR rent $2,674 Pay after rent/mo $9,249 Cost of living 110.7 State tax up to 13.3% (graduated)
Texas $2,177/wk
2-BR rent $1,520 Pay after rent/mo $7,914 Cost of living 97.1 State tax No
New York $2,383/wk
2-BR rent $2,374 Pay after rent/mo $7,952 Cost of living 107.9 State tax up to 10.9% (graduated) + NYC local
Connecticut $2,711/wk
2-BR rent $2,027 Pay after rent/mo $9,719 Cost of living 103.6 State tax up to 6.99% (graduated)
Massachusetts $2,525/wk
2-BR rent $2,495 Pay after rent/mo $8,447 Cost of living 105.8 State tax 5.0% flat + 4% surtax (top 9.0%)
Arizona $2,546/wk
2-BR rent $1,706 Pay after rent/mo $9,327 Cost of living 100.7 State tax 2.5% flat
North Carolina $2,109/wk
2-BR rent $1,389 Pay after rent/mo $7,748 Cost of living 94.3 State tax 3.99% flat
Ohio $2,242/wk
2-BR rent $1,219 Pay after rent/mo $8,496 Cost of living 92.8 State tax 2.75% flat
About these numbers: OR pay is the median weekly rate on open Advantis contracts, so a few high postings do not skew it. 2-BR rent is an Advantis statewide benchmark built from HUD FY2026 Fair Market Rent areas, not an official HUD figure or a prediction of what you will pay. Pay after rent is median weekly pay × 52 ÷ 12 minus that rent, before taxes; it is not take-home pay. Cost of living is BEA Regional Price Parity (U.S. = 100). Tax rates are 2026 figures, not tax advice.
What the number includes

Breaking Down an OR Travel Paycheck

The weekly number on an OR contract is a single packaged figure rather than an hourly wage, combining a base rate with weekly housing and meal stipends, so it reads as total weekly value rather than a staff wage. What sets OR apart is call: many perioperative contracts add on-call and call-back pay as a separate line on top of the weekly package, and how heavy that call burden is can move the real total well beyond the headline. Because OR call is planned around the surgical schedule, a contract loaded with call shifts can out-earn a daytime-only room on a matching base. The breakdown below shows the hourly base, housing stipend, and meals and incidentals; on-call and call-back pay are not shown in this breakdown.

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 OR contracts open today

The highest-paying operating room contracts open at the moment are listed below, drawn straight from the Advantis feed. Each differs in market, shift, and service line, so the ranking reshuffles as new OR openings come online.

Operating Room · Madison, WI
Days · 17 wks
 View →
Operating Room · San Diego, CA
Nights · 13 wks
 View →
Operating Room · Winchester, MA
Days · 13 wks
 View →
Operating Room · Farmington, CT
Rotating · 16 wks
 View →
Operating Room · San Francisco, CA
Days · 13 wks
 View →
Operating Room · Rockford, IL
Days · 13 wks
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Operating Room · Oak Lawn, IL
Days · 13 wks
 View →
Good to know

OR travel nurse salary questions, answered

Is an OR travel nurse salary the same as an operating room or perioperative travel nurse salary?
OR and operating room refer to the intraoperative setting. Perioperative nursing is broader and can include preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative care, although job postings may use 'perioperative RN' for operating room roles. The salary data on this page covers open Operating Room contracts in the Advantis system.
Do cardiac, neuro, or other specialty OR contracts pay more than general surgery?
Generally yes. Rooms that demand subspecialty skill, such as cardiac, neuro, transplant, or complex robotics, draw from a smaller pool of qualified circulators and sit higher in the live range, while general-surgery and daytime assignments tend to anchor the lower and middle bands. If you hold subspecialty case experience, filter for those rooms first: the premium for scarce skills is steadier than any geographic premium.
Does on-call coverage change what an OR travel contract pays?
Often. Many OR contracts include call, and that obligation usually carries a separate call rate on top of the base weekly figure, with higher pay again when a nurse is actually called in. Two otherwise similar contracts can diverge mostly because one carries heavy call and the other does not. Before you sign, ask how call is scheduled, what the response window is, and how call-backs pay; those three answers reveal the contract's real weekly value.
How does travel OR pay compare to a staff operating room position?
It is structured differently. An operating room travel nurse salary pairs an hourly base with weekly housing and meal stipends, often plus on-call pay, into one weekly figure, so it is best read as total weekly contract value rather than measured against a permanent staff pay rate. The trade is shorter assignments and regular moves rather than a fixed staff schedule.
Does holding the CNOR change OR travel nurse pay?
Most OR contracts hire against a solid perioperative skill set, and many name the CNOR from the Competency & Credentialing Institute as preferred. The certification is rarely a line-item raise on its own, but it makes a traveler eligible for a wider set of rooms, including the complex cardiac and neuro cases that pay at the top of the range.
What can an OR travel nurse expect to earn in a year?
OR travelers earn per contract rather than on a salary, so there is no single annual number. What you make in a year depends on the weeks you fill, the service lines you accept, and the downtime between assignments. Stacking OR contracts with few gaps can push past six figures; build in more downtime and the yearly total eases back.
Which states pay travel OR nurses the most?
Surgical demand drives this and the leaders rotate, so the live state ranking is the best read at any moment. Because a high gross rate can thin out in an expensive market, the table also shows what each market leaves after the 2-BR rent benchmark, not just headline pay. Surgical schedules concentrate in a handful of metros, so the same state can hold both premium and average markets at once.
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Open travel OR contracts are paying a median of $2,316 per week right now.

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