PAY PACKAGE CALCULATOR
Build the package. Check the caps.
See your margin — live.
Assemble taxable base pay, housing, and M&IE stipends against FY2026 GSA maximums, watch the margin hold as you type, and print an offer-ready deal sheet — no spreadsheet required.
A travel nurse pay package combines taxable hourly wages with non-taxable housing and meals & incidentals (M&IE) stipends, which must stay within the GSA per diem maximum for the assignment location. This travel nurse pay calculator builds that package and shows the agency's gross margin at the same time.
FY2026 GSA rates built in · Standard CONUS $110/night lodging · $68/day M&IE · Look up your location →
Package inputs — everything the offer is built from
Assignment · appears on the deal sheet
Hours & bill rates
California note: daily OT after 8 hrs may apply regardless of weekly hours — confirm state rules.
Assignment location — GSA rates
FY2026 standard: $110
FY2026 standard: $68
Pay package
Bonuses and reimbursements are one-time amounts for the whole contract.
Agency assumptions · internal
Taxes, comp, benefits
VMS fees, housing, etc.
For take-home estimate
Results — updates as you type
Agency gross margin / week
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Nurse weekly gross
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Est. weekly take-home
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Nurse contract total
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Contract margin (total)
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Where each weekly billed dollar goes
| Line item | Weekly amount |
|---|---|
| Taxable wages / wk (reg + OT) | — |
| Housing stipend / wk (GSA cap —) | — |
| M&IE stipend / wk (GSA cap —) | — |
| One-time bonuses + travel (contract) | — |
| Employer burden + other costs / wk | — |
| Weekly revenue (reg + OT billing) | — |
| Agency margin / wk (before one-times) | — |
Still building these in a spreadsheet? NextCrew builds the package inside the platform — GSA rate tables applied by location, stipends validated automatically, margin visible on every placement before it's confirmed.
How a travel nurse pay package is built
Every travel assignment starts from a bill rate — what the facility pays your agency per hour. Out of that single number comes the clinician's taxable hourly wage, their weekly housing and M&IE stipends, employer burden, any VMS or housing costs you carry, and whatever is left as gross margin. Move any one of those and the rest shift with it, which is why a pay package is difficult to build in a spreadsheet and easy to get wrong under time pressure.
The calculator above works in the same order an offer does: assignment details, hours and bill rates, the GSA maximums for that location, then the package itself. Margin updates on every keystroke, so you can see whether an offer still works before you send it rather than after.
FY2026 GSA lodging and M&IE caps explained
The GSA publishes a maximum per diem for every location in the continental United States: a nightly lodging rate and a daily meals & incidentals rate. For fiscal year 2026 — 1 October 2025 through 30 September 2026 — the GSA held rates at their FY2025 levels, with the standard CONUS rate at $110 per night for lodging and $68 per day for M&IE. Many locations carry higher rates than the standard, so look up the assignment city rather than defaulting.
Those daily figures become weekly caps in a pay package: $110 × 7 for housing, $68 × 7 for M&IE. A stipend above the applicable cap is generally treated as taxable wages, not a reimbursement — which is why the calculator flags it rather than quietly accepting it.
What agency gross margin should look like
Gross margin here is weekly revenue minus the full weekly cost of the package: taxable wages, both stipends, employer burden on the taxable portion, and any other per-week cost you carry. One-time bonuses and travel reimbursements sit outside the weekly figure and are applied across the contract instead, because spreading them weekly flatters short assignments and penalises long ones.
Target margin varies by specialty, geography and whether the account runs through a VMS, so the calculator does not assert a "right" number. It warns below 15% of revenue as a prompt to re-check the burden assumption, not as a benchmark. Once an assignment is filled, the same arithmetic has to survive contact with real hours — which is where timesheet approval and invoicing either protect the margin or quietly erode it, and where payroll has to treat the taxable and non-taxable halves correctly.
Frequently asked questions
What is a travel nurse pay package?
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A travel nurse pay package is the full compensation offered for a temporary clinical assignment. It combines a taxable hourly wage with non-taxable weekly stipends for housing and meals & incidentals, and may add one-time amounts such as a sign-on bonus, a completion bonus or travel reimbursement. The stipend portion must stay within the GSA per diem maximum for the assignment location to be treated as a reimbursement rather than wages.
Are travel nurse stipends taxable?
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Housing and M&IE stipends are generally non-taxable when the clinician maintains a qualifying tax home and the amounts stay within the applicable GSA per diem limits. If either condition fails, the stipends are generally treated as taxable wages. This is a tax question with real consequences for both the clinician and the agency, so confirm treatment with a qualified tax adviser rather than relying on a calculator.
What happens if a stipend exceeds the GSA cap?
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The excess above the cap is generally treated as taxable wages rather than a reimbursement. That changes the clinician's take-home, changes the agency's employer burden, and creates an exposure if the package is ever examined. The calculator flags a stipend above the entered GSA maximum as soon as you type it, so the problem surfaces while the offer is still being built.
What is a qualifying tax home?
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A tax home is broadly the clinician's regular place of business or the permanent residence where they maintain genuine, duplicated living expenses while working away. Without one, there is no "away from home" travel to reimburse, and stipends generally become taxable income. The specific tests are set by the IRS and turn on individual circumstances, so this is a question for the clinician's own tax adviser.
How is the blended hourly rate calculated?
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The blended rate divides the total weekly gross package — taxable wages plus both stipends — by total weekly hours. It is the number clinicians use to compare offers quickly, and the reason a package with a low taxable base can still look competitive. It is a comparison figure, not a wage rate, and it should never be used as the basis for an overtime premium.
How is overtime handled on a travel assignment?
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Overtime premiums are calculated on the regular rate of pay, which is a defined concept under the FLSA and is not simply the taxable base hourly rate. Packages built on a low taxable base are where this most often goes wrong. State rules add another layer — California, for example, applies daily overtime after eight hours regardless of weekly totals. The calculator warns when entered OT pay falls below 1.5× the taxable base, but the underlying calculation should be confirmed against federal and state rules.
Do GSA per diem rates change every year?
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The GSA publishes per diem rates for each federal fiscal year, running 1 October to 30 September. Rates can rise, fall or hold — for FY2026 the GSA kept them at FY2025 levels. Because location rates change more often than the standard CONUS rate, look up the specific assignment city each time rather than carrying last year's figure forward.
Can this calculator be used for allied health assignments?
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Yes. The arithmetic is the same for any travel assignment paid as taxable wages plus GSA-capped stipends, so it works for travel therapy, imaging, laboratory and other allied health contracts as well as nursing. Only the bill rates and typical hours differ.
Estimates only — not tax, legal, or accounting advice. Tax-free treatment of stipends depends on the clinician maintaining a qualifying tax home and other IRS requirements; take-home is a rough estimate at a flat assumed rate. GSA per diem limits reflect FY2026 (Oct 1, 2025 – Sep 30, 2026); standard CONUS applies where no location rate is entered. State overtime rules (e.g., California daily OT) may change required rates.
| Component | Rate / amount | Weekly |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable base pay | — | — |
| Overtime pay | — | — |
| Housing stipend (tax-free*) | weekly | — |
| Meals & incidentals stipend (tax-free*) | weekly | — |
| Bonuses + travel reimbursement | one-time | — |