Travel Nurse Salary in Florida
A representative travel-nurse package in Florida — a $24.00/hr taxable base on a 3×12 schedule, plus tax-free housing and meal stipends benchmarked to the Miami/Tampa GSA per-diem — runs about $2,489 gross per week, or $2,365 take-home after federal, FICA, and state tax. Florida levies no state income tax, so you keep more of your taxable wages here.
Free, private, and no signup
Money Scale is built the opposite way from the big finance sites: the numbers you enter never leave your device, and there's nothing to sign up for.
- Your numbers stay privateEvery calculation runs in your browser. We never receive or store your salary, balances, or inputs.
- Always freeNo paywall, no upsell to a calculator that actually works.
- No login, no emailUse every tool instantly — we never gate results behind a signup.
- Sourced defaultsStarting rates and assumptions cite real data, not made-up numbers.
Avg RN wage (BLS)
$38.00/hr
$79,000/yr staff mean
Example weekly gross
$2,489
3×12 blended package
Take-home / week
$2,365
5.0% effective tax
State income tax
None
keeps more take-home
GSA housing cap
$5,400/mo
Miami/Tampa
Cost of living
102
US average = 100
What travel nurses earn in Florida
Travel-nurse pay in Florida depends far more on your specialty, the season, and the assignment's urgency than on a single statewide number. As a baseline, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports an average staff-RN wage of $38.00/hour ($79,000/year) in Florida. Travel contracts typically pay more than the staff mean because they bundle a taxable base wage with sizable tax-free stipends — and because they fill urgent, hard-to-staff gaps.
The reason travel pay looks so high is the stipend structure. In Florida, tax-free housing stipends are benchmarked to the GSA per-diem for the assignment's county — about $5,400/month for the Miami/Tampa area — plus roughly $79/day for meals and incidentals. Because that money isn't taxed (when you qualify for a tax home), the effective tax rate on the whole package in our example is just 5.0%, even though the taxable base wage is modest.
Florida is one of the nine states with no income tax, which is a meaningful advantage for take-home: the taxable portion of your package isn't taxed at the state level at all. With a cost-of-living index of 102 (US average = 100), Florida sits close to the national average on cost of living.
Run your own numbers for Florida
Florida travel nurse pay FAQ
How much do travel nurses make in Florida?
Travel-nurse pay in Florida varies by specialty, season, and demand, but a representative 3×12 package — a $24/hr taxable base stacked with tax-free housing and meal stipends benchmarked to the Miami/Tampa GSA per-diem — comes to roughly $2,489 gross per week, or about $2,365 take-home after federal, FICA, and state tax. For context, the BLS reports an average staff-RN wage of $38/hr ($79,000/yr) in Florida; travel rates typically run higher.
Do travel nurses pay income tax in Florida?
Florida has no state income tax, so travel nurses keep more of their taxable wages here than in most states. You owe income tax to the state where you physically work, and separately to your state of legal residence (usually with a credit for tax paid to the work state). Your tax-free housing and M&IE stipends are not taxed in any state as long as you maintain a qualifying tax home.
What is the housing stipend for travel nurses in Florida?
Tax-free housing stipends in Florida are benchmarked to the GSA per-diem for the assignment's county. For Miami/Tampa, the representative GSA ceiling is about $5,400/month for lodging and $79/day for meals & incidentals. Agencies usually pay at or just under these limits to keep the stipend tax-free; amounts above the GSA cap can be reclassified as taxable wages.
Is Florida a good state for travel nurses?
Florida is attractive for take-home because it levies no state income tax, and its cost-of-living index is 102 (US average = 100). Weigh the pay package against housing costs, license requirements, and unit quality — and run your specific offer through the Compare Contracts and Stipend Analysis tools before signing.
Educational estimates, not a pay quote or tax advice. RN wages are BLS OEWS state means (May 2024) for all staff RNs; the example package is an illustrative 3×12 benchmarked to representative GSA per-diem (FY2025) and modeled as a single filer taxed in Florida. Your actual offer, metro, and tax situation will differ — confirm with a travel-tax professional.