Pay is the first thing most nurses ask about. This page brings together public figures on starting pay through international agencies, staff nurse pay in every state, and how travel nurse pay works, with a source and date for each figure.
Figures are compiled from public sources, not provided by the agencies, and may change. Confirm pay in your own offer/contract.
1. Starting pay through international agencies
Most Kenyan nurses who move on an EB-3 green card start as a W-2 employee of a staffing agency, which places them at a US hospital for a set number of hours. Agencies rarely publish one fixed rate: the rate usually depends on the state, the hospital, your unit and your shift.
How agency pay works
Hourly, W-2: you are paid by the hour, usually every two weeks, with taxes taken out of each paycheck.
Extras on top of the base rate: overtime (1.5 times your rate for hours over 40 in a week), and often night, weekend or holiday differentials. Ask whether your agency passes the hospital's differentials on to you.
Bonuses: sign-on, milestone or completion bonuses are usually paid in stages and may have to be repaid if you leave early. Under DOL rules, bonuses do not count toward the minimum wage your employer must pay.
The legal floor: the employer must pay at least the "prevailing wage" set by the US Department of Labor (DOL) for the job's location. This is why the same agency pays more in New York than in rural Texas.
Agency = the agency's own website, posting or press release. DOL filing = public US Department of Labor wage filings. Reported by nurses = nurse forums, reviews or videos; not verified.
Avant Healthcare Professionals
$35/hr minimum advertised for new applicants
Agency "$35/hour guaranteed minimum pay" with a 5,200-hour contract; NCLEX passers offered a $10,000 completion bonus for a limited time (terms apply).
Reported by nurses $35–$45/hr depending on state, hospital, specialty and shift, with $1/hr raises at hour milestones (one nurse's account, 2026).
DOL filing Median prevailing wage on Avant's registered nurse filings: about $64,800/yr (about $31/hr). This is the legal floor, not the offer.
Agency Starting at $35/hr with raises at 12, 18 and 30 months; sign-on bonus up to $7,000. Contract: 6,000 hours or 36 months, or 5,000 hours or 30 months for nurses who already passed the NCLEX.
Agency In 2022, MedPro announced a $32/hr minimum start, rising $1/hr at 12, 18 and 30 months.
Reported by nurses $35/hr base, may include cost-of-living adjustments (2025).
Contract FAQ shared online A 2025 Interstaff EB-3 contract FAQ states a starting rate of $30/hr or higher before tax, depending on the hospital and location, with overtime at 1.5 times your rate over 40 hours a week. Interstaff's website mentions annual raises and cost-of-living reviews but no rate.
DOL filing Median prevailing wage on Interstaff's registered nurse filings: about $64,400/yr (about $31/hr).
Reported by nurses A 2022 nurses' petition said they earned $26/hr and asked for a raise. That is an older figure.
Agency posting "$35–$45 hourly rate (depending on your deployment location)" and up to $15,000 in bonuses, with a 5,000-hour contract (posting open Mar–Nov 2026).
Agency posting $30–$45/hr for nurses who graduated in the US on F-1/OPT.
DOL filing Median prevailing wage on Conexus registered nurse filings: about $57,900/yr (about $28/hr), including older filings.
Agency Pay is set by location, specialty and assignment; you see the rate before you accept.
DOL filing 2026 H-1B filings for registered nurses: $70,491–$114,400/yr (about $34–$55/hr), 25 positions; the top figure is for New York City. H-1B is a different visa, but it shows the range.
We found no current public pay figure for Sentosa. The only figure we found is from 2015 court records ($29/hr in New York), which is too old to rely on.
For any agency, you can look up the prevailing wage yourself: open the DOL FLAG Wage Search, choose "Registered Nurses (29-1141)" and the city where you would work.
Sources: US District Court, E.D.N.Y. filings (via CourtListener) · flag.dol.gov
DOL prevailing wages for registered nurses at Level I (entry level), for July 2026 to June 2027: New York metro about $44.31/hr, Los Angeles about $49.61/hr, Houston about $36.13/hr, Chicago about $36.40/hr. DOL decides the level case by case, so check the level on your own paperwork.
Source: DOL OFLC wage tables (based on BLS May 2025 data), as summarised by NCLEX Bank, Oct 2026. Across all DOL prevailing-wage filings for registered nurses, the median is about $64,200/yr, or about $31/hr (H1BPerm, checked Nov 2026).
Turn an hourly rate into a yearly figure
$1,260per week
$5,460per month
$65,520per year
Gross pay before tax. Hours over 40 in a week are counted at 1.5 times your rate. Many hospital nurses work three 12-hour shifts (36 hours).
2. Registered nurse pay by state
This is what registered nurses earn as regular staff, not through an agency, from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), May 2025 data (the latest, released in 2026). It covers registered nurses of all experience levels.
$46.90US median per hour
$97,550US median per year
$33.14US 10th percentile per hour
$38.62US 25th percentile per hour
New nurses usually start below the median. The median is the middle of all nurses, including people with 20 years of experience. The 10th and 25th percentile columns are a better guide to entry-level pay.
Cost of living differs a lot. California, Hawaii and Oregon pay the most, but rent there is also much higher. A lower wage in a cheaper state can leave you with more each month.
Travel nurses take short contracts, usually 13 weeks, at hospitals away from home. Their weekly pay is usually quoted as one number, but it is made of two parts:
A taxable hourly wage. This is often lower than a staff nurse's rate.
Tax-free stipends for housing and meals. These are tax-free only if you keep a "tax home" (a permanent home you pay for and are away from while you work). If you have no tax home, the stipends are taxed as income.
$2,262US average per week, advertised (Vivian, Nov 13, 2026)
$2,667Rhode Island, highest state average per week
$2,660Alaska average per week
$2,595Massachusetts average per week
Source: Vivian Health Travel Nurse Salary Guide, updated Nov 13, 2026, based on 320,414 active job posts in the previous 7 days. These are advertised gross weekly packages (wage plus stipends), not what nurses take home. On tax homes, see IRS Publication 463.
Travel nursing usually comes later
Nurses who arrive on an EB-3 green card through an agency are usually on a staff contract first, placed at one hospital until they finish their committed hours. Check your contract before taking any other work; some contracts limit it.
Travel jobs commonly ask for recent experience in your specialty, often in a US hospital. Many nurses only start travelling after finishing their agency contract.
A high weekly figure can be mostly stipends. Compare the taxable hourly rate, the overtime rate and who pays for housing.
4. Pay tips
Shift differentials
Many hospitals add extra pay per hour for night, weekend and holiday shifts, and sometimes for being on call or acting as charge nurse. The amounts vary by hospital. Ask your agency in writing which differentials you get and whether they match what the hospital pays its own staff.
Overtime
Under federal law, hourly nurses get 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Some states have extra rules; California, for example, also counts overtime by the day. Ask whether overtime hours count toward finishing your contract; at some agencies they do and at others they do not.
Gross vs net pay
Your offer shows gross pay. What reaches your bank account is lower after:
Federal income tax, based on your income and family.
Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%), taken from every paycheck.
State income tax, which depends on the state. Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming do not tax wages.
Your share of health insurance, and any retirement (401(k)) savings you choose.