TravelNurseMap research · October 17, 2026
Where the travel nurse housing stipend goes furthest in 2027
The lowest tax-free housing ceiling of the year is a median $3,680 a month across 392 cities, against a median $1,201 for a newly leased 1-bedroom: a median margin of $2,658. In 381 of 392 cities the ceiling is at least twice the rent. GSA builds lodging rates from hotel prices, so a monthly lease almost always comes in far below them.
Updated October 2026
Key findings
- Santa Monica, CA has the widest margin: $8,608 ceiling against $3,004 rent, $5,604 a month.
- Vallejo, CA is the tightest: $3,437 against $1,909, leaving $1,528. Most of the tightest cities sit at the standard GSA rate in pricey metros.
- Among states with at least 3 cities in the study, Massachusetts has the widest median margin ($3,507) and Arizona the narrowest ($2,182).
- The ceiling is a cap, not a promise: agencies set the stipend and many pay less, and anything paid above the ceiling is taxable. The margin is the room a stipend can cover, and how much a traveler who finds a lease can keep.
Stipend ceiling as a multiple of rent
3× rent or more 2.5–3× 2–2.5× Under 2×· Larger dots have more hospitals. Alaska and Hawaii use DoD rates and aren't included.
Where the stipend goes furthest (widest margin)
| City | Stipend floor | New 1BR | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Monica, CA | $8,608 | $3,004 | $5,604 |
| Nashville, TN | $6,996 | $1,605 | $5,391 |
| Charleston, SC | $6,631 | $1,839 | $4,792 |
| Arlington, TX | $5,840 | $1,306 | $4,534 |
| Mount Pleasant, SC | $6,631 | $2,128 | $4,503 |
| Fort Worth, TX | $5,840 | $1,400 | $4,440 |
| Nampa, ID | $5,353 | $1,001 | $4,352 |
| Pomona, CA | $6,053 | $1,755 | $4,298 |
| Decatur, GA | $5,718 | $1,446 | $4,272 |
| Cleveland, OH | $5,080 | $919 | $4,161 |
| San Jose, CA | $6,631 | $2,473 | $4,158 |
| Santa Barbara, CA | $6,509 | $2,356 | $4,153 |
| Round Rock, TX | $5,597 | $1,448 | $4,149 |
| Bronx, NY | $5,749 | $1,610 | $4,139 |
| Long Beach, CA | $6,053 | $1,948 | $4,105 |
Tightest margins
| City | Stipend floor | New 1BR | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vallejo, CA | $3,437 | $1,909 | $1,528 |
| Suffolk, VA | $3,437 | $1,770 | $1,667 |
| Flagstaff, AZ | $3,437 | $1,766 | $1,671 |
| Layton, UT | $3,437 | $1,735 | $1,702 |
| Portland, ME | $3,620 | $1,887 | $1,733 |
| Fredericksburg, VA | $3,437 | $1,684 | $1,753 |
| Scottsdale, AZ | $3,711 | $1,914 | $1,797 |
| Menomonee Falls, WI | $3,437 | $1,556 | $1,881 |
| Murfreesboro, TN | $3,437 | $1,536 | $1,901 |
| Elgin, IL | $3,437 | $1,488 | $1,949 |
| Ocala, FL | $3,437 | $1,484 | $1,953 |
| Gilbert, AZ | $3,711 | $1,757 | $1,954 |
| Chandler, AZ | $3,711 | $1,754 | $1,957 |
| Palm Coast, FL | $3,437 | $1,473 | $1,964 |
| Modesto, CA | $3,437 | $1,471 | $1,966 |
Highest multiple of rent
| City | Stipend floor | New 1BR | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beckley, WV | $3,437 | $382 | 9.0× |
| Portsmouth, OH | $3,437 | $413 | 8.3× |
| Danville, IL | $3,437 | $427 | 8.1× |
| Warren, OH | $3,437 | $444 | 7.7× |
| Poplar Bluff, MO | $3,437 | $490 | 7.0× |
| Paducah, KY | $3,437 | $545 | 6.3× |
| Saginaw, MI | $3,437 | $579 | 5.9× |
| Hope, AR | $3,437 | $594 | 5.8× |
| Springfield, MA | $3,985 | $692 | 5.8× |
| Aberdeen, SD | $3,437 | $613 | 5.6× |
By state (median across its cities)
| State | Cities | Margin | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | 1 | $3,774 | 4.0× |
| District of Columbia | 1 | $3,600 | 2.6× |
| Rhode Island | 1 | $3,583 | 3.7× |
| Massachusetts | 8 | $3,507 | 3.0× |
| California | 46 | $3,411 | 2.7× |
| Minnesota | 4 | $3,400 | 3.7× |
| Connecticut | 2 | $3,306 | 3.6× |
| Idaho | 4 | $3,250 | 3.9× |
| New York | 12 | $3,207 | 3.2× |
| Washington | 5 | $3,122 | 3.1× |
| New Jersey | 2 | $3,075 | 3.0× |
| Ohio | 14 | $2,822 | 5.0× |
| Missouri | 6 | $2,814 | 4.2× |
| Kentucky | 4 | $2,775 | 3.8× |
| West Virginia | 4 | $2,751 | 4.7× |
| Arkansas | 7 | $2,707 | 4.5× |
| Kansas | 8 | $2,689 | 4.1× |
| Oklahoma | 9 | $2,684 | 4.6× |
| Indiana | 11 | $2,682 | 4.1× |
| Alabama | 6 | $2,677 | 3.7× |
| Illinois | 14 | $2,660 | 4.0× |
| Michigan | 12 | $2,655 | 4.0× |
| Oregon | 6 | $2,651 | 3.0× |
| Montana | 3 | $2,642 | 3.3× |
| Tennessee | 7 | $2,635 | 3.4× |
| Nebraska | 4 | $2,625 | 3.8× |
| Pennsylvania | 13 | $2,611 | 3.9× |
| Georgia | 11 | $2,608 | 3.6× |
| Iowa | 6 | $2,605 | 4.0× |
| North Dakota | 2 | $2,605 | 4.1× |
| New Mexico | 5 | $2,589 | 4.0× |
| Louisiana | 12 | $2,555 | 3.7× |
| Florida | 27 | $2,550 | 2.6× |
| Texas | 36 | $2,527 | 3.4× |
| Wisconsin | 8 | $2,509 | 3.7× |
| Vermont | 1 | $2,506 | 2.7× |
| Wyoming | 2 | $2,499 | 3.7× |
| Delaware | 1 | $2,477 | 2.8× |
| Utah | 4 | $2,465 | 3.0× |
| Mississippi | 6 | $2,449 | 3.5× |
| South Dakota | 3 | $2,415 | 3.4× |
| New Hampshire | 1 | $2,402 | 2.4× |
| Colorado | 7 | $2,380 | 2.9× |
| North Carolina | 10 | $2,307 | 2.7× |
| South Carolina | 7 | $2,302 | 3.0× |
| Maine | 3 | $2,277 | 3.0× |
| Virginia | 11 | $2,242 | 2.7× |
| Nevada | 4 | $2,242 | 2.6× |
| Arizona | 11 | $2,182 | 2.4× |
Method
- Cities: the 392 U.S. cities with two or more CMS-listed hospitals, or one with a TravelNurseMap living guide, outside Alaska and Hawaii (whose per diem the Department of Defense sets).
- Stipend floor: the typical (median) hospital's GSA FY2027 nightly lodging rate in its cheapest month, × 365 ÷ 12. Several cities pay more in peak months, so this understates the ceiling there.
- New 1-bedroom rent: the Census ACS 2020–2024 median gross rent for 1-bedroom units (table B25031), scaled by the city's ratio of what households that moved in 2023 or later pay to what all renters pay (table B25113). That corrects for long-time and rent-regulated tenants. Where a city has too few recent movers, the county is used. Gross rent includes utilities; it is unfurnished.
- Not take-home: furnished short-term housing usually costs more than a 12-month lease, agencies may pay less than the ceiling, and stipends are tax-free only for travelers who keep a tax home.
Download the data (CSV, 392 cities) · Free to republish with a link to this page (CC BY 4.0).
Cite as: TravelNurseMap, “Where the travel nurse housing stipend goes furthest in 2027,” October 17, 2026, https://travelnursemap.com/research/stipend-vs-rent-2027