How to Read a Travel Therapy Pay Package
Line by line: taxable rate, housing, M&IE, guaranteed hours, missed-shift penalties and the four questions that expose a weak offer in one phone call.
Pay packages · 12 min read
Guides
Every guide here is written for travel therapists and allied health clinicians — not nurses — and every factual claim is sourced to the IRS, GSA, BLS or a state revenue department. We take no agency money.
Travel Therapy Tax Home, Explained
The single rule that decides whether your stipends are tax-free. What the IRS actually requires, the three-factor test, and the 12-month trap.
Taxes · 13 min read
Red Flags in a Travel Therapy Contract Before You Sign
Fourteen clauses worth arguing about, from cancellation penalties and guaranteed-hours loopholes to stipend clawbacks and non-competes.
Contracts · 14 min read
Highest-Paying States for Travel Therapists 2026 (PT/OT/SLP)
We ran one identical package through all 51 US tax codes for 2026. The state-tax gap is real — and much smaller than the recruiter chat rooms claim.
Market data · 11 min read
GSA Per Diem Rates for Travel Therapists
Where stipend ceilings come from, how to look up your assignment city, and what the 75% first-and-last-day rule means for a 13-week contract.
Taxes · 10 min read
Company Housing vs Housing Stipend: Which Nets More?
The honest arithmetic, including the cases where company housing wins — short assignments, expensive metros and first contracts.
Housing · 11 min read
Travel PT vs Travel Nurse Pay: How Therapy Contracts Compare
Why therapy packages are steadier, smaller at the peaks, and structurally different from nursing — and what that means for how you negotiate.
Market data · 11 min read
Is Travel Therapy Worth It? The Real Numbers
A full-year model with the costs nobody puts in the spreadsheet: gap weeks, duplicate housing, licences, health cover and lost retirement match.
Career · 13 min read
Start with the numbers
Every guide here points back to the same place: the travel therapy pay calculator. Put your own offer in and see what it is worth after 2026 federal, FICA and state tax.