1. New Hampshire — 1.9x local rate typical
New Hampshire consistently produces the widest travel-to-resident RN pay gap in the country per capita. Contracts routinely pay 1.7 to 1.9 times the state's resident RN rate on Vivian Health, Aya Healthcare, and NALTO-affiliated agency boards, driven by an unusually small in-state graduate pipeline against continuous acute-care demand.
Dartmouth Health, Catholic Medical Center, and Elliot Health System drive most contract demand, and rural critical-access hospitals across the White Mountains and North Country regions run near-continuous 13-week cycles. Winter respiratory season through spring routinely sees the state's highest structured weekly packages, particularly for ICU, ED, and med-surg roles.
New Hampshire is a full NLC member, so travel nurses with a compact-eligible license can accept contracts immediately without endorsement delays. That structural combination — highest per-capita premium plus fastest onboarding plus rural housing stipends that stretch — makes New Hampshire the strongest single travel destination on this list on effective take-home terms.
For nurses ready to evaluate this, checking current openings by state — filtered by travel contract postings and weekly package ranges — is the fastest way to see where the premium math actually pencils out for your target start window right now.
