Travel nurse stipends and tax homes, explained
How taxable pay and tax-free housing and meal stipends work, what counts as a tax home, the one-year rule, and the federal limit agencies use.
October 12, 2026 · 6 min read
How a travel pay package is split
Agencies usually quote one weekly number, but it's built from parts that are taxed differently:
| Taxable pay | $25.00/hr × 36 hrs | $900 |
|---|---|---|
| Housing stipend | tax-free* | $1,050 |
| Meals & incidentals (M&IE) | tax-free* | $450 |
| Weekly gross | $2,400 |
Example only. *Tax-free only if you keep a qualifying tax home.
The taxable part is your hourly wage. The stipends reimburse the cost of living away from home, which is why they can be tax-free.
What a tax home is
Under IRS rules, your tax home is generally your regular or main place of business. If you don't have one, it can be the place where you regularly live. To receive tax-free travel reimbursements, you generally need to be working away from your tax home overnight while still paying for it: rent or a mortgage, utilities and the other real costs of keeping it. In other words, you're duplicating expenses.
Nurses who don't keep a home they pay for while traveling are often called itinerant. For them, stipends are generally taxable income.
The one-year rule
Work in one place that's realistically expected to last, and does last, one year or less is generally treated as temporary. If an assignment in one area is expected to last more than a year, that area can become your new tax home, and stipends there become taxable. Back-to-back extensions in the same city count toward that year.
The federal limit on stipends
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) publishes per diem rates for lodging and for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) in every county, by month. Agencies generally use these as the ceiling for tax-free stipends:
| Place and month | Lodging | Meals (M&IE) | Weekly limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas, October | $184/night | $80/day | $1,848/wk |
| Most of Texas (standard rate), October | $113/night | $68/day | $1,267/wk |
Live from the GSA per diem rates for fiscal year 2027. Every job page shows the limit for its own city and start month.
Every job on Nurse Travelers shows the limit for its city and start month, and how the offer's stipends compare to it.
Red flags
- A taxable rate near minimum wage with very large stipends. Overtime, holiday pay and some benefits are usually based on the taxable rate, so a tiny one costs you money. It can also draw IRS attention.
- Stipends above the GSA limit. The amount over the limit may be taxable. Ask how the agency handles it.
- "You don't need a tax home, it's all tax-free." That's not how it works.
- The "50-mile rule" isn't an IRS rule. Many agencies use a distance policy to decide who gets stipends, but meeting it doesn't by itself make your stipends tax-free.
What to keep
- Your lease or mortgage statements and utility bills for your tax home
- Receipts for duplicated expenses while on assignment
- Your contracts and pay stubs
- A record of time spent at your tax home between assignments
Talk to a professional
This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. Rules depend on your situation. A tax professional who works with travel nurses can tell you what applies to you.