Short answer: if you are moving to Miami on a travel contract in 2026, the average package is US$2,331 a week — and the specialty at the top of the Miami table this week is not the one most nurses expect. In Vivian Health’s Miami snapshot of October 16, 2026 (662 active jobs), Med Surg / Telemetry averages US$2,701 a week, followed by CVOR at US$2,589 and Pediatric CVOR at US$2,577, with Pediatric CVOR holding the highest ceiling in the city at US$3,027 a week. Over a 13-week contract that is US$35,113 for the top specialty against US$30,303 at the city average — a gap of US$4,810. But I tell every nurse I relocate the same thing: in Miami the specialty ranking is the shakiest number on the page, and the cost of living in Miami — what your stipend actually covers after rent — decides what you keep. Read the ranking, then read the three sections after it before you choose a contract on it.
Updated: October 17, 2026.
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Moving to Miami: Miami travel nurse pay in 2026, specialty by specialty
The literal question — Miami travel nurse pay in 2026: the specialties with the highest rates — deserves a literal answer first. This is Vivian’s Miami table, captured October 16, 2026, with the 13-week totals I compute for the nurses I work with, because nobody lives on a weekly rate — you live on a contract.
| Specialty (Miami, Vivian, Oct 16, 2026) | Average per week | Highest posted per week | Gross over 13 weeks at the average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Med Surg / Telemetry | US$2,701 | US$2,701 | US$35,113 |
| CVOR (cardiovascular operating room) | US$2,589 | US$2,975 | US$33,657 |
| Pediatric CVOR | US$2,577 | US$3,027 | US$33,501 |
| All travel specialties, Miami average | US$2,331 | — | US$30,303 |
| Florida average (all specialties) | US$2,108 | — | US$27,404 |
| US average (all specialties) | US$2,223 | — | US$28,899 |
Miami pays 10% above the Florida average and 5% above the US average on Vivian’s numbers, and Florida charges no state income tax — a real edge over a New York or California package with the same headline rate, though federal tax and the tax-home rules in the section below apply in full. Context from the official side: in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ OEWS survey for May 2024, healthcare practitioners in the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach metro averaged US$49.32 an hour as a staff group — travel blended rates sit well above staff pay because roughly three-quarters of a travel package is stipends, not wages, as the next section shows. And one live marker from this week: a Cardiac Cath Lab RN contract at Mercy Hospital in Miami was posted at up to US$2,650 a week, with 29 agencies competing to fill the same job — which is your first clue that the agency you choose moves your pay as much as the specialty does.
Cost of living in Miami: what each specialty actually keeps after rent
A weekly rate is not take-home until housing is paid, so here is the comparison I actually run. The furnished benchmark this site has priced all autumn is US$2,100 a month — about US$485 a week — while Zumper’s October 2026 medians for Miami put a conventional 1-bedroom at US$2,500 a month (about US$577 a week) and the citywide median at US$3,000. Against the furnished benchmark, housing takes 20.8% of the average package and 18.0% of a Med Surg / Telemetry package. Over 13 weeks, after three months of that furnished rent (US$6,300), the average contract leaves US$24,003 before food, transport and your tax-home costs — the top specialty leaves US$28,813. That US$4,810 specialty gap is real money, but it is smaller than the two leaks I watch for: booking the same home through a platform that adds roughly US$940 in guest fees over a Furnished Finder or direct deal, and a deposit held a month too long — our guide to security deposits in Miami explains the amounts landlords charge and the 15-to-30-day return deadlines Florida law sets. Where you live matters as much as the rate: the nurses who keep the most are usually within a short commute of their campus, which is why I map pay and housing together in my guide to the best hospitals for travel nurse contracts in Miami and in the full SETTLE guides to moving to Miami and the best neighborhoods in Miami.
The split that matters more than the specialty: taxable wages vs. stipends
Two contracts at “US$2,300 a week” can pay very differently, because a travel package is a blended rate. One real Miami posting this autumn — an operating room RN contract listed on Vivian — showed the anatomy plainly: US$2,126 a week in total, split into US$576 a week of estimated taxable pay and US$1,550 a week of estimated non-taxable stipends. About 73% of that package is stipends. Three consequences follow. First, compare blended weekly totals for your own specialty across at least two agencies, never hourly rates: on Vivian’s Miami page, the top-paying agencies average US$3,027, US$2,826 and US$2,779 a week for travel nurses in the same city — a spread of US$250 a week between reputable agencies before specialty enters the conversation. Second, the stipend side is capped by the GSA per-diem rates for Miami-Dade, and the cap is seasonal: lodging US$151 a night in October–November rising to US$244 in February–March, plus meals at US$92 a day — so the legal tax-free ceiling rises from US$1,701 a week in fall to US$2,352 a week in late winter. The same specialty, at the same hospital, can carry more tax-free pay in February than in October; I break that mechanism down in travel nurse stipends vs. Miami rents: does the math work? Third, that tax-free treatment survives only while you keep a tax home and the assignment stays temporary under IRS Publication 463 — realistically expected to last one year or less. The winter premium that fills Miami’s hospitals is the same season that fills its rentals — the dynamic behind the Canadian snowbird guide to a Miami winter — so the best-paid months are also the most expensive months to house yourself. Price both sides before you sign.
What most people don’t know
Miami’s ranking is inverted against the national one — and that tells you how thin it is. Nationally, across open contracts, the median table runs almost opposite to Miami’s: RN First Assistant at US$3,114 a week, CVOR US$2,681, Cath Lab US$2,540, Labor & Delivery US$2,514 — while Med-Surg (US$2,113) and Telemetry (US$2,101) sit near the bottom. In Miami’s snapshot they sit at the top, on a table that lists only three specialties. That is a mix effect — a few well-paid telemetry postings in a 662-job week — not a durable Miami premium for the specialty. Vivian’s own city average moved from US$2,306 (514 jobs) on October 15 to US$2,331 (662 jobs) on October 16: one day, 148 postings, a different “average.” Treat any city’s specialty crown as a photograph, not a promise, and negotiate from live postings in your specialty.
The highest ceiling in Miami belongs to a specialty most rankings never print. Pediatric CVOR’s average (US$2,577) trails CVOR’s, but its top posted rate — US$3,027 a week, US$39,351 over 13 weeks — is the highest in the city, at the children’s-hospital end of the market. Scarce sub-specialties price on scarcity, not on averages: if you hold a rare certification or a paediatric or cardiac subspecialty, your negotiable ceiling is set by the one posting that needs exactly you, and the average for your specialty understates it.
Losing your tax-free stipends costs more than the specialty gap pays. The gap between the top specialty and the city average is US$370 a week. The stipend portion of a typical Miami package is around US$1,550 a week. If your assignment becomes “indefinite” in the IRS’s eyes — because your time in the Miami area is realistically expected to pass 12 months — that stipend portion turns into taxable wages from the moment the expectation changes, and no specialty premium in the table covers the tax bill. Protect the tax home, count your cumulative months in the metro, and get a professional ruling before a fourth consecutive contract — I explain the clock in the extension guide on this site.
Your licence decides whether the top rate is even available to you. Florida has been a Nurse Licensure Compact state since January 2018: if your primary licence is a multistate licence from another compact state, you can practise in Florida without a separate Florida licence. Nurses from non-compact states must apply by endorsement — a process nurses commonly report at four to eight weeks — and APRNs are not covered by the compact at all, which is why APRN and CRNA travel rates, however high nationally, do not belong in an RN ranking: they are a different licence, a different application and a different timeline. Check your eligibility before you fall in love with a Miami rate.
Frequently asked questions
Which travel nurse specialty pays the most in Miami in 2026?
In Vivian Health’s October 16, 2026 snapshot, Med Surg / Telemetry has the highest average at US$2,701 a week, followed by CVOR at US$2,589 and Pediatric CVOR at US$2,577. Pediatric CVOR has the highest posted ceiling at US$3,027 a week. The ranking is a one-week snapshot of 662 jobs and moves with the postings — verify live rates for your specialty before deciding.
How much does a travel nurse make in Miami over a full 13-week contract?
At the October 2026 averages: about US$30,303 at the city average of US$2,331 a week, US$33,657 in CVOR and US$35,113 in Med Surg / Telemetry. After three months of furnished rent at the US$2,100-a-month benchmark this site tracks, that leaves roughly US$24,003 to US$28,813 before food, transport, taxes on the wage portion and your tax-home costs.
Why does the same specialty pay more in winter in Miami?
Two seasonal forces stack: hospitals staff up for the winter census, and the GSA per-diem cap that limits tax-free stipends rises — lodging from US$151 a night in fall to US$244 in February–March, lifting the tax-free ceiling from US$1,701 to US$2,352 a week. Winter rents rise in the same months, so compare the package and the housing quote for the same dates.
Do I need a Florida nursing licence to take a Miami contract?
If you hold a multistate licence from another Nurse Licensure Compact state, no — Florida has recognised compact licences since 2018 for RNs and LPNs. If your home state is not compact, you apply to the Florida Board of Nursing by endorsement, which takes weeks, so start before you apply for contracts. APRNs are not covered by the compact and need Florida licensure in their own right.
This article is general information about relocation and pay planning, not tax, legal or career advice. Pay figures are Vivian Health’s published Miami snapshot of October 16, 2026 and national open-contract medians as published the same month; both move daily. Per-diem caps are the GSA FY2027 rates for Miami-Dade; tax summarised from IRS Publication 463 and 26 USC 162(a). Confirm your own licence, package split and tax position with your agency and professionals before signing.
Yara Coker — SETTLE, relocation services in Miami.
Want help with your move to Miami?
Send me your specialty, your contract dates and the weekly package you were quoted — I will check the taxable/stipend split against the GSA ceiling for your dates, price housing near your hospital against the stipend, and tell you honestly whether the contract leaves you ahead after Miami rent.
Sources
Vivian Health, average travel nurse salary in Miami, FL (updated October 16, 2026; 662 active jobs in the last 7 days): Miami average US$2,331/week, Florida US$2,108, United States US$2,223; highest-paying Miami specialties Med Surg / Telemetry US$2,701 avg (max US$2,701), CVOR US$2,589 avg (max US$2,975), Pediatric CVOR US$2,577 avg (max US$3,027); top agencies All Medical Personnel – Nursing US$3,027/week, Pulse Healthcare Services US$2,826, Healthworks Inc US$2,779; Cardiac Cath Lab RN posting at Mercy Hospital, Miami, up to US$2,650/week. The same page updated October 15, 2026 showed US$2,306/week across 514 jobs — figures move daily, as noted in the article. Vivian Health job detail, Travel Nurse RN – OR, Miami (LanceSoft): estimated total US$2,126/week = US$576/week estimated taxable pay + US$1,550/week estimated non-taxable stipends. Stellar Nurse, highest-paying travel nursing jobs market table (open contracts, accessed October 2026): national medians RNFA US$3,114, CVOR US$2,681, Interventional Radiology US$2,550, Cath Lab US$2,540, Labor & Delivery US$2,514, PICU US$2,448, OR US$2,308, NICU US$2,274, ICU US$2,223, Emergency Department US$2,220, Med-Surg US$2,113, Telemetry US$2,101. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, May 2024 (release 25-636-ATL): healthcare practitioners and technical occupations mean wage US$49.32/hour in the Miami metro. U.S. General Services Administration, FY2027 per-diem rates for Miami-Dade County, Florida: lodging cap US$151/night Oct–Nov, US$219 Dec–Jan, US$244 Feb–Mar, US$194 Apr–May, US$151 Jun–Sep; meals and incidental expenses US$92/day. Internal Revenue Service, Publication 463 and 26 USC 162(a): an assignment realistically expected to last 1 year or less is temporary; expected to last more than 1 year it is indefinite and living-expense payments become taxable, from the point the expectation changes. Florida Board of Nursing / Nurse Licensure Compact: Florida joined the NLC on January 19, 2018; multistate RN/LPN licences from other compact states are recognised; APRNs are not covered; endorsement processing commonly reported at 4–8 weeks. Zumper rent research, Miami, FL (updated October 16, 2026): median rent US$3,000/month, 1-bedroom US$2,500, 2-bedroom US$2,900. Furnished benchmark (same unit at US$2,100/month; US$6,419 Furnished Finder vs. US$7,359 Airbnb over 3 months before taxes): this site’s comparison, October 14, 2026. All 13-week totals, weekly rent conversions and percentage shares were computed from the figures above for this article, October 17, 2026.
Versión en español: Vivir en Miami: salarios de travel nurse en Miami en 2026 — las especialidades mejor pagadas
