What a housing stipend is
The stipend is the nurse’s money, not yours: the agency pays the nurse, and the nurse pays you rent under a lease like any other tenant. What it changes is how they shop. A nurse who keeps the difference compares homes carefully — and one who finds a good midterm home tends to stay put.
How the amount is set
Each agency sets its own stipend, and it can change with the assignment. Many use the federal per diem lodging rates as a guide. For federal fiscal year 2027 (from October 1, 2026), the standard lodging rate is $113 a night in most of the continental US, plus $68 a day for meals and incidentals; about 295 higher-cost areas have their own rates, some by season.
Why the tax home matters
The IRS doesn’t use the words “housing stipend.” A tax-free stipend is how agencies apply the general rules for travel away from home: travel allowances paid under an employer’s accountable plan aren’t wages, when the worker is away from their tax home on an assignment that’s temporary — realistically expected to last a year or less. An assignment expected to run longer is indefinite. And a worker without a regular place of work needs a real main home to count — the IRS looks at factors such as whether they keep paying living expenses there that the travel duplicates. If not, they’re itinerant: their tax home is wherever they work.
That’s why travel nurses watch the one-year mark in one area, and why their stays fit a mid-term rental so well. Whether a stipend is tax-free is between the nurse and their tax adviser — not something a landlord needs to check.
What it means for landlords
- Price against the market, not the stipend. Stipends vary; comparable furnished homes near the hospital are your real competition.
- Include what they’d otherwise pay for. Utilities, Wi-Fi and a stocked kitchen make your rent easy to compare.
- Plan for extensions. In our experience 80–90% or more of travel nurses extend, some more than once — write extensions into the lease.
More on pricing, contracts and where nurses look is in renting to travel nurses.
Stipends by stay length
| Topic | Nightly (short-term) | Monthly (mid-term) | Yearly (long-term) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical traveler | A few nights for training or a conference | A 13-week nurse assignment, often extended | Someone who has taken a permanent job |
| Housing money | Hotel paid or reimbursed by the employer | A housing stipend, spent on a furnished home | None — their own rent or mortgage |
Related terms
- Per diem — the daily travel allowance, and the federal rates many stipends follow. See per diem.
- Corporate housing — furnished housing for people working away from home. See corporate housing.
- Additional living expenses (ALE) — the insurance version: a displaced household’s housing budget. See ALE.
- MTR — a mid-term rental, also called a medium-term rental. See what MTR means.
Renting to travel nurses next to nightly guests or yearly tenants? See Nexxus mid-term rental software, or open the live demo set up for mid-term — no sign-up.
Housing stipend FAQ
What is a travel nurse housing stipend?
Money a travel nurse’s staffing agency pays toward housing during an assignment, instead of providing housing itself. The nurse rents their own place — often a furnished mid-term rental near the hospital — and keeps whatever they don’t spend.
How much is a travel nurse housing stipend?
It depends on the agency and the assignment’s location. Many agencies size it from the federal GSA lodging rate for the area: for federal fiscal year 2027 the standard rate is $113 a night in most of the continental US, and about 295 higher-cost areas have their own rates.
Is a travel nurse housing stipend taxable?
It can be tax-free, but only when the IRS rules for travel away from home are met — paid under the agency’s accountable plan, to a nurse who has a real tax home they’re away from, on an assignment that’s temporary (realistically expected to last a year or less). Otherwise it’s taxable pay. That’s between the nurse and their tax adviser; IRS Publication 463 has the rules.
Do travel nurses pay for their own housing?
Those who take the stipend do: they find a place and pay rent like any tenant, then keep the difference between the stipend and what they spend. Others take agency-arranged housing instead, and the agency deals with the landlord.
Should I price my rental to match the housing stipend?
No — price against comparable furnished homes near the hospitals. Stipends vary by agency, and nurses keep what they don’t spend, so they compare. The GSA lodging rate for your area is a ceiling for a traveler’s budget, not a target.
Sources
Checked September 26, 2026. Per diem rates change every October 1.
- GSA per diem bulletin FTR 27-01 (FY2027 standard rates) and GSA per diem rates (look up any area)
- IRS Publication 463 (tax home, temporary vs indefinite assignments, itinerant workers, reimbursements and per diem allowances)
- IRS Publication 15 (amounts paid under an accountable plan aren’t wages)