Which state pays travel therapists the most after tax?

On an identical $2,595-a-week package, Texas nets $31,556 over a 13-week contract, California $31,088 and New York $30,819. The spread between the best and worst of those is $737 across the whole contract — about $57 a week. Because roughly half of a travel therapy package is untaxed stipend rather than wages, state income tax applies to a much smaller base than it does for a 1099 contractor, so the state you choose moves take-home far less than most recruiters imply.

Does working in a state with no income tax increase travel therapy pay?

Slightly. Texas has no individual income tax and still only nets $737 more than New York over a 13-week contract, because state tax applies only to the taxable wage portion of the package — about 49% of gross in a typical split. By comparison, failing to maintain a qualifying tax home makes the entire stipend taxable and costs between $5,105 and $6,671 on the same contract, depending on the state. The tax home question is roughly seven to nine times more valuable than the state question.

Travel therapy pay by state, 2026

Recruiters sell no-income-tax states hard. So here is the number: on an identical 13-week package, picking the worst of these three states instead of the best costs $737. Losing your tax home on that same contract costs $5,105 to $6,671. The question you are being sold is roughly seven to nine times less valuable than the one nobody brings up.

Every figure here is produced by the same pay calculator you can run yourself, holding the package constant and changing only the state: PT, $32/hr taxable wage, 40 hours, $1,000 weekly housing stipend, $315 weekly M&IE, 13-week contract, 48 weeks a year, single filer, qualifying tax home maintained.

The state spread, on an identical package

13-week travel therapy contract take-home by state
State	Weekly state tax	13-week net	Take-home per hour	Effective rate
Texas	$0	$31,556	$59.72	16.1%
California	−$36	$31,088	$58.82	18.9%
New York	−$57	$30,819	$58.31	20.5%

The whole state spread is $737 over thirteen weeks — about $57 a week, or 90 cents an hour. That is a real number and worth having, but it is not the thing that decides whether a contract was worth taking.

Why state tax bites so much less here than for a 1099 contractor

Roughly 51% of this package is untaxed stipend — $1,315 of the $2,595 weekly gross. State income tax only touches the $1,280 of taxable wages. A locum tenens physician on a 1099 has no untaxed portion at all, every dollar is taxable, and the same three states move their take-home by more than $31,000 a year. Same states, same rates, completely different exposure — because the base is different.

The number that actually decides it

A qualifying tax home is what makes the stipend portion untaxed. Without one, the entire $2,595 becomes taxable wages. Same contract, same state, same hours:

Effect of losing a qualifying tax home, by state
State	13-week net, tax home	13-week net, no tax home	Cost
Texas	$31,556	$26,451	−$5,105
New York	$30,819	$24,713	−$6,106
California	$31,088	$24,417	−$6,671

Put the two tables side by side and the priority is not arguable. The best state saves you $737. The tax home saves you $5,105 at minimum, and $6,671 in California — where losing it is nine times more expensive than having picked New York over Texas.

A traveller who takes a Texas contract specifically for the tax, while not maintaining a genuine tax home, has optimised the small variable and lost the large one. What a qualifying tax home actually requires →

Detailed state pages

Texas

No individual income tax, the best of the three — by $737 a contract. Worth having, worth keeping in proportion.

$31,556 per 13 weeks · $59.72/hr

California

A tiny income tax bill on the wage portion, and a State Disability Insurance deduction taken from every dollar of wages with no cap — which the headline rate does not mention.

$31,088 per 13 weeks · $58.82/hr

New York

Paid Family Leave premiums, a Yonkers surcharge, and a New York City tax you pay only if you live there — not if you merely work there.

$30,819 per 13 weeks · $58.31/hr

Why only three states have their own page

The calculator already covers all fifty states and the District of Columbia — nothing is missing from the tool. These three have written pages because each has a payroll quirk worth explaining beyond its income tax rate. More states will get a page when there is something specific to say. A page that restates a rate you can already read in a dropdown is not worth publishing.

If you work in more than one state this year

Most travellers do, and it changes the filing rather than the rate: a nonresident return in each state you earned in, a resident return in your tax home state, and a credit mechanism to stop the same income being taxed twice. The tables above model a single state and do not account for that. How multi-state filing works →

Open the calculator

Estimate only. These pages model federal, FICA and state income tax on the taxable wage portion of a package for a single filer. They do not model itemised deductions, tax credits, multi-state apportionment, state disability or paid-leave premiums, or local taxes unless stated. Cost of living is not modelled at all. TravelPayLab is an independent educational resource and not a tax adviser. Verify your position with a qualified travel-healthcare tax professional.