How Much Does a Travel Therapist Make a Year?

A travel therapist’s year is the weekly package multiplied by the weeks you actually work under contract, because no federal rule pays you for the weeks between contracts. At the October 2026 Travel Therapy Pay Index median of $2,340 a week for a travel PT, every unpaid week leaves a full week’s package out of your year, and part of each paid week is stipend rather than salary.

By ProTherapy Staffing, published October 22, 2026.

What do travel therapists make per week?

The Travel Therapy Pay Index, which ProTherapy Staffing, the publisher of this site, computes from its live contracts, gives these October 2026 medians for weekly gross pay:

Weekly gross means taxable wages plus the housing and meals stipends, before tax. A median is the middle of current postings, not an offer, and it moves from month to month, so check the month on any figure you plan around.

How do you turn a weekly travel rate into a yearly income?

Multiply the weekly gross by the weeks you expect to be under contract, not by every week of the year. Then make three adjustments.

The result is a gross figure for the year. To compare it with anything else, you still need to know how much of it is stipend.

If you want a year of contracts mapped out with real weekly offers, ask a ProTherapy recruiter: Find my next contract.

How does a travel year compare with a staff salary?

A staff salary is an annual figure, paid across the year and taxed in full. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median annual wage for physical therapists at $102,760 in its May 2025 estimates, across all employers, not travel contracts only.

A travel figure is built differently. Part of it is stipend, which IRS Publication 463 keeps out of box 1 of your W-2 when the allowance is at or below the federal rate. The same gross leaves more after tax when more of it is stipend, and a weekly figure multiplied out can land above or below a salary depending on how many weeks you worked.

So compare take-home over the weeks you actually work, and count what a staff job adds, such as paid leave or a retirement match, if the job you are weighing offers them.

What happens to your income between contracts?

Pay stops, and so may your health coverage if it came through the agency. HealthCare.gov says that after you lose job-based coverage, “you need to apply for Marketplace coverage within 60 days of losing your job-based coverage.” Put the premium for any gap into your year, as the health insurance guide on this site sets out.

Gaps also touch your tax home. Publication 463’s third tax home factor mentions whether you “often use that home for lodging,” and the weeks between contracts are a natural time to do that. A gap spent at your tax home costs a week of pay but supports the stipends that make the other weeks worth more.

Which numbers should you write down to plan your year?

With those, the year is arithmetic rather than a guess, and you can test a plan with a longer or shorter gap before you sign the next contract. State detail is on the salary-by-state pages, and setting differences on pay by setting.

Frequently asked questions

Do travel therapists get paid between contracts?

Not by any federal requirement. The Department of Labor says the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations or holidays. Some agencies offer paid time off, so ask whether an offer includes it and how it builds up.

Is the pay index median an annual salary?

No. The October 2026 Travel Therapy Pay Index medians are weekly gross figures from current postings: $2,340 for travel PT, $2,280 for OT and SLP, and $1,540 for PTA and COTA. Multiply by the weeks you will work to get a year.

How does a travel PT year compare with the BLS median?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics median annual wage for physical therapists was $102,760 in May 2025. That is all taxable wages, across all employers. A travel year mixes taxable wages with stipends, so compare after-tax take-home over the weeks you work, not gross against gross.

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