NICU RN contract pay — advertised weekly rates
Median $2,160 a week across 3,790 live NICU RN listings with posted pay, as of September 16, 2026 — −1.5% against the all-specialty national median of $2,194.
- $2,160median per week−1.5% vs national
- $1,944–$2,45225th–75th percentilemiddle half of listings
- $2,220mean per week−1.2% vs national
- $59.12median hourly equivalentfrom 3,648 listings with posted hours
- 3,790listings with posted paylive listings, updated every 6 hours
What these figures are
Advertised contract rates, not earned wages. Every number on this page comes from a live RN listing for NICU that posted a rate — 3,790 of them as of September 16, 2026. 95% are travel contracts, so the figures describe what agencies and employers are offering for contract work this week, usually including housing and meal stipends — not staff salaries and not what any nurse took home. A further 263 listings for NICU post no rate and are excluded. Weekly figures use the top of each advertised range; hourly equivalents divide by the posted hours where a listing gives them. These figures are complementary to BLS wage data, which reports earned staff wages annually — they are not a substitute for it. Full methodology.
| Group | Listings | 25th pct / wk | Median / wk | 75th pct / wk | Mean / wk | Median hourly equiv. | vs national median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NICU | 3,790 | $1,944 | $2,160 | $2,452 | $2,220 | $59.12 (n=3,648) | −1.5% |
| National | 155,180 | $1,965 | $2,194 | $2,485 | $2,248 | $59.33 (n=147,568) | — |
States, ranked by median
| # | State | Listings | Median / wk | 25th–75th pct / wk | Median hourly equiv. | vs national | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Illinois | 34 | $2,685 | $2,566–$2,769 | $74.58 | +22.4% | 34 jobs |
| 2 | New York | 30 | $2,680 | $2,542–$2,792 | $73.22 | +22.2% | 30 jobs |
| 3 | California | 278 | $2,592 | $2,345–$3,090 | $71.00 | +18.1% | 278 jobs |
| 4 | North Dakota | 87 | $2,580 | $2,388–$2,796 | $67.26 | +17.6% | 87 jobs |
| 5 | Nevada | 31 | $2,546 | $2,384–$2,633 | $70.07 | +16.0% | 31 jobs |
| 6 | New Hampshire | 36 | $2,520 | $2,478–$2,845 | $70.00 | +14.9% | 36 jobs |
| 7 | New Jersey | 144 | $2,484 | $2,272–$2,646 | $68.99 | +13.2% | 144 jobs |
| 8 | Connecticut | 51 | $2,483 | $2,378–$2,641 | $67.90 | +13.2% | 51 jobs |
| 9 | Massachusetts | 96 | $2,481 | $2,174–$2,716 | $70.31 | +13.1% | 96 jobs |
| 10 | Arkansas | 32 | $2,400 | $2,316–$2,483 | $66.64 | +9.4% | 32 jobs |
| 11 | Pennsylvania | 63 | $2,380 | $2,202–$2,656 | $64.76 | +8.5% | 63 jobs |
| 12 | Oregon | 51 | $2,378 | $2,221–$2,463 | $65.89 | +8.4% | 51 jobs |
| 13 | Wisconsin | 58 | $2,360 | $2,236–$2,469 | $65.28 | +7.6% | 58 jobs |
| 14 | Arizona | 150 | $2,329 | $2,189–$2,443 | $64.67 | +6.2% | 150 jobs |
| 15 | Ohio | 149 | $2,259 | $1,910–$2,483 | $62.14 | +3.0% | 149 jobs |
| 16 | South Carolina | 44 | $2,240 | $1,958–$2,647 | $54.73 | +2.1% | 44 jobs |
| 17 | Oklahoma | 38 | $2,216 | $1,926–$2,396 | $62.64 | +1.0% | 38 jobs |
| 18 | Michigan | 44 | $2,201 | $2,085–$2,398 | $61.14 | +0.3% | 44 jobs |
| 19 | Virginia | 266 | $2,192 | $2,040–$2,394 | $59.28 | −0.1% | 266 jobs |
| 20 | Washington | 170 | $2,156 | $2,010–$2,461 | $58.10 | −1.7% | 170 jobs |
| 21 | Indiana | 162 | $2,138 | $1,953–$2,357 | $57.50 | −2.6% | 162 jobs |
| 22 | New Mexico | 36 | $2,138 | $2,062–$2,268 | $59.36 | −2.6% | 36 jobs |
| 23 | Kansas | 85 | $2,098 | $1,886–$2,325 | $56.33 | −4.4% | 85 jobs |
| 24 | Maryland | 65 | $2,054 | $1,969–$2,273 | $57.03 | −6.4% | 65 jobs |
| 25 | Colorado | 266 | $2,043 | $1,936–$2,190 | $56.58 | −6.9% | 266 jobs |
| 26 | Tennessee | 160 | $1,976 | $1,848–$2,105 | $54.72 | −9.9% | 160 jobs |
| 27 | Texas | 597 | $1,971 | $1,764–$2,142 | $54.61 | −10.2% | 597 jobs |
| 28 | Louisiana | 146 | $1,922 | $1,781–$2,046 | $53.14 | −12.4% | 146 jobs |
| 29 | North Carolina | 147 | $1,875 | $1,784–$1,977 | $51.78 | −14.5% | 147 jobs |
| 30 | Georgia | 91 | $1,666 | $1,514–$1,926 | $46.00 | −24.1% | 91 jobs |
Too few listings to rank (under 30): Missouri (28), Florida (27), South Dakota (23), Hawaii (21), Minnesota (18), Washington, DC (16), Montana (11), Kentucky (10), Mississippi (7), Nebraska (7), Idaho (5), Utah (3), Vermont (2), West Virginia (2), Delaware (1), Iowa (1), Wyoming (1).
By work type
| Work type | Listings | Median / wk | 25th–75th pct / wk | Mean / wk | Median hourly equiv. | vs national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | 3,612 | $2,167 | $1,960–$2,462 | $2,230 | $59.28 (n=3,481) | −1.2% |
| Contract | 161 | $1,980 | $1,764–$2,268 | $2,016 | $55.00 (n=159) | −9.8% |
| Full-time | 14 | too few listings to report (under 30) | ||||
| Not stated | 2 | too few listings to report (under 30) | ||||
| Per diem / PRN | 1 | too few listings to report (under 30) | ||||
By shift
| Shift | Listings | Median / wk | 25th–75th pct / wk | Mean / wk | Median hourly equiv. | vs national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nights | 2,407 | $2,137 | $1,920–$2,398 | $2,177 | $58.78 (n=2,402) | −2.6% |
| Days | 881 | $2,160 | $1,946–$2,488 | $2,238 | $59.26 (n=876) | −1.5% |
| Not stated | 368 | $2,274 | $2,016–$2,629 | $2,363 | $57.97 (n=237) | +3.6% |
| Rotating | 120 | $2,427 | $2,279–$2,580 | $2,473 | $66.89 (n=119) | +10.6% |
| Evenings | 14 | too few listings to report (under 30) | ||||
Cite this page
RN Jobs Near Me. (2026). NICU RN contract pay — advertised weekly rates. Retrieved September 16, 2026 from https://rnjobsnearme.com/rn-salary/nicu. Data as of September 16, 2026.
Licence: CC BY 4.0. Reproduce the figures, tables and charts freely — in print or online — with attribution to RN Jobs Near Me and a link. Figures are advertised contract rates from live listings, not earned wages; the methodology explains what is and is not counted. The numbers on this page are also available as CSV, with the citation and licence on its first line.