NICU RN contract pay — advertised weekly rates
Median $2,344 a week across 3,408 live NICU RN listings with posted pay, as of October 31, 2026 — +4.3% against the all-specialty national median of $2,247.
- $2,344median per week+4.3% vs national
- $2,088–$2,60125th–75th percentilemiddle half of listings
- $2,368mean per week+2.9% vs national
- $63.75median hourly equivalentfrom 3,245 listings with posted hours
- 3,408listings 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 — 3,408 of them as of October 31, 2026. 93% 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 21 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 | 3,408 | $2,088 | $2,344 | $2,601 | $2,368 | $63.75 (n=3,245) | +4.3% |
| National | 168,559 | $1,997 | $2,247 | $2,545 | $2,301 | $60.30 (n=159,145) | — |
States, ranked by median
| # | State | Listings | Median / wk | 25th–75th pct / wk | Median hourly equiv. | vs national | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota | 47 | $2,646 | $2,425–$2,862 | $72.63 | +17.8% | 47 jobs |
| 2 | California | 594 | $2,596 | $2,404–$2,854 | $71.03 | +15.5% | 594 jobs |
| 3 | Oregon | 70 | $2,595 | $2,426–$2,864 | $71.83 | +15.5% | 70 jobs |
| 4 | Massachusetts | 61 | $2,587 | $2,412–$2,700 | $71.58 | +15.1% | 61 jobs |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 70 | $2,576 | $2,442–$2,726 | $71.19 | +14.6% | 70 jobs |
| 6 | New Jersey | 95 | $2,530 | $2,344–$2,630 | $70.25 | +12.6% | 95 jobs |
| 7 | Illinois | 66 | $2,485 | $2,366–$2,608 | $69.03 | +10.6% | 66 jobs |
| 8 | Wisconsin | 70 | $2,477 | $2,375–$2,558 | $68.67 | +10.2% | 70 jobs |
| 9 | Connecticut | 51 | $2,464 | $2,320–$2,520 | $68.06 | +9.7% | 51 jobs |
| 10 | New York | 59 | $2,455 | $2,236–$2,613 | $67.35 | +9.3% | 59 jobs |
| 11 | Washington | 221 | $2,376 | $2,232–$2,599 | $64.67 | +5.7% | 221 jobs |
| 12 | Virginia | 121 | $2,344 | $2,095–$2,522 | $63.67 | +4.3% | 121 jobs |
| 13 | Ohio | 149 | $2,342 | $2,016–$2,557 | $65.10 | +4.2% | 149 jobs |
| 14 | Arizona | 180 | $2,333 | $2,208–$2,439 | $64.81 | +3.8% | 180 jobs |
| 15 | Arkansas | 48 | $2,330 | $2,016–$2,420 | $63.86 | +3.7% | 48 jobs |
| 16 | New Mexico | 68 | $2,286 | $2,050–$2,566 | $58.40 | +1.7% | 68 jobs |
| 17 | Kansas | 55 | $2,284 | $2,151–$2,565 | $59.35 | +1.6% | 55 jobs |
| 18 | Colorado | 212 | $2,231 | $2,098–$2,376 | $61.75 | −0.7% | 212 jobs |
| 19 | Indiana | 144 | $2,204 | $2,018–$2,536 | $60.38 | −1.9% | 144 jobs |
| 20 | Texas | 343 | $2,123 | $1,840–$2,300 | $58.76 | −5.5% | 343 jobs |
| 21 | Michigan | 31 | $2,080 | $1,920–$2,166 | $58.53 | −7.4% | 31 jobs |
| 22 | Florida | 46 | $2,044 | $1,878–$2,200 | $56.38 | −9.0% | 46 jobs |
| 23 | Louisiana | 131 | $2,041 | $1,898–$2,400 | $54.88 | −9.2% | 131 jobs |
| 24 | Maryland | 50 | $2,022 | $1,954–$2,123 | $55.86 | −10.0% | 50 jobs |
| 25 | Missouri | 39 | $1,937 | $1,831–$2,070 | $53.64 | −13.8% | 39 jobs |
| 26 | North Carolina | 70 | $1,862 | $1,782–$1,977 | $51.63 | −17.1% | 70 jobs |
| 27 | Georgia | 150 | $1,831 | $1,673–$2,102 | $50.86 | −18.5% | 150 jobs |
Too few listings to rank (under 30): Oklahoma (26), South Carolina (19), South Dakota (19), Tennessee (19), Wyoming (15), Alaska (14), Montana (13), Alabama (8), Delaware (8), Hawaii (8), New Hampshire (7), Nebraska (6), Minnesota (2), Iowa (1), Kentucky (1), Utah (1).
By work type
| Work type | Listings | Median / wk | 25th–75th pct / wk | Mean / wk | Median hourly equiv. | vs national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | 3,153 | $2,364 | $2,106–$2,617 | $2,391 | $64.00 (n=3,008) | +5.2% |
| Contract | 223 | $2,160 | $1,908–$2,376 | $2,136 | $60.00 (n=223) | −3.9% |
| Full-time | 31 | $1,620 | $1,548–$2,088 | $1,787 | $58.00 (n=14) | −27.9% |
| 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 | 2,267 | $2,333 | $2,068–$2,579 | $2,345 | $63.46 (n=2,262) | +3.8% |
| Days | 792 | $2,331 | $2,088–$2,580 | $2,338 | $64.19 (n=781) | +3.7% |
| Not stated | 235 | $2,553 | $2,192–$2,883 | $2,592 | $59.75 (n=90) | +13.6% |
| Rotating | 106 | $2,532 | $2,342–$2,746 | $2,588 | $68.61 (n=105) | +12.7% |
| Evenings | 8 | too few listings to report (under 30) | ||||
Cite this page
RN Jobs Near Me. (2026). NICU RN contract pay — advertised weekly rates. Retrieved November 1, 2026 from https://rnjobsnearme.com/rn-salary/nicu. Data as of October 31, 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.