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Skilled nurses and other healthcare professionals are always in demand, but COVID-19 and the continued spread of the Delta variant have made them more needed than ever, especially in the ICU. Many states saw travel worker healthcare wages in the ICU increase over July 2021, while other states recorded drops in healthcare pay rates. A few states had little movement in healthcare pay, so wages remained about the same. Stay ahead of market trends by exploring ICU healthcare wage trends during July in all 50 states.
States With Wage Increases
All but seven states saw ICU healthcare wages increase during July, some by much more than others. Of these 43 states, Vermont recorded the highest overall increase at 34.2% and South Dakota had the lowest at 2.7%. The top three states with hefty wage increases also recorded rising COVID cases.
- Vermont has seen a distinct uptick in COVID-19 cases. The state recorded 34 new COVID diagnoses during the week ending June 28, which rose to 282 in just five short weeks.
- After months of relatively stable cases, Wyoming’s health department noted a sharp increase, largely due to the Delta variant. Wyoming had 47 confirmed COVID cases on July 1, which doubled to 94 by August 1.
- Covid-19 numbers are rising quickly in Mississippi and there’s already an extreme shortage of intensive care beds statewide. On July 1, Mississippi recorded 113 patients with confirmed infections, 36 patients in ICUs, and 12 patients on ventilators. By July 31, there were 907 patients with confirmed infections, 250 in ICUs, and 124 on ventilators.
| State | Average Weekly Pay July 1 |
Average Weekly Pay July 31 |
Percent Increase |
| Vermont | $1,782 | $2,392 | 34.2% |
| Wyoming | $2,055 | $2,628 | 27.9% |
| Mississippi | $1,949 | $2,469 | 26.7% |
| Kansas | $1,955 | $2,466 | 26.1% |
| Idaho | $2,083 | $2,495 | 19.8% |
| Oklahoma | $2,224 | $2,613 | 17.5% |
| Louisiana | $2,039 | $2,365 | 16% |
| Arizona | $2,119 | $2,456 | 15.9% |
| Florida | $2,133 | $2,460 | 15.5% |
| South Carolina | $2,079 | $2,388 | 14.9% |
| Alaska | $1,869 | $2,140 | 14.5% |
| Georgia | $2,255 | $2,580 | 14.4% |
| Minnesota | $2,366 | $2,702 | 14.2% |
| New Hampshire | $2,038 | $2,318 | 13.7% |
| Texas | $2,062 | $2,343 | 13.6% |
| Virginia | $2,024 | $2,279 | 12.6% |
| Arkansas | $2,199 | $2,464 | 12% |
| Maine | $2,084 | $2,334 | 12% |
| Connecticut | $2,330 | $2,604 | 11.8% |
| New York | $2,237 | $2,489 | 11.3% |
| Missouri | $2,395 | $2,655 | 10.9% |
| California | $2,383 | $2,619 | 9.9% |
| Washington | $2,146 | $2,345 | 9.3% |
| Massachusetts | $2,349 | $2,553 | 8.7% |
| Alabama | $1,931 | $2,092 | 8.3% |
| Wisconsin | $2,300 | $2,487 | 8.1% |
| North Carolina | $2,152 | $2,309 | 7.3% |
| Kentucky | $2,174 | $2,327 | 7% |
| Oregon | $2,310 | $2,471 | 7% |
| Nevada | $2,243 | $2,397 | 6.9% |
| Iowa | $2,267 | $2,418 | 6.7% |
| Hawaii | $2,194 | $2,331 | 6.2% |
| Tennessee | $2,085 | $2,215 | 6.2% |
| Utah | $2,120 | $2,233 | 5.3% |
| Michigan | $2,178 | $2,284 | 4.9% |
| New Mexico | $2,343 | $2,456 | 4.8% |
| West Virginia | $2,043 | $2,137 | 4.6% |
| Pennsylvania | $2,362 | $2,469 | 4.5% |
| Illinois | $2,349 | $2,433 | 3.6% |
| Maryland | $2,295 | $2,358 | 2.8% |
| South Dakota | $2,339 | $2,402 | 2.7% |
States With Wage Decreases
Due to the current demand for healthcare professionals, it isn’t surprising that only three states saw healthcare pay rates decrease in July 2021. Montana had the largest drop with an 11.5% decrease in healthcare wages, despite 59 daily COVID-19 cases on July 1 jumping to 151 by July 31.
| State | Average Weekly Pay July 1 |
Average Weekly Pay July 31 |
Percent Increase |
| Ohio | $2,210 | $2,231 | -1% |
| Colorado | $2,341 | $2,281 | -2.6% |
| Montana | $2,409 | $2,131 | -11.5% |
States That Stayed the Same
Healthcare wages in four states stayed relatively the same throughout July. The overall change in pay rate between July 1 and July 31 was less than 1%.
| State | Average Weekly Pay July 1 |
Average Weekly Pay July 31 |
Percent Increase |
| Indiana | $2,417 | $2,404 | -0.5% |
| New Jersey | $2,356 | $2,342 | -0.6% |
| North Dakota | $2,710 | $2,686 | -0.9% |
| Nebraska | $2,499 | $2,476 | -0.9% |
Thank you for this information. Greatly appreciated!
Hospitals are utilizing LPNs to fill in the gaps more during this pandemic. LPNs are working along side RNs doing 95-99%, in some cases 100% of the exact role as an RN. Hospitals should be ashamed of the pay rate being offered to the LPN. Sure, in some cases the pay should not be the exact same, but we are putting our lives in as much danger working on Covid units. As an LPN with 14 yrs of hospital med surge/ ICU experience, I’m highly insulted!!
I hate that our wages are always posted as weekly, monthly or annually and not hourly. Everyone avoids showing how brutally we are overworked for the wages published. People have this idea we have inflated salaries because they have a misunderstanding of our hours working to get them.
Good go see this transparency. May consider a contract.
What truly angers me is a person working at McDonalds makes and starts at $15/hr!! A skilled Phlebotomist such as myself can only start at $12-$12.75/hr!!! REALLY???!!! We don’t NEED fast food but we truly need people to work in the medical field and to be paid like we are needed!!!
Thank you for taking the time to share this information. It is very much appreciated.
Thank you for taking the the time out to send the caregivers this information that is important to the travelers. Alot oh agency don’t go this part nor put the information out there for us to know. Thanks again for your concern.