How to Compare Two Travel Contracts Side by Side
July 5, 2026 · ADEX Healthcare Staffing
Two offers land in your inbox on the same day. One looks better at first glance. It almost always does. The problem is that the number recruiters lead with - the weekly gross - is the least useful figure for comparison. Here is a structured way to work through both offers so you are comparing the same things.
Set Up the Comparison Sheet
Before you do any math, write down every variable for each contract in the same format. Missing one line item is how people end up surprised at tax time or when housing falls through.
For each offer, capture:
- Weekly gross (taxable wages + non-taxable stipends combined)
- Taxable hourly rate
- Non-taxable housing stipend (weekly)
- Non-taxable meals and incidentals stipend (weekly)
- Guaranteed hours per week
- Overtime threshold and rate
- Contract length in weeks
- Shift (days, nights, rotating)
- Housing situation (agency-provided or stipend-only)
- Completion bonus, if any
- Cancellation policy (how many hours of notice before you lose pay)
Now run the two example offers below through that list.
The Two Offers
Offer A is a 13-week ICU contract in a mid-size city in TX. The recruiter quotes $2,340/week gross. Breakdown: $18/hr taxable base, 36 guaranteed hours, $1,296 weekly housing stipend, $462 weekly M&IE stipend. No completion bonus. Agency-provided housing is available but the stipend-only option is what is quoted. Cancellation policy: facility can cancel with 2 hours notice and you are only guaranteed 16 hours of pay that week.
Offer B is a 13-week ICU contract in a mid-size city in FL. The recruiter quotes $2,190/week gross. Breakdown: $22/hr taxable base, 36 guaranteed hours, $1,002 weekly housing stipend, $396 weekly M&IE stipend. $500 completion bonus paid at end of contract. Cancellation policy: facility guarantees 36 hours of pay per week regardless of census.
At first glance, Offer A pays $150 more per week. Over 13 weeks that looks like $1,950 extra. But keep reading.
The Math That Changes the Answer
Taxable Base Rate
Your taxable base rate matters for two reasons: it feeds into overtime calculations, and it is what counts toward Social Security, unemployment, and sometimes retirement contributions. Offer B's $22/hr base means overtime (anything over 40 hours) pays $33/hr. Offer A's $18/hr base means overtime pays $27/hr. If you pick up even one overtime shift per four-week block, that gap compounds.
Stipend Legitimacy
High stipends are only legal and audit-safe if you maintain a tax home and are genuinely duplicating living expenses. If you do not have a qualifying tax home, the non-taxable portion of your pay is taxable income you are not withholding on - a problem that shows up when you file. Offer A's stipend structure is more aggressive. That is not automatically disqualifying, but it is worth asking your recruiter to show you how the package was built and whether it passes the IRS "reasonable" test for your specific tax home location.
Cancellation Risk
Offer A's cancellation clause is the biggest red flag in this comparison. A 2-hour notice window with only 16 hours of guaranteed pay means a slow census week could cost you roughly $1,000 in expected income. Offer B guarantees your 36 hours regardless. Over a 13-week contract, if you hit even two low-census weeks under Offer A's terms, you could lose $1,500 to $2,000 in pay that never appeared in the recruiter's headline number.
Completion Bonus
Offer B's $500 completion bonus is modest but real. Add it to the guaranteed-hours advantage and the taxable base difference, and Offer B starts looking competitive or better depending on your situation.
The Adjusted Comparison
| Factor | Offer A (TX) | Offer B (FL) |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly gross (quoted) | $2,340 | $2,190 |
| Taxable hourly base | $18 | $22 |
| Guaranteed hours | 16 hrs (low census) | 36 hrs |
| Completion bonus | None | $500 |
| 13-week gross (no disruption) | $30,420 | $28,470 |
| 13-week gross (2 low-census weeks) | ~$28,420 | $28,470 |
| 13-week gross with bonus | ~$28,420 | $28,970 |
Once you account for two realistic low-census weeks and the completion bonus, Offer B pays more over the life of the contract - and it does so with a stronger taxable base that protects your overtime rate and your tax position.
What to Ask Before You Sign
Use this comparison as a checklist for your recruiter conversation. The questions that matter most:
- What is the guaranteed hours clause, exactly? Get it in writing.
- How was the stipend amount calculated? Is it based on GSA rates for that location?
- Is the taxable base at or above minimum wage for the state after stipends are removed?
- Are there extension clauses that could change the pay package without your consent?
- What happens to the completion bonus if the facility cancels the contract early?
If a recruiter cannot answer those questions clearly, that is information too.
Finding Contracts Worth Comparing
The comparison framework only works if you have real offers to run through it. Browsing open ICU contracts in TX or FL - or filtering by specialty and state - gives you a baseline for what the market looks like before you start negotiating. Check current ICU travel contracts to see what is posted and use the posted rates as a sanity check against whatever a recruiter quotes you verbally.
The headline number is a starting point. The contract terms are the actual offer.