| Weekly pay | Up to $3,550 on a 12x3 schedule, the highest rate on the We Care Staffing board |
|---|---|
| License | Not a compact state. A Hawaii license by endorsement is required, and you should apply well before you look for a contract. |
| Shifts | Varied shifts available |
| Read before you apply | The headline rate is real, but cost of living and housing decide whether Hawaii actually pays. See below. |
| Extras | Weekly pay and a dedicated recruiter. Stipend details vary by contract; your recruiter breaks down every package. Call (866) 680-2920. |
| Pay updated | June 2026 |
Hawaii is the assignment nurses dream about, and it is worth being honest about how it really works, because the dream and the math are not always the same thing. The good news first: there is genuine, sustained demand. Hawaii faces a serious nursing shortage, driven by an aging population and the simple difficulty of recruiting permanent staff to the islands, and that shortage is why contracts here exist year-round.
The honest part: because so many nurses want to work in Hawaii, supply and demand do not push pay up the way they do in a hard-to-staff mainland state. Our current Hawaii contracts reach $3,550 a week, the highest rate on our board, but the cost of living is also among the highest in the country, and housing is the variable that makes or breaks the assignment. Travelers who treat Hawaii as a working vacation and plan housing and groceries carefully come out ahead. Travelers who assume the high rate means high savings sometimes find the islands quietly expensive. We would rather you know that going in.
Here is how to think about it honestly. Your package combines a taxable hourly wage with tax-free housing and meal stipends, which on the islands matter more than almost anywhere because of what they offset. Stipends follow GSA rates for travelers who keep a qualifying tax home, and Hawaii's are high, but so is the ground reality of rent, food, and fuel. The single biggest lever on whether Hawaii pays is your housing decision, so plan it with your recruiter before you sign, not after you land.
Hawaii's income tax is graduated and runs high, up to 11%, which is the trade for the lifestyle, though it applies only to your taxable base, not your stipends. Registered nurses earn among the higher average wages in the country here per BLS data, reflecting both the cost of living and the shortage. Go in with a budget and Hawaii rewards you; go in assuming it runs itself and it can surprise you.
Taxable Base Rate
Competitive hourly wage
Housing Stipend
Tax-free, high GSA island rates
Meal Stipend
Tax-free daily allowance
Weekly Pay
Transparent breakdown every week
$3,550
Highest Weekly Rate
Up to 11%
State Income Tax
Housing
= The Deciding Factor
Hawaii is not a member of the Nurse Licensure Compact, so you need a Hawaii license by endorsement from the state nursing board, even with a multistate license. The single most common mistake travelers make about Hawaii is waiting to apply for the license until they have a contract in hand. Experienced island travelers often get licensed months ahead, because the dream contract will not wait for paperwork.
Apply early, request your verifications promptly, and treat the license as step one rather than a formality you handle later. Doing this is what separates the nurses who actually land a Hawaii assignment from the ones who talk about it for years.
Your Hawaii assignment is one application away.
Speak to our recruiter now.
We Care Staffing places travel RNs across Hawaii's hospitals and medical centers in the specialties most in demand, including med-surg, ICU, ER, and labor and delivery. The work is core bedside nursing, sometimes in larger facilities on Oahu and sometimes in smaller island and regional hospitals where a broader scope and self-reliance are part of the job.
We Care Staffing places nurses across Hawaii's main islands. Demand concentrates around Honolulu on Oahu and Hilo on the Big Island, with assignments also available on Maui and Kauai, where smaller facilities offer a more rural, broad-scope experience.
"We-Care found me the perfect ER nurse assignment quickly. Their communication was fantastic throughout the entire process. I couldn't be happier!"
Jessica Miller
Travel Nurse
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