Where Travel Clinicians Want to Go vs. Where the Jobs Are

Where Clinicians Want to Travel vs. Where Demand is Highest: A Data-Driven Guide to Your Next Travel Assignment

How do you know which regions and specialties deserve your time? By digging into Nomad’s  latest job applications and compensation trends, we can separate the hype from reality. You will see not only where clinicians are applying, but also where the most openings, and the highest paychecks, are waiting.

November Travel jobs in demand:

⁠*pulled from week of 11/17/25

• Texas (TX) takes the top spot with the highest number of overall RN job openings (352).  If you are looking for plenty of opportunities in the Southwest, Texas is hard to beat.

• In the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, Pennsylvania (414 openings) and Massachusetts (426) are seeing strong demand, making the region a hotspot for travel clinicians.

• California is also popular, with strong interest (450) so if you are chasing a travel role in the Golden State, competition is fierce but for those willing to navigate it, the rewards could be worth it.

Trending specialties: where clinicians are applying

Telemetry leads the way

Telemetry and Medical-Surgical roles are attracting the most attention nationwide. Telemetry, in particular, is the hottest specialty, with the biggest interest coming from the Midwest and Southeast.

Medical-Surgical remains a steady favorite within Nomad’s November job data, with strong interest in states like Kansas and Illinois. Keep in mind that these insights reflect Nomad’s platform specifically and may not represent the entire industry. That said, if you are looking for plenty of openings and high demand, these two specialties continue to offer strong opportunities.

General Roles stay in highest demand

General specialty roles continue to dominate nationwide demand on Nomad, with especially strong activity across major states. Cardiovascular Invasive Specialist follows as the next most sought-after specialty, led by interest in Florida. For allied health professionals, this means the broadest and most consistent opportunities remain in General roles, with growing demand in cardiovascular care.

Maximizing earnings: where the jobs pay the most

If boosting your paycheck is the goal, it is all about matching your specialty with the regions that are paying top dollar. Looking at Nomad data for “Weekly Gross Compensation” shows which roles are in high demand, and where hospitals are willing to pay premium rates to get them filled; this lets you plan your next move strategically.

The highest paying RN roles are consistently found in Labor & Delivery.

Figure 4

The takeaway for top earners

• Labor & Delivery (L&D) is the undisputed champion for RN weekly gross compensation. The highest paychecks are consistently found on the West Coast, with California (CA) leading at $4,256/week, closely followed by Arizona (AZ) and Washington (WA).

• While Telemetry and Med-Surg are seeing the highest application volume, they are not on the list of highest paying specialties. This shows a gap in the market: a lot of nurses are applying for common, high volume roles, while hospitals are offering top pay for specialized, high demand positions like L&D and the Emergency Room (see Figure 4).

Find the sweet spot for your specialty

Work smarter, not harder. Your skills are in demand, but not everywhere equally.. Focus on the regions where your specialty is in high demand, and your opportunities and earnings will grow.

• If you are a Labor & Delivery nurse, the West Coast (CA, AZ, WA) should be your target for maximizing earnings.

• If you are seeking the highest volume of overall openings for general experience, Texas is the place to be.

• If you are a Telemetry nurse, you will face high competition but find the most active job posting markets in Illinois and North Carolina.

• If you work in Allied Health: General roles remain in the highest demand nationwide, with especially strong need in Texas and Pennsylvania, ideal for clinicians seeking steady, reliable assignment volume.

By following the data, you can skip the guesswork and go straight to the opportunities that matter: landing higher pay, growing your skills, and finding assignments that actually fit your lifestyle and travel goals.

How this Data was Sourced: 

The data for this article was sourced from Nomad Health’s internal job reporting systems. November Travel Jobs in Demand was identified using Looker analytics, tracking live jobs from the past week by facility date. Trending Specialties came from Nomad’s Open Jobs, States, and Specialties report, which ranks specialties by job volume and associated state. Highest-Paying Specialties (last 6 months) were determined by filtering jobs first published in the past month, sorting them by weekly gross compensation, and recording the corresponding specialties and facility states for the top jobs. Top Specialties by State were identified by filtering published jobs by facility state and ranking specialties by total jobs received within each state.