Chicago is the 3rd largest nursing market in the US — Northwestern Memorial, UChicago Medicine, Rush University, and Stroger's Level I trauma center all recruit travel RNs year-round. Illinois joined the NLC Compact in 2023. Flat 4.95% income tax. Rural downstate IL shortages are severe.
NLC Compact flexibility (new in 2023), top-10 Chicago hospitals, a flat 4.95% income tax, intense trauma volume, and rural downstate shortage pay.
Illinois became a Nurse Licensure Compact state in 2023. Many RNs don't know IL is now compact. Your multistate license works here — no separate IL application needed.
Northwestern Memorial is consistently ranked top-10 nationally. Rush University, UChicago Medicine, and Lurie Children's are nationally recognized academic centers.
Illinois has a flat 4.95% income tax rate embedded in the state constitution — no bracket creep. Moderate, predictable, and lower than neighboring Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Stroger and Northwestern both hold Level I trauma designation. Chicago trauma nurses see some of the highest ER and trauma throughput in the Midwest — with pay to match.
Southern IL, central IL farm communities, and the Illinois River Valley have acute nursing shortages. Rural downstate assignments offer excellent pay with low cost of living.
Chicago's hospital network is one of the most concentrated in the US — five Level I trauma centers within city limits, multiple nationally ranked academic centers, and the largest health system in the Midwest.
Flagship of Northwestern Medicine. Level I trauma center. Consistently top-10 nationally across cardiology, neurology, and oncology. Travel nurses work alongside nationally recognized specialists in one of the most modern facilities in the US.
Level I trauma center and major academic medical center. UChicago Medicine is known for complex oncology, transplant, and cardiac surgery. Strong graduate medical education presence means travel nurses work in a research-rich environment.
Level I trauma center affiliated with Rush University. Consistently ranked in US News top hospitals for orthopedics, neurology, and cardiology. Magnet-recognized nursing culture. High demand for OR and ICU travel nurses.
Level I trauma center serving uninsured and underinsured Cook County residents. One of the busiest trauma ERs in the Midwest. ER, ICU, and trauma nurses see extreme acuity and volume. Jesse Brown VA is nearby for veterans care travel assignments.
Illinois's only freestanding top-ranked children's hospital. NICU, PICU, and pediatric oncology travel nurses in continuous demand. Affiliated with Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. High-acuity pediatric experience required.
Weekly package rates include tax-free housing and M&IE stipends. Illinois's flat 4.95% income tax applies only to taxable wages — stipends are exempt.
| Market | Weekly Package |
|---|---|
| Chicago (Northwestern, UChicago, Rush) | $2,200–$3,200 |
| North Shore Suburban (NorthShore, Advocate Sherman) | $2,100–$2,900 |
| Peoria (OSF Saint Francis, UnityPoint Methodist) | $2,200–$3,000 |
| Champaign-Urbana (Carle Health) | $2,000–$2,700 |
| Rural Downstate IL (Southern IL, farm communities) | $2,200–$3,000 |
Rates are estimated weekly package totals as of Q2 2026. Actual pay varies by agency, specialty, experience, and shift. Stipend eligibility requires a legitimate tax home.
Updated every 4 hours from our live job feed. Last updated: April 27, 2026.
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Browse All JobsChicago's trauma nursing volume is among the highest in the US. Multiple Level I trauma centers operate within city limits — and demand for experienced travel trauma nurses is year-round.
Cook County Health / Stroger Hospital is one of the busiest Level I trauma ERs in the Midwest. Serving the uninsured and underinsured of Cook County, Stroger's ER handles trauma, gunshot wounds, and medical complexity at extreme volume. Travel ICU and ER nurses here see acuity levels that few other US markets match.
Northwestern Memorial holds Level I trauma designation alongside its top-10 national rankings. As a private academic Level I in Streeterville — one of Chicago's wealthiest corridors — Northwestern balances complex elective surgery with high-acuity trauma. Travel nurses work in state-of-the-art facilities with some of the highest pay in Illinois.
Chicago winters bring cold-weather illness surges — pneumonia, cardiac events, and hypothermia cases spike from December through February. Combined with Chicago's year-round trauma volume, ER and ICU travel nurses consistently command crisis-rate premiums during winter months across all Chicago health systems.
Illinois became a Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) member state in 2023 — making it one of the more recent additions to the compact. This is important news that many experienced travel nurses haven't heard yet: you no longer need a separate Illinois state license to take an IL assignment.
If your home state is an NLC compact state and you hold a multistate license, you can practice in Illinois immediately. No IL-specific application, no wait time. Assignment start dates are measured in days.
If your home state is not an NLC member, you will need to apply for an Illinois single-state license. Illinois nursing license processing is typically 4–8 weeks. Start your IL application before accepting an assignment.
For a full breakdown of compact vs. single-state licensing, see our NLC compact license guide.
The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) operates 25+ correctional facilities across the state. Correctional nursing in Illinois is a consistent source of travel nurse assignments with competitive pay and high demand.
Illinois runs one of the largest state prison systems in the Midwest. IDOC facilities are spread across the state — from Cook County (Stateville, Joliet) to Southern IL (Menard, Big Muddy, Pinckneyville) and central IL (Pontiac, Danville, Lincoln). Correctional RNs, LPNs, and CNAs are in ongoing demand statewide.
Correctional travel nursing assignments in Illinois typically offer stable, multi-week contracts with predictable scheduling. Southern IL facilities offer housing stipend advantages due to the very low local cost of living. Nurses with corrections experience or who want to gain it will find consistent openings across IDOC facilities. CatSol specializes in correctional nurse placement.
View Correctional RN JobsOutside Chicago and Peoria, downstate Illinois faces one of the worst rural nursing shortages in the Midwest. Southern IL and central IL farm communities rely heavily on travel nurses — often for months at a time.
The southernmost tip of Illinois — nicknamed "Little Egypt" — has extremely limited healthcare resources and a sparse permanent nursing workforce. Critical access hospitals in this region run perpetual travel nurse programs. Cost of living is among the lowest in the state, meaning your tax-free stipends stretch further. Southern IL University Medical Center in Carbondale is the regional anchor.
Central Illinois agricultural communities have aging rural populations and shrinking permanent nursing staff. OSF HealthCare and UnityPoint Health operate regional hospitals across central IL that actively recruit travel nurses for med-surg, ER, and ICU roles. These assignments are ideal for nurses who prefer rural environments without extreme isolation — most central IL towns are within 2 hours of Chicago or Peoria.
Yes. Illinois joined the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) in 2023, making it a relatively recent addition. Many experienced travel nurses still don't realize IL is now compact. If you hold a multistate compact license from your home state, you can practice in Illinois immediately without applying for a separate IL license. This dramatically speeds up assignment start times — days instead of weeks.
Travel RNs in Chicago typically earn $2,200–$3,200 per week in total package, depending on specialty, shift, and facility. Level I trauma centers like Northwestern Memorial, Rush University, and Stroger Hospital pay premium rates — particularly for ICU, ER, and trauma nurses. CRNA and OR nurses command the highest packages. Tax-free housing and M&IE stipends are included in the weekly total and are exempt from Illinois's 4.95% flat income tax.
Cook County Health / John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital is a Level I trauma center — the highest trauma designation. It is one of the busiest and most intense trauma ERs in the Midwest, serving uninsured and underinsured patients across Cook County. Travel nurses at Stroger see extremely high ER and trauma volumes, including cases related to Chicago's gun violence statistics. ICU and ER nurses with high-acuity experience are in continuous demand here.
The top Chicago facilities for travel nurses are: Northwestern Memorial Hospital (top-10 nationally, Level I trauma, Streeterville), University of Chicago Medicine (major academic center, Hyde Park), Rush University Medical Center (Level I trauma, nationally ranked, Magnet nursing), Cook County Health / Stroger Hospital (Level I trauma, high-volume safety-net), and Lurie Children's Hospital (top-ranked pediatric, NICU/PICU demand). Advocate Health — the largest health system in Illinois — also runs multiple Chicago-area campuses. NorthShore University Health System covers the northern suburbs.
Illinois has a flat 4.95% state income tax rate. This flat rate is embedded in the Illinois constitution, making it one of the most stable and predictable tax rates in the Midwest — unlike progressive states where earnings can push you into higher brackets. Tax-free stipends (housing and M&IE) are not subject to Illinois state income tax. At 4.95%, IL sits below Wisconsin (up to 7.65%) and Minnesota (up to 9.85%), making it relatively tax-friendly for travel nurses.
Yes. Downstate Illinois has significant travel nursing demand, especially in rural communities. OSF HealthCare (Peoria, Rockford) is the dominant downstate system — OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria is the largest downstate academic center. HSHS St. John's in Springfield serves the state capital area. Carle Health in Champaign-Urbana serves the University of Illinois community. Southern IL and central IL farm communities have acute nursing shortages with competitive pay and very low cost of living. The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) also operates 25 prisons statewide with ongoing correctional nurse demand.
Illinois joined the NLC Compact in 2023 — if you have a multistate license, you can start a Chicago or downstate IL assignment in days. CatSol recruiters have direct relationships with Northwestern Memorial, Rush University, Cook County Health, and IDOC correctional facilities statewide.
Last updated: April 27, 2026 • Revalidates every 4 hours • NLC Compact verified (2023)