Travel Nurse Taxes in Pennsylvania 2026

Pennsylvania is a deep travel-nurse market — UPMC's sprawling Pittsburgh system, the Philadelphia academic centers (Penn, Jefferson, Temple, CHOP), Hershey, and Geisinger out in the central and northeast corridors. Its state income tax is one of the lowest flat rates in the country, but PA has a wrinkle most flat-tax states don't: real local income taxes stacked on top. Here's the full picture for 2026.

The short version: Pennsylvania taxes wages at a low flat 3.07% at the state level. The catch is local: most PA municipalities and school districts add an Earned Income Tax (EIT) of roughly 1%, and Philadelphia runs its own separate Wage Tax that hits non-residents working in the city at about 3.44%. Keep a legitimate tax home elsewhere and your stipends stay tax-free. Residents of six neighboring reciprocity states don't owe PA state tax at all.

Pennsylvania's flat 3.07% state tax

PA has taxed personal income at a flat 3.07% for years, and that rate holds for 2026. It's one of the lowest flat rates of any state that taxes income. There's a twist that surprises travelers, though: Pennsylvania allows no standard deduction and no personal exemptions. You're taxed on your compensation from dollar one. In practice the extremely low rate more than makes up for the lack of deductions — multiply your taxable (non-stipend) PA wages by about 0.0307 to estimate the state piece.

The part most guides skip: local Earned Income Tax

Pennsylvania is unusual in that its cities, boroughs, townships, and school districts levy their own Earned Income Tax, coordinated under Act 32. For most PA locations that's about 1% on earned income, though it varies by municipality. As a non-resident working an assignment in a PA municipality, you're generally subject to the local non-resident EIT rate for where the hospital sits (your employer usually withholds the higher of your work-location or resident rate). It's small, but it's real, and it's on top of the 3.07% state rate — so budget closer to ~4% combined outside Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Wage Tax is a different animal. Philadelphia is not part of the Act 32 EIT system — it runs its own Wage Tax. Non-residents who work in Philadelphia pay the non-resident Wage Tax, roughly 3.44% for 2026 (the rate has been ticking down slightly each year), and it is withheld on every dollar you earn working inside city limits. That means a Philadelphia contract can carry state 3.07% + city ~3.44% = well over 6% on your taxable wages — a big jump over a Pittsburgh or Hershey assignment where you'd pay 3.07% plus a ~1% local EIT. Factor it into how you compare Philly offers.

Reciprocity: six neighboring states get a pass on PA state tax

Pennsylvania has reciprocal agreements with Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. If your permanent home (domicile) is in one of those six states and you work a PA assignment, you pay income tax to your home state on those wages, not to Pennsylvania — you'd file a reciprocity exemption form (REV-419) with your employer so PA state tax isn't withheld. Important caveat: reciprocity covers the state 3.07% only. It does not exempt you from the local EIT or the Philadelphia Wage Tax, which still apply based on where you work.

Stipends and your tax home

Item	Pennsylvania treatment (2026)
State income tax	Flat 3.07%, no deductions or exemptions
Local EIT (most municipalities)	~1% on earned income (Act 32)
Philadelphia Wage Tax (non-resident)	~3.44%, separate from Act 32, on city-earned wages
Reciprocity states	IN, MD, NJ, OH, VA, WV (state tax only; local taxes still apply)
Non-resident form	PA-40 with the non-resident/part-year schedule
Stipends	Tax-free with a legitimate tax home; taxable if itinerant

Pennsylvania follows the federal framework: tax-free housing and meal stipends require that you're duplicating living costs away from a genuine tax home. Solid tax home, stipends excluded from taxable wages. Itinerant with no home base you maintain and return to, and those stipends convert to taxable wages — taxed by the IRS, by PA at 3.07%, and by whatever local EIT or Philadelphia Wage Tax applies. The stakes are a little higher in Philadelphia because of that extra city layer.

Filing as a non-resident

If you're not a PA domiciliary (and not from a reciprocity state), you file a PA-40 as a non-resident and report only the compensation earned in Pennsylvania. Your home state, if it has an income tax, typically credits you for tax paid to PA. Local EIT and the Philadelphia Wage Tax are handled through withholding and their own local reconciliation returns rather than the PA-40, so keep the pay stubs that show what was withheld where.

Bottom line: Pennsylvania's headline 3.07% is genuinely one of the best flat state rates in the country — but never quote it in isolation. Outside Philadelphia you're really looking at about 4% once local EIT is added; inside Philadelphia the non-resident Wage Tax pushes the total past 6%. When you're comparing PA contracts, a Pittsburgh assignment and a Philadelphia assignment at the same hourly rate are not the same take-home. Guard your tax home to keep stipends tax-free and the state math stays gentle.

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