Travel Radiology Tech Salary 2026: BLS Pay, BluePipes Listing Medians, Stipends and ARRT

Travel radiology tech pay is built the same way as travel nurse pay: a taxable hourly wage plus tax-free housing and meal stipends, with the stipends capped by GSA per diem and conditional on a qualifying tax home. This page puts the published numbers side by side. Every figure is from a page we read on the date shown; nothing here is an estimate of our own. We are a pay calculator and data site, not an agency or a job board.

What radiologic technologists earn as staff (BLS)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics groups radiologic and MRI technologists on one Occupational Outlook Handbook page. When we read it on 27 October 2026 (page last modified 27 August 2026), its quick facts said:

• 2025 median pay: $81,390 a year, $39.13 an hour, for the combined occupation.
• Number of jobs, 2025: 278,100.
• Job outlook, 2025–35: 5%, which BLS labels “faster than average”, an employment change of 15,100.
• Typical entry-level education: associate’s degree.

The pay section separates the two jobs: “The median annual wage for radiologic technologists and technicians was $80,110 in May 2025”, with the lowest 10 percent under $55,980 and the highest 10 percent over $118,660. For MRI technologists the median was $95,480, with a range of $68,890 to $127,670 at the same percentiles.

Those are wages for the whole occupation, staff and travel together, and they are annual figures. A travel contract is quoted weekly and is only part of a year, so the two are not directly comparable. What the BLS numbers tell you is what the facility’s own staff are paid in the market you are considering, which is the context a travel rate sits in.

What travel rad tech listings pay (BluePipes)

BluePipes publishes a rolling figure for its own listings. When we read its travel rad tech jobs page on 27 October 2026, it said: “The median pay for Travel Rad Tech jobs on BluePipes over the last 7 days is $2147 per week”, the average was $2,235 a week, and “There are 673 Travel Rad Tech jobs on BluePipes as of October 27, 2026.” It named Ohio, California and Georgia as the states with the most listings, without printing counts.

Three cautions. These are listing figures, not signed contracts. They cover the previous seven days and move daily. And “rad tech” on a job board is a wide category: a listing can mean general radiography, CT, interventional or a mix, and the pay in the listing reflects that mix. For comparison, BluePipes’ travel physical therapist page the same day gave a median of $2,161 and its surgical tech page $1,933; see our travel PT and travel surgical tech guides.

How the travel package is built

A travel rad tech offer has two parts:

1. A taxable hourly wage, paid for hours worked, subject to federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, and state income tax where the state levies one.
2. Tax-free stipends for housing and for meals and incidentals, paid only if you maintain a qualifying tax home and are working away from it. Without a tax home, the whole package is taxable wages.

The stipends are capped by GSA per diem for the assignment locality. Two ceilings matter, and recruiters sometimes quote the larger one as if it were the housing figure:

• Housing ceiling = GSA lodging rate × 7.
• Combined per diem ceiling = (lodging + meals and incidentals) × 7.

Under GSA FY2027 per diem (1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027), the CONUS standard rate, which applies anywhere GSA lists no specific locality, is $113 a night for lodging and $68 a day for M&IE. In the three states BluePipes named as having the most rad tech listings:

Compare a housing stipend against the housing column only. A housing stipend above the lodging ceiling should be taxed as wages, and an offer that quotes the combined figure as “the stipend max” is overstating what can be paid tax-free for housing. Every locality’s month-by-month schedule is on the per diem pages for Ohio, California and Georgia.

To check an offer: put the stipend through the stipend calculator, which compares it against the GSA locality rate, and run the taxable wage through the tax calculator for federal tax and FICA. Both tools are written for nurses, but the arithmetic is the same for any W-2 traveler paid a wage plus stipends. State income tax is computed only for the states we hold sourced rates for; elsewhere the tool says so rather than guessing.

ARRT, state licensing and what travelling adds

The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists describes itself, on its homepage read on 27 October 2026, as “a leading credentialing organization” that offers “certification and registration in a wide range of radiologic disciplines”, with “more than 370,000 registrants”. Its primary credential options include Radiography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Computed Tomography, Mammography, Bone Densitometry, Cardiac Interventional Radiography and Vascular Interventional Radiography are listed as postprimary options. ARRT’s primary pathway requirements page, read the same day, sets out three requirements: education, ethics (“you must demonstrate good moral character”) and, once those are met, passing an exam.

Certification is not a license. ARRT’s state licensing page, read the same day, says “More than 75% of states have licensing laws covering the practice of radiologic technology”, that “some—but not all—states require you to be certified and registered through ARRT before you can obtain a state license”, and that to get a state license you “apply directly to that state”. An ARRT credential does not by itself make you eligible to work in a particular state.

That is the practical difference from RN travel. Nurses have the Nurse Licensure Compact; radiologic technologists do not have an equivalent multistate privilege, so each assignment state with a licensing law is a separate application, with its own processing time. Ask the recruiter who pays the state fee and how long that state took to issue its last license before you give a start date. The BLS page adds that few states require licensure for MRI technologists, and that employers typically require or prefer certification regardless of state rules.

How allied travel differs from RN travel

The allied health hub covers this in more detail, and the travel respiratory therapist page is the worked example. The short version:

• Same package, same tax rules. Taxable wage plus GSA-capped stipends, tax home required, two-state tax exposure if your home state taxes wages.
• No compact for most allied professions. Rad tech licensing is state by state, as above.
• Modality matters more than unit. A nurse negotiates on unit and acuity; a rad tech negotiates on modalities and the equipment the facility runs.
• Smaller market. BluePipes listed 673 travel rad tech jobs on 27 October 2026 against 13,030 travel physical therapist jobs and 3,643 travel occupational therapist jobs the same day. Fewer openings means less leverage on rate and more on location and start date.

Finding a travel rad tech contract

We do not place travelers and we are not a staffing agency. If you want a contract, you can tell us what you are looking for: the form is written for nurses, so choose “Other” as the specialty and name your profession, modalities and licensed states in the notes. With your permission we introduce you to a partner recruiter whose agency has a referral agreement with us, or we tell you if none covers your request yet.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do travel rad techs make per week?

When we read BluePipes on 27 October 2026, its travel rad tech listings page said the median pay for travel rad tech jobs over the previous seven days was $2,147 a week, the average was $2,235, and there were 673 travel rad tech jobs on the site that day. Those are figures from job listings, not signed contracts, and they change daily.

What is the median salary for a radiologic technologist?

The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, read 27 October 2026, says the median annual wage for radiologic technologists and technicians was $80,110 in May 2025, with the lowest 10 percent earning less than $55,980 and the highest 10 percent more than $118,660. MRI technologists had a median of $95,480. These are staff wages for the whole occupation, not travel pay.

Do I need ARRT certification to travel as a rad tech?

ARRT is a credentialing organization, not a licensing body. Its state licensing page says more than 75% of states have licensing laws covering radiologic technology, that some but not all states require ARRT certification and registration before a state license, and that you apply to each state directly. The BLS page adds that employers typically require or prefer certification regardless of state rules. Check the assignment state’s own rules before you accept.

What is the maximum tax-free housing stipend for a travel rad tech?

The same GSA rule applies to every traveler with a qualifying tax home: the weekly housing ceiling is the GSA lodging rate for the assignment locality times seven. Under GSA FY2027 per diem the standard rate is $113 a night, so $791 a week anywhere GSA lists no locality; Columbus, Ohio is $966 a week and Los Angeles $1,393 a week all year. Adding the meals rate gives the combined per diem ceiling, which is a higher, different number.

Data reviewed 27 October 2026. BLS figures are from the Occupational Outlook Handbook as read on that date (May 2025 wages, 2025–35 projections). Weekly pay figures attributed to BluePipes are that site’s own, as published on 27 October 2026. GSA figures are GSA’s FY2027 locality rates. ARRT statements are from arrt.org as read on 27 October 2026. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.