Cross Country Nurses vs. Aya Healthcare: Which Travel Nursing Agency Is Right for You? (2026)

Cross Country Nurses and Aya Healthcare are two of the most recognized names in travel nursing — but they represent meaningfully different agency experiences. Aya is the largest travel nursing agency in the country, built on job volume, technology, and scale. Cross Country is one of the oldest, built on established facility relationships, a broad staffing portfolio, and a recruiter-relationship model that has evolved over more than 35 years.

For travel nurses choosing between them, the decision usually comes down to whether you want maximum job options or a more established, relationship-driven experience. This comparison breaks both agencies down on the factors that actually matter.

Agency Snapshot

Job Volume and Market Coverage

Advantage: Aya

Aya Healthcare’s facility network is the largest in the travel nursing industry. For nurses who prioritize having the most options — by specialty, location, or contract timing — Aya’s raw job volume is a genuine differentiator. This is especially relevant for nurses targeting competitive markets, non-compact states, or highly specialized roles where facility relationships matter.

Cross Country has a strong and well-established facility network of its own, with particularly deep relationships at Magnet-designated hospitals — a meaningful advantage for nurses who specifically want to work at top-tier academic medical centers and health systems. If your target list includes institutions like Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, or Mayo Clinic, Cross Country’s Magnet relationships are worth considering.

For nurses with no specific facility preferences, Aya wins on volume. For nurses targeting specific prestige institutions, Cross Country may have better access.

Pay Competitiveness

Advantage: Neither consistently

As with most agency comparisons, neither Cross Country nor Aya consistently offers the highest pay on any given assignment. Pay is bill-rate driven — set by the facility — and both agencies take a margin. Which agency offers more on a specific job depends on their bill rate agreement with that facility, their internal margin targets, and how competitive they feel the market is for that position.

Cross Country is a publicly traded company (ticker: CCRN), which means it operates under shareholder pressure to maintain margins. Some experienced travelers report that Cross Country’s packages trend toward the middle of the market rather than the top. Aya, as a private company, has more flexibility — though Aya’s scale also means recruiter quality and pay aggressiveness vary widely.

The right approach: submit the same job to both agencies and compare the full breakdowns side by side. Do not compare headline weekly rates without reviewing the taxable rate, stipend structure, and guaranteed hours terms. Our Pay Package breakdown guide explains exactly what to look for, and our underpaying contract guide shows how to spot a weak offer before you sign.

Recruiter Experience

Advantage: Cross Country (on consistency) — with caveats

Cross Country’s recruiter model has been refined over more than three decades. The agency has invested in recruiter training and retention in ways that show in nurse reviews — Cross Country consistently ranks among the top agencies on recruiter satisfaction scores on platforms like Great Recruiters. For nurses who want a dedicated, experienced human advocate who knows the industry deeply, Cross Country’s recruiter culture is a genuine differentiator.

Aya’s recruiter experience is highly variable. At Aya’s scale — the largest agency in the country — recruiter quality ranges from outstanding to adequate. Some Aya nurses report long-term recruiter relationships that rival anything in the industry. Others find themselves working with high-turnover recruiters who treat the role as transactional. The Aya app and technology platform compensate somewhat for thinner recruiter relationships, but they do not fully replace the value of a strong human advocate when problems arise.

The practical implication: at Cross Country, you are more likely to get a consistently good recruiter experience. At Aya, you may get an exceptional one — or a mediocre one. Asking for a recruiter referral from a nurse currently traveling with each agency before committing is the most reliable way to find a strong recruiter at either.

Technology and App Experience

Advantage: Aya

Aya’s technology investment is one of its most consistent competitive advantages. The Aya app provides job search, credential management, contract review, pay breakdown tools, and assignment tracking in a polished, well-maintained interface. For nurses who prefer managing their travel career with minimal friction, Aya’s self-serve capabilities are genuinely useful.

Cross Country’s myCrossCountry app covers the core functions adequately but does not match Aya’s technology depth or user experience. Cross Country compensates by emphasizing the human support model — recruiter availability, clinical support teams, and the established infrastructure of a large, mature organization. Whether that trade-off works for you depends on how much you value self-serve tools versus human support.

Benefits

Advantage: Comparable — with nuances

Both agencies offer day-one health, dental, and vision insurance — the baseline expectation for major travel nursing agencies. The differences are in the details:

• Health insurance options: Cross Country offers multiple plan tiers including a BlueCross BlueShield option, which is recognized at a broad network of facilities — useful for nurses who travel frequently between assignments. Aya also offers competitive health insurance but plan options and networks vary.
• Retirement: Both offer 401k with employer match. Cross Country’s vesting schedule is worth confirming directly — as a publicly traded company, their retirement benefits are documented in public filings and tend to be stable.
• Continuing education: Cross Country offers tuition reimbursement and continuing education support through its parent company’s education staffing division — a benefit that Aya does not consistently match.
• Crisis and strike staffing: Cross Country has a dedicated crisis staffing division. For nurses interested in crisis contracts — which typically carry the highest short-term pay rates — Cross Country’s infrastructure in this area is more developed than Aya’s.

Allied Health and Specialty Coverage

Advantage: Cross Country (for allied health)

Cross Country’s parent company operates multiple staffing brands covering a broader range of healthcare roles than travel nursing alone — including allied health, therapy, and education staffing. For nurses who may want to transition into allied health placements, or who work alongside allied health travelers and want a single agency relationship, Cross Country’s portfolio is broader.

Aya also covers allied health, but Cross Country’s depth in this area reflects decades of specialized staffing infrastructure across multiple healthcare disciplines.

Who Each Agency Is Best For

The Honest Bottom Line

Cross Country and Aya are both credible, well-established agencies that will reliably place you in assignments, provide day-one benefits, and support your licensure. The choice between them is not about avoiding a bad option — it is about matching agency strengths to your priorities.

If your priority is Magnet hospital access, consistent recruiter relationships, or crisis staffing opportunities, Cross Country is the stronger fit. If your priority is maximum job volume, self-serve technology, or flexibility in a competitive market, Aya is the better starting point.

For most experienced travelers, the most effective strategy is to maintain relationships at both simultaneously — submitting the same jobs to each and letting the offer quality guide your decision per assignment. Agency loyalty is rarely the highest-paying strategy.

For deeper dives on each agency, see our full Cross Country Nurses Review and Aya Healthcare Review. For a broader agency comparison including TNAA and AMN, see our TNAA vs. Aya comparison and our Best Travel Nurse Agencies for New Travelers guide.