Before covid - most states hourly was a flat $20 no matter where you were except maybe California and New York. The stipends changed depending on location because of cost of living. Why was it $20/h? SO YOU'RE NOT TAXED AS MUCH. I went from making 1800 take home every other week to 1800 take home PER WEEK my first contract 3 years ago. And I was living large. Yall newbs need to stop complaining of "low" rates of over 2k when you could just go back to staff and make lower pay for less rewards. Guess who still paid off 55k in student loans in 2 years despite my "low" pay? Me. Cause my expectations are more in line with reality.