Nursing Assistant Wages
In 2016, more than 600,000 nursing assistants provided personal care, assistance with daily activities, and clinical support to 1.4 million nursing home residents nationwide. Despite their critical role, the low wages of nursing assistants leave many of them in poverty and often drives them out of the sector. Here’s how they’ve changed over the years.
Notes
Inflation-adjusted wages are derived from the median hourly wage reported by the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Program and the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers (1982‐84=100), Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor.
Poverty thresholds reflect FPL for two-person households in the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia. Due to higher cost of living, Hawaii and Alaska have separate federal poverty guidelines. In 2014, the median wages for Nursing Assistants in Alaska and Hawaii were both below 200% FPL.
