How Much Do Nurse Aides Make?

Having a clear understanding of earnings potential is important, especially if you are researching career paths or considering changing jobs. If you're one of those people, and you're curious what kind of salary nurse aides make, you've come to the right place.

Using data from Lightcast,™ the Best Adult Colleges and Careers Guide has compiled rich information about salary for nurse aides and related jobs, including details about average compensation, salary trends and job growth. We've also gathered advertised salaries from actual job postings to provide insight into what employers of nurse aides are offering as compensation.

Keep reading to learn more about how much nurse aides can expect to make in the United States.

At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Nurse Aides

According to data from 2023, there were about 1,419,625 positions for nurse aides in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for nurse aides was reported to be $38,189. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 441,006 job postings related to positions for nurse aides.

How Much Money Do Nurse Aides Make?

Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money nurse aides and related positions can expect to make in the United States, it can be helpful to look at the full range of compensation for those jobs.

Let's look more deeply at data that was reported to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for detail into the lowest and highest salary earnings for nurse aides.

Annual Salary for Nurse Aides

According to the BLS, the lowest earners for nurse aides and related professions earned about $30,035 per year in 2023. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the highest earners made about $48,776 annually.

As mentioned previously, the median salary for nurse aides in the United States in 2023 was $38,189.

Hourly Salary for Nurse Aides

The BLS also breaks down compensation for nurse aides by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for nurse aides in 2023 was $18. Lowest hourly earners took home $14 while the highest reported hourly salaries for nurse aides was $23.

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Degree Options for Nurse Aides

Certificates & Microcredentials for Nurse Aides

Advertised Compensation for Nurse Aides

Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for nurse aides, but another way to build a more real-time understanding of salary is to look at actual job postings and see what compensation organizations are currently providing to fill open positions for nurse aides.

Keep in mind that salary data is not included in every job posting, so the information compiled here is reflective of the data available through Lightcast.™

Annual Salary from Job Postings for Nurse Aides

During a review of 318,773 job postings related to nurse aides, advertised salary was included in 120,383 of them, which was 38%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for nurse aides was $41,600 per year.

Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Nurse Aides

A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for nurse aides. Based on 27% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for nurse aides in the United States is about $20.

Salary Trend for Nurse Aides

If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for nurse aides. The chart below provides a snapshot of advertised salaries over the past three years.

Based on compensation data that was included in job postings for nurse aides dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for nurse aides have increased 25%.

What's the Job Growth for Nurse Aides?

Another data point that someone thinking about a career path should consider is whether or not jobs are expected to see growth in the future. The chart below looks at projected employment for nurse aides over the next 10 years.

According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 1,420,953 jobs for nurse aides in the United States in 2023. By 2033, it is expected that about 110,281 jobs will be added. That's a 7.8% increase over the next 10-year period.

Additional Links

Ready to dig deeper into career information about nurse aides? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for nurse aides.

What do nurse aides do?
Nurse Aides: How do you become one?

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