How much is the CNA Salary, is it hard to become one? (A discussion of the whole journey)
The entry-level wage will be $11.48 per hour and $23,880 annually. With some years of experience, it will increase to at least $30000 annually. Moreover, some the industries like junior school offer high as $50000 annually.
Looking for a job which will be less complicated but most respectful with a preferable pay range? The experts will suggest the job nursing assistant in any work environment. Among the other medical field jobs, the wage range may be lower but it is worth it from every angle.
People with a passion for caring for others and enjoying the company of people will love this job. Moreover, the salary one will get with minimum experience will be enough to survive alone. I will discuss this profession in an in-depth manner below.
CNA Salary
It is known to all that the jobs in the medical sector offer a high range of wages. Though the doctors are the king comparing the salary with other jobs. However, this field has some professions which are not high as doctors and sometimes too low that it goes below the national average.
For example, we can consider the profession of surgical technologist, one of the lowest-paid jobs in the medical field.
As for the core topic of this discussion which is CNA salary, it is also that much but above the national average. Moreover, some States offer a high scale of wages. We will be discussing this topic in detail below.
What is CNA?
Starting with the full form of CNA, it stands for Certified Nurse Assistant. That means the person with a CNA tag will be a nurse assistant working in different sectors and industries. They are also known as nurse aid or patient care aid.
They are the person in the hospital we often see working with the nurses and the patients directly. For example, the person coming from time to time and checking on the patient’s schedule and giving medicine is the CNA.
Certified Nursing Assistant earnings
Most of the time people pick a profession out of their love for that or their passion. For example, a person finding computer coding interesting love to be a programmer, software engineer, or something like that.
A group of people also choose a profession looking for their ability to deal with that, fulfilling the requirement, and the pay scale. It is important to look over the opportunity and benefits of the job to live a good life. It is important to choose something as a profession you love as well as a well-paid one. Because one will need money to survive in this world with their family.
In case one loves caring for people and doing work in the hospital but do not want to be a doctor, there are some options such as nursing assistant. Among the job in this sector, it is one of those that require a less complicated education but offers a healthy pay rate.
Let’s observe the official wage of this profession from a different angle and analyses the data of BLS. After that, we will give a statement on the overview of the job.
| Percentile | 10% | 25% | 50% | 75% | 90% |
| Hourly Wage | $11.48 | $13.89 | $14.57 | $17.87 | $21.27 |
| Annual Wage | $23,880 | $28,900 | $30,310 | $37,170 | $44,240 |
Specifically, the earnings of a CNA or certified nurse assistant will be from $11 to more than $21. It will depend on experience, place, and other things.
In the USA, there is a total of 1,314,830 positions for CNAs of different levels. Starting salary of a certified nursing assistant will be around $11.48 hourly in the minimum range. With proper educational qualifications and experience, the average earning will be at least $30310. Moreover, the estimated 90% percentile wage for nursing assistants is calculated to be $44240.
This is a national estimate of an overall view of this profession. One has to remember that any company or organization cannot offer less than the fixed value of government. However, they can offer more than this since there is no maximum range.
Which industry offers the highest salary to the certified nursing assistant?
When we said or mentioned such a profession normally people bound their thought inside hospitals. However, other industries require such professionals. Also, people hire CNAs for the personal care of their family members with different health issues.
Therefore, the industries that offer maximum wage range are,
| Industry | Hourly mean wage | Annual mean wage |
| Junior Colleges | $29.48 | $61,310 |
| Scientific Research and Development Services | $21.43 | $44,580 |
| Insurance Carriers | $20.58 | $42,810 |
| Federal Executive Branch | $20.12 | $41,850 |
| Technical and Trade Schools | $19.36 | $40,280 |
According to the data in the table, the junior college offers the highest salary among all the industries. On average the CNA’s earnings will be $61310 in this area. It is because they will specifically deal with children and teenagers. It is one of the sensitive and challenging ones which comes with high pay.
Moreover, the scientific research centers, insurance carriers, federal executive brands, and technical schools offer more than $40000. If one managed to get proper skills and qualifications, they can get a job in those areas.
If one is planning to be a travel CNA, one must know the salary of this type is quite controversial. The rules of the state do not apply here since no one will go to any contract. So the travel CNA salary can be lower than $28000 and higher than $45000.
One has to remember that with all the benefits they also ask for extra qualifications. So, the candidates may have to work a little harder to gain extra qualifications than average.
Which State offers the maximum pay for a certified nursing assistant?
It is necessary to know which state of America offers a suitable pay range. Most people are the breadwinner of the people. So, it is important for them to calculate their salary against the need of their family.
In that case, they can find a job in their preferable state where they will have enough money to lead a good life with their family. Therefore, the highest paying states for the nursing assistant job are,
| State | Hourly mean wage | Annual mean wage |
| Alaska | $20.71 | $43,080 |
| New York | $19.56 | $40,680 |
| California | $19.12 | $39,760 |
| District of Columbia | $18.94 | $39,390 |
| Oregon | $18.67 | $38,830 |
As illustrated in the table above, Alaska which is resourceful in the medical sector with minimal living costs offers the highest. The certified nursing assistant will get $43080 in Alaska on average. Moreover, the wage range for this profession in New York and California is almost close to the range of $40k.
If we consider the tax-free income in the District of Columbia, the salary CNA will get here is quite high in the range of more than $39000.
Therefore, the people with this area of job can lead a beautiful life fulfilling all their needs in these cities. All of them have a high percentage of living quality with every single facility at a high level for everyone.
Popular Cities for CNA job and pay rate
We have already discussed the highest paying states for this job. However, people highly ask how much CNAs earn in different cities. We have picked the most popular cities which offer a good salary to the professionals of CN.
| Cities | On average salary/ year |
| New York City | $41,100 |
| New Jersey | $37000 |
| Nevada | $34,899 |
| Texas | $33,549 |
| Los Angeles | $33,148 |
| San Diego | $33,148 |
| Chicago | $33,029 |
| Maryland | $31,140 |
| Florida | $29,840 |
| California | $28,540 |
As we can see, NYC offers the highest which is $41100 and our second best is NJ with around $37000. Moreover, Nevada, Texas, Los Angeles, and some other cities will offer more than $33000 annually. Along with this Maryland, Florida, and California’s CNA jobs will bring any amount of around $30000.
Is there in difference the wage of CNA based on experience?
Of course, the level of experience has an impact on the salary. Not only in this CNA profession but in every single profession, it is true. With higher experience, people get a high range of salary in any profession. Because over time they gain more than enough knowledge on things.
Which give them extreme expertise to deal with relevant things and incident more professionally, accurately, and efficiently.
| Years of Experience | Average Salary |
| 1 to 2 | $24000 |
| 3 to 5 | $30000 |
| 6 to 10 | $35000 |
| 10+ | $42000 |
The starting salary will be low, it will be lower if the person is not certified. Moreover, finding a job at this time without being certified is hard. Once one gets 3+ years of experience, the wage starts getting into a smart figure which will be more than $30000 and it will keep increasing with time.
Which industry offers maximum employment in the position of a nursing assistant?
We often look for an area that has maximum employment positions so that hunting for jobs becomes a little easier. According to the data provided by the government of the great United State, the Nursing care facilities which require skilled nursing assistant has the maximum seat.
The recent number is 471160 which will increase with time. Moreover, they also offer a satisfying average wage of more than $32000.
| Industry | Employment | Hourly mean wage | Annual mean wage |
| Nursing Care Facilities | 471,160 | $15.43 | $32,090 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals | 386,510 | $16.92 | $35,190 |
| Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly | 140,850 | $15.15 | $31,520 |
| Home Health Care Services | 83,560 | $14.39 | $29,930 |
| Employment Services | 38,910 | $16.83 | $35,000 |
Is it worth being a certified nursing assistant in the USA?
We cannot measure the worthiness of some jobs with any context but love and respect. Jobs in the medical sector are those which are more than worthiness. It is also true for the profession of a Nursing Assistant. Caring for people, and looking over the sick and old people is something we cannot see with tremendous honor and respect than any wealth.
Still, it is a growing area in both employment and salary. If one is studying to be a CN, they will get at least a 5% increment of job value by the time they join their place. Let’s see the data of this job for a few years and decide on its trends of it.
According to the graph above, we can see that every year there is a slight but noticeable increase in the salary. Along with this, there are some other advantages that justify the worthiness of choosing CNA as a sole profession. The advantages of choosing this job are,
- With the growing demand, job security is increasing highly.
- The availability of this job is high in different industries.
- Requirements of the job, both education, and other qualifications are easy to get and not time-consuming at all.
- One will get various work environments in different areas which means the options are vast.
- One will earn countless blessings along with money.
The conclusion of this long discussion and mentioning all this positivity is to justify my opinion, yes! It is worth it from an overall perspective. Every job has more or fewer problems and disadvantages. But there are only a few jobs where you can earn money, blessings, positive energy, and loads of love from people.
What are the responsibilities of a CNA, and are those hard to perform?
Are you wondering what responsibilities you will have to perform if you become a CNA? Many have the misconception that the nurse assistant does the hardest job. Well, the job is tiring but involves no technicalities, brainstorming facts, or many difficulties. Specifically, the responsibilities are,
1. Moving patients in a different direction on the bed on need.
2. Helping the doctors or the nurses to laying down or pull up the patient.
3. Gathering medical supplies for different patients according to their necessities.
4. Helping the patients to move their muscles so that they do not go penalized because of long-term treatment in bed.
5. Cleaning them, bathing them, and grooming them from time to time.
6. Feeding them with care, talking to them, and keeping them cheerful
7. Keeping every single detail of the patient and explaining them to the doctor.
8. Documenting information
9. Check different issues such as vital signs, fever, and more.
10. Taking the call of the patient and keeping the family updated
These are the most important responsibilities a nurse assistant has to do. There are some others maybe more depending on the circumstances and work environment.
What qualifications are required to be a certified nurse assistant?
We have once said that it does not require anything complicated and time-consuming to be qualified for this job. To become a nurse assistant, the first requirement is the interested one must have a high school diploma.
In the row of education, after high school, they will have to complete a state-approved education program including the requirements. One will find this type of program in high schools, community colleges, vocational and technical schools, hospitals, and nursing homes in the USA.
Different states of America have different requirements for this job. In many states, one will have to pass a competency exam to gain a certificate for the title “Certified Nurse Assistant”. Along with those some additional certificates such as Certified Medication Assistant (CMA), certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and basic life support (BLS) will help to have an increased salary than average.
Alongside the educational qualifications and training, they will need some other important qualities. Those are,
- 1. Communication Skills
- 2. Patience
- 3. Compassion
- 4. Love for others
- 5. Physical Stamina
What is the salary scenario of a certified nurse assistant compared to other similar jobs?
Have you learned enough that satisfy your queries? I hope so. It is not unusual to rising the concern or questions about the salary range of other similar jobs to this one. Let us illustrate the details below.
So, the nurse anesthetist is the one with a high level of wage which is $180000 annually. Moreover, the position of practitioner and registered nurse will get $115000 and $85000 respectively. Compare to these jobs or positions in the hospital, a similar job will get a minimal. The wage difference between our suggested one and the other three is too much, more than 80%.
Are you wondering why this is? Well, the professions may sound almost similar by the name. But the responsibility of those is so much more. Also, the candidate or students have to pass difficult exams and training to be qualified. That is why there is a huge difference between them.
In America Vs other countries, what is the scenario of nurse assistant salary?
The nursing assistant job is one of the most respectable jobs worldwide. That is why many country honor this profession and the hard work of individuals with a suitable salary. So, that they can provide a quality life for their family and children.
Let’s see the wage range of top countries and compare them to America.
| Country | Salary |
| Australia | $53,065 |
| Canada | $43,770 |
| Denmark | DKK 266,019 or $34522 |
| America | $33000 |
| UK | £23,603 or $25318 |
As we can see, Australia is the country that provides the highest among our list which is $53065 on average. Canada is second highest with the number $43770. Both of these countries offer more than the 90% percentile range of the USA.
Overall, the job of a CNA in the United States of America is pretty well organized, balancing every factor perfectly. Comparing the wage and living quality, this job is perfect for people who do not want to study hard. Also, people love the job of caring for others. Hopefully, readers have found all their answers in this journey with us.
