CNA Salary by State
The aging baby boomer population of the USA and the increased percentage of US citizens with serious health problems led to an extremely high demand for medical professionals in general and Certified Nursing Assistants who have successfully completed CNA training and have gained CNA certification, in particular. The increased demand for qualified CNA professionals who have passed proper CNA training is one of the main reasons why all the CNA job openings come with increased salary levels and a lot of benefits for the health care professionals who have completed CNA training program and practice as CNA than ever before. This fact along with the higher unemployment rate attracts more and more prospective Certified Nurse Aides to start their career in the health care filed by completing free or paid CNA training programs. The range of a typical CNA salary is extremely broad and depends on a lot of factors, but in general it is in the range between $17,000 – $30,000 per year, Certified Nursing Assistants with numerous years of faultless CNA experience usually get salary as high as $36,000 per year. The typical CNA hourly wage is between the range of $8 and $14 per working hour.
According to the publicly available CNA salary statistics analyzed by US state, the CNA salaries in the biggest cities of the USA are significantly higher compared to the salary levels in the smaller towns of the USA.
As it is with the salaries in many other career fields, the CNA salary levels are based on the following criterias:
1. Education – the levels of a CNA salary differ based on the training and the quality of CNA education, a Certified Nurse Aide has. If a Certified Nurse Aide has just completed CNA training program and has successfully been certified, base level CNA salary can be expected (salary level exceptions are always possible depending on numerous reasons). If a CNA professional has completed additional health care trainings and has attended training classes provided by health care institution, obtaining qualifications and certifications allowing to perform strictly regulated professional duties, higher CNA salary can be expected and negotiated with the prospective employer. Depending of the health care facility some personal qualities of a Certified Nurse Assistant can be of importance for the CNA salary expected.
2. Experience – This is one of the most important factors that form the levels of a CNA salary. The more years of experience a Certified Nurse Aide has the higher are the levels of the CNA salary received and the opportunities to find a rewarding CNA job. If a Certified Nursing Assistant has a previous experience in the filed and has practice as a CNA for a few years an hourly wage of $14 can be expected. In case a CNA has just completed a CNA training class, base CNA salary in the range $8 – $10 is the most common CNA hourly wage.
3. Location – As it was already mentioned the CNA salary levels are much higher in the big cities of the USA compared to the CNA salary levels in the small US towns. For every prospective Certified Nurse Aide it is very important to check the average CNA salary levels for the particular place of residence and depending on the CNA training and certification obtained to try and find the best CNA job openings available.
4. Place of recruitment – The levels of the CNA salary also depend on the fact whether a Certified Nurse Aide is recruited to work in a hospital, day care facility, nursing home or other type of health care institution. Along with the CNA salary, depending on the place of recruitment different types of benefits can be expected, such as free professional training that provide additional qualifications or bonus payments based on the work environment. The type of the duties involved are also based on the place of recruitment of a Certified Nurse Aide and directly reflect on the length of the shifts thus the CNA salary levels.
* It is important to be mentioned that due to the great demand for CNA professionals in some regions of the USA, higher number of prospective Certified Nurse Aides complete CNA training and after that pass the CNA certification test, and this fact leads to a lot of candidates looking to be recruited and respectively due to the higher number of Certified Nursing Assistants looking for a CNA job, decreased CNA salary levels are monitored.
In the web site PayScale.com every prospective Certified Nurse Aide can check information about the levels of the CNA salaries in the different states of the USA, based on different criteria.