Yearly Income of a Certified Nurses Assistant

Initial Salaries

• Median starting pay for certified nurses assistants as of 2009, according to salary survey website PayScale, is between $8.50 to $10.75 per hour. A certified nurses assistant employed for five to nine years can expect to earn between $9.70 and $12.60.
  
  

General Range

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows average hourly pay for a certified nurses assistant in 2008 at about $11.90 per hour, or $24,600 yearly. Only 10 percent of all certified nurses assistants made less than $8.30 per hour. The top 10 percent were making more than $16 per hour.
  
  

Place of Employment

• Certified nurses assistants employed by nursing care facilities in 2008 made an average of about $11.40 per hour, or about $23,700 yearly. Those working in general and medical surgical hospitals had incomes of about $12.50 per hour, or $26,000 yearly.
  
  

Home Health Aides

• Home health aides earn less on average than other certified nursing assistants. In 2008, the average pay was about $10.30 per hour, or $21,400 annually, according to the BLS.
  
  

Geography

• Location matters. Alaska is the highest-paying state for certified nursing assistants, paying an average of about $15.50 per hour in 2008, or $32,300 yearly. The highest-paying metropolitan area was San Francisco at about $18 per hour, or $37,800 per year.