There were over 1,388,000 nursing assistants employed in the USA according to recently published May 2024 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Approximately 226,000 of those employed as nursing assistants lived in the five-state Great Lakes region of the country.  Annual mean wages for nursing assistants in the region ran slightly below the national average, except in Illinois and Wisconsin.  BLS data from May 2024 reveals the following about nursing assistant pay in the Great Lakes region of the U.S.:

Nursing Assistant Pay in the Great Lakes Region

State	# Employed	Annual Mean Wages	Wage Rank*
IL	64,660	$43,950	16th
IN	31,240	$38,610	33rd
MI	40,230	$40,210	28th
OH	62,360	$39,840	31st
WI	27,480	$43,050	20th
U.S.	1,388,510	$41,173	-------

(*) annual mean wage ranking among the 50 states and the District of Columbia

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on February 3, 2026

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) conducts periodic patient surveys to measure adult patient perspectives on recent inpatient stays at hospitals that treat Medicare and Medicaid enrollees. The CMS survey gathers responses to questions about various patient experiences during an inpatient hospital stay, then consolidates that information into a single, overall patient satisfaction rating on a 1 to 5-star scale, with 5-stars being the top of the scale.  While ten acute care hospitals placed on the list of CMS Five-Star Quality Hospitals in New York, not a single one of those 5-star quality hospitals earned five-star marks from patients.   As of January 31, 2026, only two hospitals, both in upstate New York, rated as 5 stars in CMS patient surveys:

Two New York Hospitals Rated Five-Star in CMS Patient Surveys

1. Adirondack Medical Center - Saranac Lake
   Location:  Saranac Lake
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2. Elizabethtown Community Hospital
   Location:  Elizabethtown
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