In Nursing Assistant Pay in the Top 20 Metro Markets, we learned that the major U.S. metro areas are big employment centers for nursing assistants. However, a more thorough examination of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveals that better pay, sometimes a lot better, for nursing assistants is often found in smaller population centers. May 2021 (BLS) data indicates that only six of the top 20 U.S. metro areas were among the 20 best metropolitan markets for nursing assistant pay:
20 Best Metropolitan Markets for Nursing Assistant Pay
| Metropolitan Area | # Employed | Annual Mean Wages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 4,940 | $47,690 | ||
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward (#) | 10,220 | $47,500 | ||
| 3 | Alaska non-metro | 570 | $45,430 | ||
| 4 | Salinas, CA | 810 | $44,210 | ||
| 5 | Fairbanks, AK | 190 | $43,880 | ||
| 6 | Napa, CA | 550 | $42,310 | ||
| 7 | New York-Newark-Jersey City (#) | 81,890 | $41,940 | ||
| 8 | Anchorage, AK | 1,000 | $41,580 | ||
| 9 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | 310 | $41,070 | ||
| 10 | Santa Rosa, CA | 1,010 | $40,770 | ||
| 11 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue (#) | 13,850 | $40,590 | ||
| 12 | Salem, OR | 1,210 | $40,560 | ||
| 13 | Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade | 4,630 | $39,910 | ||
| 14 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 7,430 | $39,590 | ||
| 15 | Vallejo-Fairfield, CA | 870 | $39,520 | ||
| 16 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | 1,040 | $38,990 | ||
| 17 | Boston-Cambridge-Nashua (#) | 26,580 | $38,880 | ||
| 18 | Minneapolis-St.Paul-Bloomington (#) | 13,160 | $38,750 | ||
| 19 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (#) | 38,030 | $38,690 | ||
| 20 | Northern Valley California non-metro | 670 | $38,610 | ||
| National | 1,314,830 | $33,250 | |||
(#) a top 20 U.S metro population area
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on November 16, 2022
