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 metro areas. May 2019 (BLS) data indicates that only five of the top 20 U.S. metro areas were among the 20 best metropolitan markets for nursing assistant pay:
| Metropolitan Area | # Employed | Annual Mean Wages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salinas, CA | 860 | $46,170 | ||
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward (#) | 11,140 | $45,100 | ||
| 3 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | N/A | $44,710 | ||
| 4 | Fairbanks, AK | 210 | $41,900 | ||
| 5 | Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI | 270 | $40,080 | ||
| 6 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 4,570 | $39,800 | ||
| 7 | Vallejo-Fairfield, CA | 740 | $39,640 | ||
| 8 | Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade | 5,670 | $39,340 | ||
| 9 | Anchorage, AK | 920 | $38,430 | ||
| 10 | New York-Newark-Jersey City (#) | 93,850 | $38,250 | ||
| 11 | San Diego-Carlsbad (#) | 9,200 | $37,850 | ||
| 12 | Santa Rosa, CA | 1,450 | $37,660 | ||
| 13 | Urban Honolulu, HI | 2,820 | $37,540 | ||
| 14 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | 1,210 | $37,180 | ||
| 15 | Minneapolis-St.Paul-Bloomington (#) | 15,360 | $37,060 | ||
| 16 | Santa Fe, NM | 230 | $36,440 | ||
| 17 | Boston-Cambridge-Nashua (#) | 26,270 | $36,240 | ||
| 18 | St. Cloud, MN | 1,320 | $35,940 | ||
| 19 | Portsmouth, NH-ME | 970 | $35,860 | ||
| 20 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | 5,280 | $35,760 | ||
| National | 1,419,920 | $30,720 | |||
(#) a top 20 U.S metro population area
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on November 28, 2020