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