Over 1,310,000 nursing assistants were working in the USA as of May 2022 according to data released earlier this year by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The twelve-state Southeastern U.S. was home to more than 355,000 of those nursing assistant jobs.  Per BLS data, the Southeast was the worst region in the country for nursing assistant pay as every state in the region had an annual mean wage level for nursing assistants that fell below the national average.  Moreover, seven of the ten states in the country with the lowest nursing assistant annual mean wage levels were in the Southeast.  A further examination of BLS data from May 2023 details the following about nursing assistant pay in the Southeastern U.S.:

Nursing Assistant Pay in the Southeastern U.S.

State	# Employed	Annual Mean Wages	Wage Rank*
AL	19,740	$28,550	49th
AR	16,350	$29,970	48th
FL	89,110	$33,390	35th
GA	40,230	$32,850	38th
KY	19,000	$32,180	43rd
LA	17,680	$28,190	50th
MS	10,440	$27,140	51st
NC	54,260	$31,780	45th
SC	18,740	$32,490	40th
TN	24,940	$31,600	46th
VA	36,830	$33,070	37th
WV	8,290	$32,470	41st
U.S.	1,310,090	$36,220	-------

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

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OES. Data extracted on May 10,2023