How much you earn from working as a CNA can vary greatly depending on the region within which you work, as well as the type of establishment. CNAs in hospitals will earn a different figure to those working in a care home or other healthcare facility.
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The spread is quite wide, and a CNA can earn on average anywhere from around $12 per hour, up to around $22 per hour for the best paid positions. The higher earnings are usually to found when working in hospitals, it is in these workplaces where you will earn the most money, and also you will usually get the best benefits such as healthcare insurance and some other advantages.
Typically a CNA working in a care home for the elderly would earn a wage in the lower end of the spectrum, around $12-$15 per hour. Care home jobs often do not have any other benefits for the employee, so you should be aware of other items you may have to pay separately for if you take a job with the additional benefit of healthcare insurance included for example.
As mentioned previously, hospitals are your best choice if you want to get the best wage possible, however as you would expect the competition for such positions is much more intense then it is for jobs in nursing homes for example, so you may have to go for a job with a lower wage at first, then move on to a higher paid position later in your career.
Your location will also greatly affect the wage you can earn as a CNA, the difference in wages between say a job in California or New York against a job in North Dakota or Minnesota can be as much as 30% to 40%, so you will need to bear this in mind when comparing wages for different jobs around the country.
Clearly as you gain more experience as a CNA you will be in an ever improving position to move to new jobs that pay higher wages, so as your career progresses you should find you can work your way into a top paid position within 5 to 10 years, sometimes much sooner if you have some good fortune and keep a constant eye on openings and continuously apply to the best positions as and when they become available.