National Survey Gives Insights on Nursing Home Salaries and Benefits

Posted on August 10, 2023 by Anna Mowry

Released last week, the nation’s largest nursing home salary report shows a continued upward trend for nursing home staff salaries.

Last year’s report showed that the bulk of the increases went to frontline staff; however, this year, salary increases for executives are larger than historical averages.

Highlights from the report

According to a McKnight’s summary, take a look at some of the report’s takeaways:

• Nursing home administrator salaries averaged $127,763, up 3.6% from 2022, and directors of nursing increased 4.67% to $108,889.
• Although the pay raises for RNs, LPNs, and CNAs dropped from 2022, they remain significantly above what would be considered a traditional increase – RNs saw an increase of 7% with an average hourly rate of $37.86; LPNs had an 8.9% increase, averaging $29.66 per hour; and CNAs wages increased by 9.7% at an hourly rate of $18.68.
• 62% of respondents said they used agencies to support their nursing staff, while 65% said they use sign-on bonuses to attract employees.

• Of those who said they offered signing bonuses, 48% offered bonuses for RNs, with an average bonus of $4,879; 46% offered for LPNs, at an average of $3,770; and 40% gave CNAs bonuses, averaging $2,157.
• Year-over-year turnover declined for the first time since 2020. Turnover rates for RNs dropped to 39%; LPN turnover decreased to 38.21%, and CNAs declined to 50.83%.
• Nearly 21% of all positions were vacant across job roles throughout the year.

About the report

The findings are from the 2023 Nursing Home Salary & Benefits Report published annually by Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service (HCS) in cooperation with LeadingAge and others. The full report is available for purchase online. The report includes:

• Responses from 1,089 skilled nursing and long-term care facilities, including 41% not-for-profit and 59% for-profit organizations.
• Compensation data on more than 111,600 employees, including executive staff, nursing, therapy, aides, dietary, activities, social services, maintenance, and administrative staff.
• Results on salary increases, turnover rates, shift differentials, benefits granted, and more.
• Data reported by bed-size, revenue size, profit type, region, state, and CBSA. 

Get access to local compensation data

For a more local look at compensation, LeadingAge Minnesota offers additional resources to members at no cost. Our Compensation Data Portal allows providers to quarterly benchmark their wages for key positions against other providers statewide or in their market area. The compensation data portal also collects information on differentials and bonuses for each position to provide a robust look at overall compensation. For more information or access to the portal please contact Jeff Bostic, Director of Data and Financial Policy.

Coming this fall, our 2023 annual compensation report will be released, which includes comprehensive information on salaries and benefits from Minnesota long-term care providers. The survey is done jointly with Care Providers of Minnesota and the Health Care Human Resources Association of Minnesota. The reports will be free to participating members and available for purchase. Stay tuned for more information coming soon