How much do nursing home administrators make in 2026?
Nursing home administrators are counted in the BLS medical and health services manager series: OEWS May 2025 reports the SOC 11-9111 national median at $123,860 a year ($59.55 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $73,390 and the top 10% at $224,340. Facility administrators generally sit between the bottom quartile and the median, with regional and multi-facility roles above it — the top decile in this series belongs to hospital executives rather than to skilled nursing. What sets the role apart from other healthcare management jobs is licensure: every state licenses nursing home administrators, and the route runs through education requirements, an Administrator-in-Training internship and the National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards examination. The licence carries personal accountability, because survey deficiencies, civil money penalties and staffing citations attach to the licensed administrator of record. Employment across the series is projected to grow 23.2% through 2034 with roughly 62,100 openings a year. → Full nursing home administrator career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $123,860 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Nursing Home Administrators earn a national median $123,860/yr ($59.55/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 11-9111); the P10 to P90 range is $73,390 to $224,340.
- BLS pools this role with hospital executives in SOC 11-9111, so facility administrators typically sit between the $94,700 P25 and the $123,860 median, with regional roles above.
- Licensure is mandatory and personal: state education requirements, an Administrator-in-Training internship and the NAB examination, with survey findings attaching to the licensed administrator of record.
- Facility size, ownership type and occupancy drive pay, and bonuses tied to census, star ratings and survey outcomes are a normal part of the package.
US Nursing Home Administrator Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do nursing home administrators earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 11-9111; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 11-9111, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a nursing home administrator earn at each career stage?
Administrator pay follows licensure, facility size and portfolio responsibility. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS medical and health services manager distribution (SOC 11-9111).
By State
Which states pay nursing home administrators the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national median for the management series scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. State rules are decisive here in two ways: administrator licensure requirements and internship length differ by state, with only partial reciprocity when you relocate, and state Medicaid rates plus staffing mandates determine the financial difficulty of the building you are licensed to run.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($142,440), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay nursing home administrators the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median for the management series scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a nursing home administrator’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does nursing home administrator pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Nursing Home Administrators sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify nursing home administrator wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a nursing home administrator actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Nursing Home Administrator Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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