Assisted Living Wage Growth Slows, Turnover Improving 

The pace of wage growth for assisted living nursing positions has decelerated in 2025, while the senior living industry is seeing positive momentum in retaining staff as turnover rates continued on a downward trajectory last year.

That’s according to the 2025 Assisted Living Salary & Benefits Report by Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service (HCS), published annually by HCS in conjunction with LeadingAge and support from the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL). The report is based on data provided by 1,057 assisted living, personal care and residential care facilities representing nearly 80,000 employees nationwide as 87.42% of responses came from assisted living providers.

While all nursing positions saw wage rates increase last year, the pace of growth has declined compared to 2024. Medication aides saw a 3.15% hourly pay increase that was smaller than the 3.97% increase reported in 2024.

The same slowdown emerged for registered nurses (RN) that saw a 2.96% increase in 2025 compared to 3.70% pay bump in 2024. Wage rates for certified nursing assistants (CNA) rose 2.77% in 2025 compared to 3.03% in 2024 and resident assistants (RA) saw an increase of 2.98% after a 3.95% spike in 2024, according to the report.

Labor availability is still a constraint on senior living operations as turnover for assisted living positions was 34.53% in 2025, with the highest turnover reported in RA and personal care aid (PCA) at 43.25% and 40.59% for CNAs. In response to a question on turnover in the last 12 months, 22.22% of respondents said turnover had increased while 41.67% reported that turnover stayed the same and 36.11% said turnover had improved.

CEO and president level positions saw an increase of 3.75% in 2025 salary, the highest increase reported in 2025 followed by directors of dining services with a 3.61% salary increase. Among hourly workers, business office managers saw a 3.78% increase followed by executive assistants at 3.65% and chefs at 3.63%, the report shows.

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